Happy Birthday, Coach!

There are very few people in the world who make me perk up my ears and really listen to their message. Coach John Wooden, who turned 99 on October 14 is one of those people. From my youth in the 60's following the phenomenal success of the UCLA Bruins to the later years of reading his books and stories about his success as a college player, coach and brilliant life coach, he has been one of the most influential people in my life. Even if it has been from afar.

A few years ago I wrote a column for the paper about Coach Wooden that ran in March, 2001. It is being reprinted here for his birthday. Hoping to see him reach 100!

Life Lessons from a Hoops Legend

by

Roland Tolliver

I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs. John Wooden

Once upon a time in America there was a little watched basketball tournament that usually featured the same team every year, only their opponents would change. The result in ten out of twelve years was the same, including seven consecutive national championships. The NCAA basketball tournament, the Sweet Sixteen, the great office pool parlayed into millions of dollars in gambling was once played before half-filled stadiums, attended mostly by students there to support their schools. Teams like Loyola and Marquette would even win an occasional title, but nothing like the teams from UCLA and their coach, John Wooden. The glamour of players like Pistol Pete Maravich, Elvin Hayes, Austin Carr, and Calvin Murphy would spark interest in their individual talents on other teams, but it was almost always the team play of UCLA that would walk away with another championship.

For the non-sports fan or those that could care less about college basketball or the tournament, there is hope in the message from the most famous messenger to come out of college basketball. This man who would not allow dunking in practice, who kept meticulous notes of every practice, who stressed that the team work as one unit, whose practices were harder than most games, shared his humble message with legions and legends. Men looked to him as a second father, a mentor, and an exemplary role model. Students of the game have tried to imitate him, some more successfully than others. And through it all, no one has been able to attain even a modicum of his accomplishments during their careers.

I recently came across a book simply titled Wooden by Coach John Wooden with Steve Jamison. I have read a great deal about Coach Wooden, including his biography, They Call Me Coach, and I always learn something new from his insights. In this more recent book Coach Wooden shared a list of principles that his father gave him when he graduated from High School in Indiana. In this day of uncertainty among our youth, the high school shootings and the bullying and harassment of fellow students, these lessons can serve as a starting point for parents and children in gaining an appreciation and a respect for life.

In the chapter titled, "The Gift of a Lifetime", Coach Wooden was given an old wrinkled two-dollar bill and a card with a verse on one side by the Reverend Henry Van Dyke that read:

Four things a man must learn to do

If he would make his life more true:

To think without confusion clearly

To love his fellow-man sincerely,

To act from honest motives purely,

To trust in God and Heaven securely.

On the other side of the card it simply said "Seven Things to Do." It read as follows:

1. Be true to yourself.

2. Help others.

3. Make each day your masterpiece.

4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

5. Make friendship a fine art.

6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.

7. Pray for guidance and count and give thanks for your blessings every day.

These principles are timeless and mean as much, if not more today than they ever have. I especially like the idea of making each day a masterpiece, as each of us has the power to do a little better today than yesterday. Each of us has the opportunity to follow the golden rule with each person we meet, treating them as we would like to be treated and most importantly passing this idea on to our children, who in this period of history are in need of our guidance daily.

I don't know if your team is still in the running for the office pool or the on-line contest. Maybe you are like me and just enjoy the sport and root for a favorite team, "Go Spartans!" I like to see a well-contested, fundamentally sound game. One that is fair and exhibits a level of enthusiasm and determination.

No matter who is left to cut down the nets at the end of the final game, there is one more game left to play, one that is more important than all of the ones it took to reach the pinnacle of a basketball season. This is where Coach Wooden's lessons are best suited and where he felt that he should be making the biggest difference in his players' lives. Coach is now 90 years old and most of his former players and the current group tower over him, but he continues to be held in high esteem by those who know him and those who only know the legend. He continues to stand tall with a quiet voice that speaks volumes. For in the end we still have to play the game of life and that is the one that matters most.

Recent Column in The Journal Standard

The Great Health Care Debate

By

Roland Tolliver

Dan, a small business owner in the Chicago area, conscientiously paid his health insurance premium for over twenty years. Each month the bill would come and each month he would cut a check and forward it to the company. About two summers ago the company received the largest order it had ever had. The company was working almost around the clock and he was right alongside them. Thirty days lapsed and he was notified that his policy was cancelled. A couple of months earlier, he found out that his cholesterol was slightly elevated. He had gone in for a physical prior to running a marathon. Dan offered to send in his check, but the company wouldn’t reinstate him for, yes, you guessed it…a pre-existing condition. Dan cannot get health insurance without paying so much that it would create a major financial hardship for his family and his business. Dan favors the “Public Option” in the health care plan as proposed by the government.

Dan’s story is not unique. We, here in Northwest Illinois, are hearing this type of story almost daily. Businesses are downsizing. People are being “walked to the door” and the ranks of the uninsured or underinsured are growing with each lost job. The emergency rooms are becoming more crowded as people seek health care without the insurance or wherewithal to pay the medical costs. Medicaid ranks are growing, even though the state doesn’t have the money to pay existing bills. The number one reason for bankruptcy in our country is because of health care costs from a catastrophic illness or injury. What is our country to do? How will we be able to afford it? And what cost will there be as a nation becomes sicker, grows older and as the Baby Boomer Generation reaches Medicare age?

I had the opportunity to take part in a Health Care Forum in Chicago on September 1, 2009 at the WTTW studio in Chicago. There were only 24 guests invited to be a part of the audience and the panel included Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senate Majority Whip; Dr. Jeremy Lazarus of the AMA; Dr. Paul Handel of Health Care Service Corp, the parent company of Blue Cross/ Blue Shield Illinois; and Kevin Scanlan of Metropolitan Chicago Health Council, which represents 140 Chicago area hospitals. The hour long program, which was one of the most civilized I’ve seen, focused on some of the major issues which are currently (and will be) affecting Americans from all walks of life. Those of us in Stephenson County and throughout our region represent a microcosm of what is happening throughout the country and the health care issue is being rabidly debated, but goes much deeper than the rhetoric that is offered on the nightly cable news and on talk radio.

I presented a question to the panel about the problem that rural America faces in recruiting and maintaining physicians. There is currently a shortage of between 7,000-10,000 primary care physicians in America. This number is expected to grow to approximately 50,000 by the year 2020. Whether it is a preference for an urban lifestyle over a rural lifestyle, or whether it is the fact that the average medical student is graduating with a student loan debt load of over $155,000 even before they start in practice, fewer physicians are going into general practice. Another factor in the physician shortage is the cost of malpractice. This is another topic in the national debate, but was not addressed at the forum in Chicago. While the reform of tort laws is certainly an important issue, it is not the only factor for the escalating costs of health care.

The debate will continue to rage on, as it has for many years. Some feel that the current administration is forcing their plan onto the public. There is fear of so-called “death panels” and rationing of health care. In some ways, that is already going on in our country. From experience, however, it is not usually the public insurance, i.e. Medicare, which limits a physician’s ability to practice medicine. Their guidelines are straightforward. It is more often private insurance companies that are making the patients and their physicians “jump through hoops” when it comes to ordering necessary exams, prescribing the best medications for certain conditions as indicated, and being able to perform the procedures needed to allow a patient to live a pain-free or at the least, a more comfortable life.

No matter which side of the health care “debate” that one is on, we cannot deny that something has to be done for coverage of over 46,00,000 uninsured people in America. Neither can we afford to continue driving potential doctors away from the medical profession, because we will have an even greater divide in people receiving health care. We in rural America will suffer the consequences at an even greater percentage than in urban areas. We cannot afford this for our sakes, for the sake of our children and grandchildren and for the sake of our community’s overall well-being.

The questions are difficult and real answers about the cost of health insurance, prescription medications and the cost of poor lifestyle choices affect all of us. Let your voices be heard by writing our Senators and Congressmen. When the President speaks to the joint session of Congress this week, we must remember that it is ultimately up to each of us to make informed choices and take ownership in this issue and in our own health, whenever possible.

To view the Health Care forum, please visit WTTW’s Chicago Tonight website

or go to:http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,8&vid=090109a

Dr. Roland Tolliver is a podiatrist and freelance writer from Freeport.

Health Care Forum WTTW

I had the fortune of being one of 24 guests invited to take part in a health care forum at WTTW in Chicago on September 1, 2009. The forum was one of the few that I've seen that has been civil, even though there were dissenting sides of the issue present. The forum's expert panel included Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senate Majority Whip; Dr. Jeremy Lazarus of the AMA; Dr. Paul Handel of BC/BS's parent company; and Kevin Scanlan of Metro Chicago Healthcare Council.

The questions/comments were relavent to the topic, though a couple of issues were either skirted over or weren't discussed in the 53 minute program. The host was Phil Ponce, longtime Chicago television newsman.

The most heated portion of the debate took place between Sen. Durbin and Dr. Handel. The Public Option, while favored by many, is being hotly contested and dissuaded by the Health Insurance companies. I had the most difficulty swallowing the "reason" why the CEO of Health Care Service Corp, the parent company of BC/BS of Illinois makes over 12 Million Dollars per year.

The consensus seems to be that those who have employer-based health care insurance are happy with it and those who are uninsured or underinsured (or like some of us are paying exorbitant amounts for less than optimal insurance with high deductibles) look at the public option as a way of being able to afford health insurance without going bankrupt or struggling to make ends meet.

There has been, and unfortunately always will be, some form of rationing of health care. It happens here in the USA and in countries with socialized or nationalized health programs. The underlying issue is that no matter what comes down through the House and the Senate, it will end up costing more than we can afford. We can't afford to do nothing, either, though.

Health Care Shortage

The site above tells of the current and projected shortage of doctors in America. The push for national healthcare continually forgets one very important fact. In countries that have nationalized or socialized medicine, the physicians are able to go to medical school for much less cost (and in some countries for free) to medical school if they qualify for admission. American medical students are graduating with an average debt of $150,000. How can a student enter practice knowing that they will not be reimbursed at a rate sufficient to cover even their student loans, let alone the additional costs, such as malpractice. Rural areas, where reimbursement rates are lower, will be hit even harder and are already suffering from a physician shortage.

The problem will only get worse with the proposed healthcare initiative being strong-armed into existence by President Obama. We've had patients that have lived in countries, such as Great Britain, with nationalized health care and they've reported that there was a waiting time for basic services of up to six months or more. Insuring more people will not only overwork existing doctors, but will disinsentivize people from considering going into medicine. If there is change in the cost of going to medical school, it would offer more qualified students a chance to study medicine and create an environment where financial renumeration is not such an overarching issue. Somehow, I don't see the cost of medical school going down anytime soon, though.

Father and Son

This is the first weekend that my son, G., and I have had a father and son weekend where we've stayed overnight somewhere. His soccer team has been competing in the Midwest Soccer Cup in St. Charles, Illinois. They had a tough 2-1 loss this morning, but with two wins yesterday and the point totals, they made it into tomorrow's playoffs as the wild card team. It is fun to watch them grow into young men, the current pretzel tossing contest aside, they've taken to competition with a healthy attitude. They are still at the stage where they are playing for the thrill of playing. They like the competition more than practices, but, hey who doesn't.

I remember fishing and hunting trips with my father. There weren't club soccer teams or traveling baseball teams when I was my son's age. Now there are both and club volleyball, basketball and other sports where the kids play throughout the year. I don't know which is better, or maybe it is just that things are different. The joy of trying various sports and activities is missing sometimes, but the level of competition seems to be at such a higher level than in previous years. Either way it is fun to be with the children throughout these endeavors, either athletics, dance, music, or speech (as any one of the children have done at one time or another).

Time for some sleep, as the next game comes around early in the morning.

The Long Weekend

The Twin Cities were the sight of our recent and rare chance to get away for a few days. We are grateful that our daughter and son-in-law are willing to help out with our special-needs daughter, and our other two younger children. This week is special for the fact that my beloved, Irena, will be 50 on Friday. She didn't want a vacation, or a trip to Hawaii, or a "surprise" party. She wanted to go and have an "Oprah Makeover" as was featured on her show. reVamp Salon in Minneapolis is where Christopher Hopkins and his extraordinary staff of designers, estheticians, among others brought out the "new" Irena. Not that I saw anything wrong with the old version. She literally received the royal treatment and the photos do not lie. It is said a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll stop here...

Bird was the Word

I saw Mark "The Bird" Fidrych pitch at Tiger Stadium five times during the summer of '76. He brought a lot of heart and joy to a city that was already starting on a downward trend. The sold out stadium was raucous on those nights and everyone wanted a curtain call whether he pitched a complete game or left early. The only time I remember the stadium being that much fun was the game where Denny McLain won his 30th game.

Mark made the game fun, not only for those in attendance, but for his teammates, as well. He kept the Tigers in almost every game he pitched that season with a 19-9 record and 2.34 ERA. He pitched 24 complete games that year. That is a career for many of the coddled starters in today's game. Hair flopping, mound grooming, and ball talking were just a few of the styles he brought to the field. None of it would have mattered if he hadn't pitched so well, though. It was a competitive nature and pinpoint accuracy that made him what he was that year.

Unfortunately, fame can be fleeting. He injured his knee jumping over the dugout railing (there was that juvenile streak in the fair-haired boyish charm). He tried to come back too soon and with his mechanics off, he then injured his shoulder. The Bird would only go 10-10 the rest of his career only showing glimpses of the brilliance of 1976.

Just like Mark "The Bird" Fidrych left the game too soon, so did he leave this life too soon. There may be no second acts, but there can definitely be fond memories. Godspeed, Bird, may you fly high, throw straight and bring such joy to the next life.