Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

A Lesson on Emotion and Language

My older brother, Maurice, and I were cleaning out adjoining stalls in the barn early one Saturday morning when he tossed a pitchfork’s worth of manure in my face. I was furious and went after him. He was three years older than me, so I couldn’t do much against him at the time. But in the process I called him a name I shouldn’t have.

My father overheard it and gave me the only real licking I ever got. I knew I had it coming, so I accepted it a little better than I might have otherwise. Maurice got a good smacking, too. I believe it was even harder than mine.

For whatever reasons, I learned something that has stayed with me to this very day and has been very important to me throughout my life: control your temper ...