Knight

[50's PONY]

Question is when, not if, Knight falls at Texas Tech
Feb. 3, 2004
By Gregg Doyel
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Gregg your opinion!



As his behavior erodes beyond boorishness and encroaches on the limits of acceptability, Texas Tech coach Bob Knight has sounded the countdown to the end of his coaching career.

At this point, with Knight following his cursing rant during a December interview with a public skewering of his chancellor, David Smith on Monday night, the end of his Hall of Fame coaching career is coming into focus.


Bobby Knight has avoided a suspension, instead being reprimanded by Texas Tech. (AP)
Knight avoided a suspension Tuesday for the verbal altercation, but he will go down ugly at Texas Tech, just as he went down ugly at Indiana. That no longer seems to be in doubt.

At this point, the only question is when. Only those with Knight-vision refuse to see what the future will bring.

Knight's behavior has devolved in recent months, beginning in early December with his public scolding of SMU fans. He mused to local reporters that New Mexico fans "from a morality standpoint (are) a hell of a long way ahead of the Methodists, I'll tell you that. I joined the church of New Mexico and left the Methodists."

Days later, Knight scolded Tech fans for not selling out games at Lubbock, then challenged Dallas-area fans to fill American Airlines Center on Dec. 22 for a game against Iowa -- if they wanted the Red Raiders to return.

At halftime of the Iowa game, ESPN aired an interview with Knight in which he seemingly went out of his way to be profane, at one point daring the network to replace his curses with bleeps.

Texas Tech officials were mortified, even athletic director Gerald Myers, a longtime friend who hired Knight in March 2001. Myers issued a statement that said in part, "Neither the university nor the athletic department in any way condones" Knight's behavior.

Shame on Myers if he expected anything more from Knight.

This is a man who choked a player and attacked an assistant coach ... fired a starter's pistol during a press conference to scare a reporter ... suggested rape victims should "relax and enjoy it" ... threw a chair across the court during a Big Ten game ... shattered a vase against a wall during an argument with a secretary.

At another program, Knight could have been fired for any of these offenses and almost certainly would have been fired eventually for their cumulative effect.

At Indiana, where he won three national championships, he was a hero. To this day, Knight has an eerie level of support from Indiana fans who ignored or even defended Knight's indefensible behavior because he won national championships, ran a clean program and graduated players.

Indeed, Knight is among the greatest coaches in basketball history, surpassed only by John Wooden, and he has won with admirable integrity.

He is a genius on the court, but a churlish demagogue off it. His temper destroyed his career at Indiana, and unless he is capable of the kind of behavioral turnaround that eluded him at Indiana, it will destroy his career at Texas Tech, too.

Until that day comes, Knight will continue to test his superiors, probing them for weaknesses as if they were a zone press.

That's what happened in September 2000, when he violated Indiana's zero-tolerance ultimatum after four months by grabbing Indiana freshman Kent Harvey and berating him. The trigger was so minor -- Harvey greeted the coach with, "Hey, Knight, what's up?" -- that Knight's firing the next day seemed self-inflicted.

Then again, it's possible Knight thought he could get away with strong-arming a student. Like a spoiled kid, Knight had gotten away with bratty, sometimes criminal, behavior for decades until then-Indiana president Myles Brand issued the ultimatum in May 2000.

Through the years, elevated above the rules of common decency, Knight must have felt untouchable.

Knight's not untouchable, and unless he has finally gotten the message, he is on borrowed time.



Talk Back!
Time Subject Author
10:14 pm Re: bob knight for president

[MrMustang1965]

I'm not a fan of BK. But it's a well-known fact in TT circles that the chancellor never has liked him. This entire episode reeks of a 'set-up' by the chancellor to get BK fired. At least the 'truth' came out about the entire incident (the chancellor ain't too smart...he pulled this idiotic stunt in a public venue where there were plenty of witnesses) and now, after some intervention by the fans, students and influential alumni, Knight has been given a 'reprimand', instead of a suspension. My question: who 'reprimands' the chancellor for being just as much of an [deleted] as BK can be at times? :whistling:

[StangEsq]

Good luck with that. The chancellor has been there for what, 6 months? Knight would have to shoot him before he could justify getting his head lopped off.

[OldPony]

Bobby has never taken responsibility for anything. It is always someone else's fault. He only apologigizes for his reactions (ie someone else was doing something bad and I over reacted). It was SMU fans fault that he lost to the Ponies. They were calli9ng him profanne things. The Chacellor was at fault by suggesting he had issues that he needed to deal with. It is NEVER Bobby's fault.
In reality, no one should be blamed or take any part of the blame except BK ---- only Knight sycophants disagree.