Wooden’s Wife Had March Madness

In Eddie Einhorn’s new book, “How March Became Madness,” John Wooden says he took his late wife, Nell, on every basketball trip that she was able to go on. And he says that they went to every Final Four together before her death in 1985.

“She kind of judged coaches on whether they brought their wives or not,” Wooden says. “She figured if they didn’t, they must be out catting around.”

Trivia time: It’s well known that Wooden’s UCLA teams won 10 national championships? How many conference championships did they win?

Close call: In the book, Wooden talks about how close he came to not coaching UCLA. He said he had offers from Purdue, Minnesota and UCLA. He said no to Purdue, his alma mater, because of the way it was treating the man he was to replace.

“I decided to take the Minnesota job,” Wooden says, “but they were supposed to call at a certain time and they didn’t. While I was waiting, UCLA called wanting a final answer and I said yes.”

Who’s to argue? Steve Lavin, a guest on Fred Roggin’s 1540 radio show Thursday, was asked to appraise his replacement at UCLA, Ben Howland.

“They finally found a coach who can do the job,” Lavin quipped. “It has been a long time since Coach Wooden was there.”

This title works: Terrell Owens has reached an agreement with a Philadelphia-based production company to be the host of a fitness-related reality TV show.

Randy Hill of Foxsports.com calls the working title “Body by Jerk.”

They have what it takes: Noting that Barry Bonds, Bob Knight and Owens now have their own reality-type TV shows, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “So it’s all about charm and modesty.”

Raw humor: From reader Jack Grimshaw of Orange: “Regarding the Romanian soccer player who decided to retire rather than be traded to another club for 15 kilograms of meat ... just as well his new team didn’t, uh, stake their future on him.”

Another meaty joke: Reader Bill Littlejohn claims the deal fell through “when it was learned that the meat scored only a six on the Wonderlic test.”

Another Wonderlic joke: Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press, on why Vince Young’s first Wonderlic score -- reportedly a six -- makes him a perfect candidate to quarterback the Lions: “He settled for two field goals.”

Looking back: On this day in 1990, Hank Gathers died after collapsing during Loyola Marymount’s West Coast Conference tournament game against Portland. Gathers was averaging 29 points and 10.8 rebounds his final season.

Trivia answer: 19 conference titles in 27 seasons.

And finally: Jay Leno, on why curling attracted so many female viewers during the Winter Olympics: “Think about it: When do women ever get a chance to see a man pick up a broom?”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.