A few minutes with UCLA basketball legend John Wooden

NG: Who is your all-time favorite UCLA football player?

JW: It would be more than one. I guess Gary Beban would be one of mine. He was a quarterback and a Heisman Trophy winner. He''s been an extremely successful businessman, but more importantly he''s an extremely nice person.

NG : How about a favorite who didn''t play for UCLA?

JW: One of my favorite all-time players when I was younger was Red Grange. I had the good fortune of seeing him play one time, and I just was amazed. He has always been one of my favorites. When I think about the all-time team, Red Grange has to be on it.

NG: What Red Grange game did you see?

JW: The 1924 game against Michigan. The first three or four times he carried the ball, he went for touchdowns of some distance. I was with my family. I saw him play later with the Bears in Chicago.

NG: Did you ever coach football?

JW: No, I didn''t. I never really wanted to.

NG: Why hasn''t UCLA been able to dominate in football like you dominated in basketball?

JW: I couldn''t answer that. They''ve had good football teams. They just haven''t had a great run as Notre Dame did or Oklahoma or some of the others. Illinois thrashed them terribly in the Rose Bowl just before I came out here.

NG: Do you prefer watching offense or defense in football?

JW: I''ve felt that defense wins championships. In any sport. In baseball, I like to watch the double play. To me a home run, a trot around the bases, I don''t see much fun in that. I watch the defense in basketball. Phil Jackson, one of his great strengths that hasn''t been noticed has been his defense.

NG: What''s your favorite position to watch?

JW: It''s difficult to see the linemen. But I like to watch the linemen. They are the ones doing the tough job up there.

NG: Who are smarter, point guards or quarterbacks?

JW: They both have to be very, very smart.

NG: Who are tougher, power forwards or linebackers?

JW: Linebackers.

NG: Which one of your former players did you think would be a great football player?

JW: I had many. I think Keith Erickson could have been an All-Pro defensive end. I think Rafer Johnson could have been an All-Pro defensive back. They are two of the greatest athletes I ever had. Erickson played the No. 5 position on my pressing defense, and I never had anybody else who could play it anyway near the way he did.

NG: How often do you get to the Rose Bowl?

JW: I''m at all the home UCLA games.