As a student, I’m not one to generally show up to class more than a couple minutes prior to the beginning of lecture, but yesterday afternoon I had a little extra motivation to arrive at my Sports Business 199 class a bit ahead of schedule.
And by a bit, I mean 20 minutes.
Why the extra pep in my step? Well, we had a pretty substantial guest speaker on this day by the name of Bill Walton. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
During our regularly scheduled Tuesday and Thursday classes, the room will fill up with about 70 or so students. But yesterday afternoon, I wouldn’t hesitate to say we had close to double that amount in attendance. The majority arrived 10 minutes before class was officially set to begin, and as each new person entered the room, the entire class turned their heads in unison to catch the first glimpse of Bill Walton. I’ll admit that I was just as guilty as the next guy, chomping at the bit to see what Bill Walton would bring to
our classroom.
And he didn’t disappoint. But with one of the greatest basketball resumes in the history of game, I was somewhat taken aback by how little he actually spoke about his professional playing days. Walton brought with him several messages about life and the lessons he’s learned during his highly eventful 57 years on earth.
But one thing is for certain; Walton is a UCLA Bruin to his core.
The three-time Naismith College Player of the Year award winner enjoyed his time at UCLA so much that after being taken first overall in the 1974 NBA Draft and getting rewarded with the highest salary in the history of professional basketball at that time, his “quality of life dropped off.”
Coming from an impoverished home, Walton said he was able to get by with a $128 check each week provided to him by UCLA for all expenditures. Then in the blink of an eye, he was employed by the Portland Trail Blazers, and the sky was the limit both basketball-wise and financially.
“Blazer fans made me the best player I ever was,” Walton said during his press conference prior to the start of last night’s men’s basketball game.
Listening to him speak, there’s no doubt Walton has done more than his fair share of public speaking throughout his life. A finely polished speaker — and still visibly physically fit I might add — one of his most interesting points regarded his experience as a broadcaster.
“We’re selling soap,” Walton said.
At first I didn’t have a clue what “selling soap” meant, but as he dove deeper into the story it began to make sense. When he first began broadcasting, soap companies were largely in control of the commercials that aired during the game. And commercials were then, and still are today, where the money is. Continuing on, Walton said the games and the players did not matter in the grand scheme of things, and they were all in the soap-selling business. Indeed, it was a strange way to view it, but true nonetheless.
I never thought I would actually see Bill Walton on three separate occasions in one day, but yesterday I did. It was an absolute pleasure to meet such a humble and prolific sports figure considering the impact he’s had on the game of basketball.
What will my lasting image of him be? No question it is his 6-foot-11-inch frame standing in his original 1970s letterman’s jacket breaking the Bruins huddle prior to tipoff last night — one of the many things I’m lucky enough to have seen in sports this year.
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Seeing Walton thrice was quite nice
Daily Emerald
January 28, 2010
Jack Hunter
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