• The guy is synonymous with college basketball. The former UCLA coach, who won ten titles helming the Bruins over 27 years, died today at 99. Some other key stats about the dude:

• 19 number of conference titles Wooden won over his tenure
• 88 number of games Wooden won in a row over four seasons
• three number of All-American honors he earned as a player source

Off-the-court pride

• I think that’s the factor from which i have received the greatest satisfaction and pleasure. The fact that practically all of my players did get their degrees and practically all of them have done well in whatever their chosen profession might be.
• John Wooden • Regarding what he was most proud of in his basketball coaching career. He’s from a different era – an era where players went to school the whole term. Wooden might as well be chiseled out of history. The legend earned his place in basketball history the old-fashioned way. Through hard work. source

• A too-early report threw everybody off. Let’s face it. The legendary basketball coach, 99 and in grave health, probably isn’t going to be long for this world. But he isn’t dead let. However, Twitter seems to have jumped the gun on his fate. If it makes you guys feel better, this memorial photo gallery on the Washington Post’s site hit Google News early under the headline “John Wooden Dies at 99.” Oh boy. That isn’t good, guys. source

• Sadly, Alex Chilton is the second Memphis music legend to die this year. The first, Jay Reatard, was a still-growing legend greatly inspired by him. And he had good reason to be inspired. Chilton was one of the principals behind Big Star, a band that ALWAYS comes up in conversations about underrated bands. Chilton died today at 59, reportedly of a heart attack. Here’s how you should remember him.

• 1. At the tender age of 16, Chilton peaked commercially. His band, The Box Tops, scored a No. 1 hit with “The Letter,” a tune known more for its prominence than who sang it.  The band had more hits, but none as lasting as this soul-tinged classic.
• 2. You know this song in a different form. For nearly a decade, it was the theme song to “That 70s Show,” but before that, it was a Big Star tune. And well, it still is. Know what a popular TV show theme song gives you? Financial security.
• 3. “Remember what we said about ‘Paint it Black.'” “Thirteen” may be the best song ever written about adolescence, and it’s a tune that’s covered often, most notably by the also-deceased Elliott Smith.
• 4. You know you’ve made it when Paul Westerberg writes a song about you, and it’s really freaking good. “Alex Chilton” was immortalized as a Replacements single, and Chilton himself played on the band’s “Can’t Hardly Wait.”