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Burbank, California Thirty-three years had passed since the five men gathering for dinner had last met. Although never formerly introduced the first time around, the three hours they spent together that afternoon would link them for the rest of their lives. Time had been good to all of them. Four were in their 50s. There was a dentist from Oregon, a motivational speaker and a financial analyst from California and a Florida businessman. The fifth man is well into his 90's now. He carries those years with the wisdom of someone three times his age and the clarity of a man 70 years younger. He says he is a teacher first, and indeed he is. The world however, knows him as John Wooden, Basketball Coach Emeritus at UCLA, ESPN's Coach of the Century. The other four men are Dr. Vaughn Wedeking, Andy Hill, John Vallely and Artis Gilmore. The men were hardly alone, and the setting was not nearly as serene on that March afternoon in 1970 when they first gathered. There were 18,000 others in attendance, including me. The space we shared was Cole Field House, on the campus of the University of Maryland. The event was the NCAA Basketball Championship final. Gilmore and Wedeking wore the green and gold of upstart Jacksonville University, where I was a student. Vallely and Hill suited up in the blue and white of the Bruins. A series of coincidences had made the dinner possible. In addition to my TV work, I have also represented baseball great Rod Carew since 1981. During those years we have shared the joy of his 3000th Major League hit in August of 1985 and celebrated six years later when he became only the 22nd person in history to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot. I also stood by the family's side when Rod's 18-year-old daughter Michelle fought her valiant battle against leukemia from September of 1995 through the spring of 1996. Since Michelle passed, Rod has quietly dedicated a great portion of his life to using his celebrity to raise funds for pediatric cancer research.  Left to right (standing): Frank Pace, Dr. Vaughn Wedeking, John Vallely, Andy Hill, Rod Carew (seated) Artis Gilmore, Coach John Wooden. Due in part to one impassioned 1996 speech by Rod to a joint congressional committee, $50 million was appropriated to the National Institutes of Health toward that end. It was through these fundraising efforts that Rod and I met John Vallely who himself had lost a child to cancer in 1991. Together John and Rod would join the Board of Directors of the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation in Southern California, and the Rod Carew Children's Cancer Golf Classic would become a reality. When Vallely offered a private dinner for six with Coach Wooden as an auction item at the 2002 tournament, there was little doubt that Rod and I would enter the winning bid, especially since John was now facing his own battle with lymphoma. There was even less doubt as to whom I would invite to join us. Vaughn and the big fella. We had all remained close since college. When John told me dinner would be at the home of Andy Hill, the night was complete. Andy and I were old friends, having first met in 1984 on a movie set. Andy would later become the President of CBS Productions where he was responsible for the success of shows like Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Touched by an Angel. Hill himself has an interesting history with Wooden. After having played on three National Championship teams at UCLA, Hill barely spoke to Wooden for 25 years, so bitter was Hill that Wooden played him so infrequently during his UCLA years. "Andy always thought I didn't play him because I didn't like him." Wooden chuckled at dinner. "I liked Andy just fine. He didn't play because his teammates were better." It wasn't until Hill realized that the success he had achieved in his professional career was directly linked to the lessons he learned from Coach Wooden that he picked up the phone and made peace with his unexpected mentor. (Ed. Note: See Andy Hill article elsewhere on HOFMAG.com) Carew and his wife Rhonda joined us at dinner. There was also an elephant in the room, so as soon as the last guest arrived, Vallely spoke up. "Let's get this out of the way now so we can get on with the evening, Sidney goal tended Artis." "At least four times," Hill added. All eyes turned to Wooden for the last word. His lips said nothing, but his eyes twinkled volumes. A trace of redemption seemed evident on Artis' face. For those of who don't remember that game, JU jumped out to a ten point lead midway through the first half, with Artis scoring at will. Wooden called a time-out, and when UCLA returned to the floor, 6'8" forward Sidney Wicks – who would go on to have an All-Star NBA career – had positioned himself behind Artis, and center Steve Patterson fronted him. JU was still successful getting the ball to Gilmore, but Wicks "blocked" five of Gilmore's shots. With Artis neutralized, UCLA would cruse to victory. "I thought the ref's were intimidated by UCLA and Coach Wooden," mused Wedeking. Ironically Wooden recalled, "It wasn't my idea to move Wicks behind Gilmore – It was Sidney's. I thought he was crazy, but nothing else was working, so we gave it a try. I did tell Steve Patterson to go back and help Sidney out because he was overmatched." "Of the three National Championships we won, the game against Jacksonville meant the most," said Hill. "We didn't think much of Florida State in '72 or Villanova in '71, but Jacksonville had us scared to death."
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