by John Walters

Starting Five

1. More of the Ladder

John Wooden: 10-0 in national championship games, all at UCLA.

Geno Auriemma: 10-0 in national championship games, all at UConn.

Going 10-0 in championship games, in any sport at any level, is the imprimatur of a closer. Geno Auriemma is a paragon of natural selection. When I spent my season with him and his staff and players in 2000-01, he used to say that he’d considered being a lawyer. He’d have been great at that, too.

What makes Geno who he is? He has a boundless reserve of confidence that is buffeted with a realistic vision of what is required to make his dreams come true. Some people are cocky but have no work ethic. Some people work really hard but deep down don’t really believe they are supposed to win. Geno has both.

Also, he’s very funny.

Did you hear him tell the story of meeting the Wizard of Westwood, spending 15 minutes with him, and then later learning that Wooden said he’d never met Geno but he seemed like a nice man? That’s the kind of story Geno loves: and he will repeat it to his players as a lesson. He loves even more that he took the brunt of it.

2. Jimmy’s Choice

In the season finale of Better Call Saul, our hero comes to a fork in the road–either that or the one main interchange in all of New Mexico, where the I-40 meets the I-25. Anyway, Kim Wexler, a loyal friend and a fabulous babe who appreciates all that Jimmy has done not only for her, but to elevate himself, lands him an opportunity for a gig in Santa Fe with a partnership track.

Instead, Jimmy chooses the dark side. I saw what the producers did to make that seem like the more seductive option, but I never bought that any more than I bought that Kennedy half-dollar scam. Or the watch scam. Me, I’m taking the $1,000 in the wallet EVERY DAMN TIME. Bird in the hand and all that rot.

For the record, I’m also not buying that there’s a woman in Cicero dumb enough to mistake Bob Odenkirk for Kevin Costner.

Sure, Jimmy is so hurt by what Chuck did and maybe he is disillusioned. But I just don’t buy, after all he’s done to fly straight, that lame grifts that literally lead you down a dark alley and an unceremonious death, are more attractive than stature, a lucrative job, and a chance to finally win Kim’s heart. Besides, have you BEEN to Santa Fe???? I lived there for a year. Give me that lovely setting, Tomasita’s and El Farol, and I’m set.

Also, I loved how Sepinwall notes here that all along Howard Hamlin was the good guy whom we thought was a jerk, and Chuck was the jerk who thinks he’s a good guy.

3. Night Hawks

Chris Copeland of the Indiana Pacers got stabbed in the stomach outside the 1OAK nightclub in the Chelsea section of Manhattan last night. He’ll survive.

That’s not the story, to me. The story is how two Atlanta Hawks, Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic, were also on the scene and were arrested for obstruction of justice (hed: “Antic’s Antics Earn Him Arrest”). See, the Hawks had only beaten the Phoenix Suns hours earlier in Atlanta. And the Hawks play at Brooklyn tonight.

So in betwixt back-to-backs, two Hawks are out at 4 a.m. at a club. I got it: the Hawks have already clinched the No. 1 playoff berth in the East. And these guys don’t go lights out at 11 p.m. or should I stay up to watch The Daily Show, anyway. I get it.

However, the next time you hear a coach tell you he’s giving a player a night off, well, he’d have to do that less if so many of these guys weren’t out until dawn the day of the game. A good friend of mine who used to coach in the NBA once told me, “How much better a product this would be if a good number of these guys weren’t playing with a hangover. Or without a decent night’s sleep.”

It’s the difference between getting a rest and getting arrested.

4. Lamb Chops

The season is just two games old for each team, so let’s accept that this is overly premature, but Arizona Diamondback rookie 3rd baseman Jake Lamb leads the majors with seven RBI. And he has that movie star glow. Plus, a cool name. Former U-Dub player who was raised in Seattle. Keep an eye on him.

5. LeBouef’s Rule

I met business author Michael LeBoeuf this morning and he imparted some wisdom that he shares with college students. I’m all about the life philosophies these days. Anyway, it goes a little like this:

A good life comes from making good choices.

Good choices comes from experience.

Experience comes from making bad choices.

So, whether they are your own or others’, learn from bad choices and have a good life.

Music 101

American Girl

How to kick-start one of the great and enduring American rock-and-roll careers of all time? Write an urgent, teen-angst tune that exceeds everyone’s expectations and put it on your debut album. Tom Petty wrote this soon after he moved to California, when he lived in Encino. As much as I love Bruce, I think Petty comes as close as anyone among American rock songwriters for matching him song-for-song. Is this his best? You decide.

Also, considering how many artists have “borrowed” from Petty’s riffs and melodies, two ironies here: 1) he himself is borrowing from The Byrds’ sound and 2) I don’t think Petty has ever threatened the doll company American Girl with legal action. Or has he?

Remote Patrol

Nothing on. Do you really want to watch the Celtics at the Pistons? No, you don’t.