Bill Hicks

Joe Chrisman

Bill Hicks and Joe Chrisman gave today’s program, talking about Coach John Wooden and their experiences playing under him at UCLA.

Bill said playing for Coach Wooden was like hitting the lottery!  They have a pyramid at UCLA with 167 names on it – the only players from UCLA that played under Coach Wooden.  Coach Wooden was voted the Best Coach Ever – not just basketball, but of all sports.  That’s why Bill feels he hit the lottery!

Under Coach Wooden, UCLA won 10 titles, including 7 consecutive titles.  He is the only person to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.  He was also presented with the Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed by the United States on a civilian.

Bill got to UCLA after one year of junior college.  Bill grew up in the Lancaster area which was part of the Channel League and so he had frequent trips to Ventura.  Ventura High School was a tough team, but Bill’s team beat them in 1957.  When in junior college, Bill was recruited to UCLA, partly on Bob Tuttle’s recommendation.

At the time Bill played under Coach Wooden, he didn’t realize what all he learned from him.  Later, the sayings would be remembered, such as:

• Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
• What counts is what you learn after you know it all
• Do not confuse activity with accomplishment

Bill had a very practical use for the Pyramid of Success he kept in his office.  When an upset customer came in to see Bill, he left the customer for a couple minutes, allowing time for the customer to read what was on the pyramid.  When Bill returned to his office, the customer was in a cooperative mood.

Joe Chrisman played ball for the legendary high school basketball coach Bob Tuttle at Ventura High School.  Tuttle started coaching at VHS about the same time Wooden started at UCLA, i.e. 1948.  Joe’s senior year at VHS in 1963-64 was Coach Tuttle’s final season as the varsity coach.  Joe had a very good year and was named the first team all-CIF center. 

He was recruited by UCLA and went there from high school in 1964, the same year UCLA won its first NCAA basketball championship.  It was a time of change at UCLA and in the country in general.  Joe was the second leading scorer on the UCLA freshman team in 1964-1965, the same year Coach Wooden won his second NCAA basketball championship. 

The first game played at Pauley Pavilion was between the UCLA varsity that was 58-2 over the prior 2 seasons and the highly regarded UCLA freshman team featuring future NCAA and NBA star Lou Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar).  For 2 years, Coach Wooden’s teams had terrorized the collegiate basketball world with their full court press and high scoring offense.  But on this autumn night before a sold out crowd in their on campus arena, the talented freshman team made quick work of the much more experienced varsity.  The UCLA freshman team was advertised in the LA papers as the best team in LA and possibly the best basketball team in the country while recognizing freshman at that time couldn’t play on the varsity team.  For basketball followers the future dominance of UCLA basketball was on display.  The world would have to wait one year for the dynasty to resume, but that game broadcasted live on TV set the stage. 

Joe and his teammates lived in the shadow of the freshman team during his sophomore year.  The team finished 18 and 8 for the season and came in second to Oregon State in league play.  But with Pauley packed full for its home games, Coach Wooden was about to rewrite the record books with 7 consecutive NCAA championships.  And he kept his scholar athletes focused on getting their degrees and winning NCAA championships.

Coach Wooden was not into “show.”  He looked for the skills.  At the time Joe came to UCLA, no starter was taller than 6’5” – unheard of today.  But it was Coach’s “system” that combined talent with his fast-break style of play, forcing the opposing team to play on your tempo.  Coach used note cards to remind himself what drills to run.  He went over certain drills again and again.

Coach was first a teacher, then a coach.  Joe agreed with Bill that said Coach’s training and philosophy applied to much of life too.  He was very nice to everyone and showed no favoritism.  And these 167 players were his family.  He knew all of them and their families too.  He practiced his philosophy.  What a man!

Thank you, Bill and Joe, for a terrific first-hand account of playing under Coach John Wooden.

 == Rocky

Shannon Coyner

Shannon Coyner, a dog trainer for over 18 years (and Jeff Coyner’s wife), holds a Biology degree, specializing in Zoology, from Sonoma State.  She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, among other things.  Shannon’s experience includes working as a handler and trainer for an African Serval Cat at a private zoo in Santa Rosa, California.

Studies have shown that training animals using positive reinforcement is much more successful than using punishment.  In addition, reward based training builds the animal’s confidence, creates a positive human-animal bond, and is generally a lot more fun.

Reward based training involves the use of a clicker or whistle.  First, you click and give a treat several times to teach the animal that it gets a treat every time it hears a click.  Then, you start to click and treat when you catch the animal doing the desired behavior.  Eventually, the animal will do the behavior on command and you can wean it off the treats.

One common problem dog owners encounter is dogs continuously digging holes in the backyard.  An interesting way to break this habit is to put dog poop in each hole and then fill up the hole with dirt.  When the dog goes to dig the hole again, it will be unpleasantly surprised when it finds poop.  After a few times of this happening, the dog will no longer be inclined the dig holes.

If you have a cat that scratches your furniture, you should buy several scratching posts that have different textures.  Cover the scratching posts with catnip to entice the cat.  When you first introduce the scratching posts, temporarily cover or remove the other items that the cat inappropriately scratches.  Once the cat is accustomed to scratching the posts, it should no longer scratch your furniture.

The level of aggression an animal has is generally more of a product of how the animal was raised between the first six weeks to six months of its life than based on the type of breed.

Thank you, Shannon, for a very interesting and informative presentation.

 Deborah A. Perkins

 Toni Jannotta, a jazz musician who has performed locally and abroad for the past 18 years, started her career as a dancer and actress.  In 1989, tired from the struggles as a full-time artist, Toni took her first day job.  She was very excited to finally have health benefits and paid vacation time!  Toni continued to sing and teach at night.

Toni then narrowed her artistic focus to jazz music.  She released her first jazz CD in 1997 titled, Just Jazz.  After the release of her CD, she traveled to Europe to perform which led to her signing a distribution deal with TCB Music.  Since then, Toni has released two additional CDs, Jazz at the Ranch in 2001 and Is It Magic? in 2007. 

Toni views jazz as America’s classical music and believes that if you can play jazz, you can play anything else.  Toni also believes that jazz should be about freedom and improvisation as opposed to conforming to what some people think jazz “should be.”

Toni was recently awarded an Artist in the Community Partnership Grant from the Ventura County Arts Council.  Using the grant, Toni has partnered with Project Understanding to create a presentation combining jazz and the homeless to be presented in the local community. 

Approximately eight homeless men and women will tell their story of homelessness while live jazz music plays in the background.  The free presentation, Voices of the Homeless, will take place on August 21, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. at the WAV (Working Artists Ventura Project) in Ventura.

Toni was inspired to give the homeless a voice when she saw a homeless man carrying a guitar.  Toni realized that the homeless also have music in their heart and should be heard.  Toni hopes that the presentation will give the homeless a boost of confidence and that the local community will gain a better understanding of the homeless.

Thank you, Toni, for a great presentation.

Deborah A. Perkins