Out of print for more than 30 years, now available for the first time as an eBook, this is the controversial story of John Wooden's first 25 years and first 8 NCAA Championships as UCLA Head Basketball Coach. This is the only book that gives a true picture of the character of John Wooden and the influence of his assistant, Jerry Norman, whose contributions Wooden  ignored and tried to bury.

Compiled with more than 40 hours of interviews with Coach Wooden, learn about the man behind the coach. The players tell their stories in their own words.

Click the book to read the first chapter and for ordering information. Also available on Kindle.

The Spy Who Dumped Me (3/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 117 minutes

R

Rarely will you see a movie with a more unappealing character as that presented by Kate McKinnon. Her performance is like a grain of sand in your eye; and she’s in almost every scene! The question is; who is at fault? Is it terrible directing (Susanna Fogel), a horrible script (Fogel & David Iserson), or McKinnon herself. Or all three (my vote)? Maybe we shouldn’t blame poor Kate alone. She gave it her all. Lucille Ball couldn't have done much with this material, but she probably would have been wise enough not to try it.

In a chick flick disguised as a comedy-thriller, Audrey (Myla Kunis) and Morgan (McKinnon) are thirtysomething best friends in Los Angeles when they are suddenly thrust into international intrigue and violence that takes them to Vienna and a bunch of other beautiful locations.

It is unremittingly agonizing to sit through this nonsense. There is not an iota of reality as McKinnon continues in scene after scene to wisecrack and overact and just generally make viewers miserable. The only reason I give this a few points is that the locations are beautiful, and provide a little solace against what the actors are doing and saying.

The folly of this is that had they played it straight it could have been a pretty good thriller. Apparently thinking they are a female Martin & Lewis (watching Dean and Jerry now after so many years reveals that Jerry’s humor was appealing to my pre-teenage mind and is just silly for someone more mature), the feeble attempt at comedy makes it virtually unwatchable. It was so bad that after only a few moments, I was yearning for the good old days of last week watching Tom Cruise navigate through the interminable Mission Impossible. Comparing the two, this movie proves the truth of the old adage, “There was never a horse that couldn’t be rode and never a man who couldn’t be throwed.” Or, to paraphrase, there is nothing so bad that something else can’t be worse.