The legendary John Wooden celebrated his 99th birthday on Wednesday. I caught an interview the former UCLA men’s basketball coach did with ESPN, and a couple of things really stood out in my mind.

First, I hope I’m still that sharp if I live to be 99. Few people even make it to that age, and those who do probably aren’t in any sort of state to be giving thought-out answers to the biggest sports Mecca in the world.

Wooden talked about the three rules his players had to follow during his historic run at UCLA. The first was to be on time for everything, the second was to never use profanity and the third was to never criticize a teammate.

Those seem like pretty simple guidelines, but I can pretty much guarantee that most people, not just athletes, don’t live up to those expectations in this day and age. That’s a shame.

For the record, Wooden said the last time he used profanity was when he was 14.

Wooden’s 10 NCAA Tournament titles in 12 years speak for themselves, but coaching is more about wins and losses, especially at the college level.

It’s about being a teacher and a role model for young adults, and Wooden was a master at both.

That’s why he’s absolutely the best coach of all time.