The biggest story of the college hoops year has been the resignation of Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight. The media covered the story heavily, but still gave no apparent reason for Knight stepping down. If you listen to the words of the now former Tech coach, it doesn’t even sound like something permanent, leaving the door open for coaching positions in the future. But unlike your national news services, I’m not going to celebrate his “retirement” by focusing on his 902 victories, most winning coach in men’s basketball, and blah blah blah. I’m just going to say it as it is. Bobby Knight is an a$$hole.
The sudden retirement marks another chapter in the life of the most overgrown kid in sports. Outside of the wins and his 3 national titles, his actions on and off the court have been childlike. As a parent, your child is punished for the temper tantrums and unnecessary outbursts. But as a coach, the NCAA allowed it to continue for years, if your name is “Bobby Knight”.
Temple’s John Chaney was slammed by the media in ‘94, for his postgame explosion and threats to kill former UMass coach John Calipari. The NCAA and Temple University demanded and received an apology. Put that man in a red sweater, with either an “IU” or “TT” embroidered on the front, and suddenly there is no pressure for apologies. If the man’s name is Bobby Knight, suddenly it’s not a terrible act, but the terrible twos or terrible 52’s, etc.
The Indiana Hoosiers finally had enough of Knight and sent him packing in 2000. But seriously, how much of his $h!t did they put up with, and for how long? This is a person designated to assist young boys in becoming men, yet he’s never showed any signs of being a man himself. In fact, the sniveling baby showed more signs of needing a pacifier than anything else.
This is the man you want assisting in your child’s steps to adulthood:
I’ll admit the man has done more with less talent than Dean Smith, John Wooden, Joe B. Hall, and some others. But the overachievement of his teams can’t make me ignore the wild man that paces the sidelines. How far did Woody Hayes get at Ohio State? Did anyone cut him some slack, because he was fielding a winner on the football field?
Here are some of the news worthy events in the life of Bobby Knight:
- In 1979, Knight was arrested for assaulting a police officer during the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. Knight was angry that a practice gymnasium was not opened to his team, which went on to a 9-0 record in the tournament. Knight was later convicted in absentia in a Puerto Rican court. However, the charges were later dropped when Indiana Governor Otis R. Bowen refused to cooperate in extraditing Knight to the island commonwealth.
-In 1985, Knight threw a chair across the court to protest a referee's call during a game against the rival Purdue Boilermakers. Knight was suspended for one game and received two years' probation from the Big Ten Conference.
-Women's groups nationwide were outraged by Knight's comments during an April, 1988 interview with Connie Chung in which he said, "I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it." Knight's comment was in reference to an Indiana basketball game in which he felt the referees were making poor calls against the Hoosiers.
-Knight allegedly kicked his own son, Patrick Knight, during a 1993 game (Knight claims he actually kicked a chair).-Knight was shown berating an NCAA volunteer at a 1995 post-game press conference following a 65-60 loss to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament held in Boise, Idaho. The volunteer, Rance Pugmire, informed the press that Knight would not be attending the press conference, when in reality, Knight was running a few minutes late and had planned on attending per NCAA rules. Knight was shown saying: "You've only got two people that are going to tell you I'm not going to be here. One is our SID (sports information director), and the other is me. Who the hell told you I wasn't going to be here? I'd like to know. Do you have any idea who it was?...Who?...They were from Indiana, right?...No, they weren't from Indiana, and you didn't get it from anybody from Indiana, did you?...No, I—I'll handle this the way I want to handle it now that I'm here. You (EXPLETIVE) it up to begin with. Now just sit there or leave. I don't give (EXPLETIVE) what you do. Now back to the game."
-On March 14, 2000, just before Indiana was to begin play in the NCAA tournament, the CNN/SI network ran a piece on Knight in which former player Neil Reed claimed he was choked by Knight in a 1997 practice. Knight denied the claims in the story.
-On April 11, 2000 CNN/SI aired a tape of an IU practice from 1997 that showed Knight with his hand around the neck of Neil Reed.
-In February 2004, Knight made national headlines when he had an argument with then Texas Tech University Chancellor David Smith at a Lubbock supermarket.-In March 2006, a student's heckling at Baylor University resulted in Knight having to be restrained by a police officer. The incident was not severe enough to warrant any action from the Big 12 Conference.
-On November 13, 2006, Knight was shown allegedly hitting player Michael Prince under the chin to get him to make eye contact. Although Knight didn't comment on the incident afterwards and as of yet hasn't done so, Prince, his parents, and Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers insisted that Knight did nothing wrong and that he merely lifted Prince's chin and told him "Hold your head up and don't worry about mistakes. Just play the game." Prince commented, "He was trying to teach me and I had my head down so he raised my chin up. He was telling me to go out there and don't be afraid to make mistakes. He said I was being too hard on myself."
-On October 21, 2007, James Simpson of Lubbock, Texas, accused Knight of firing a shotgun in his direction after he yelled at Knight and another man for hunting too close to his home. Knight denied the allegations. An argument between the two men was recorded via camera phone and aired later on television.
*source: Wikpedia
Now Bobby has temporarily retired from coaching college basketball, and his son takes over at Texas Tech. Go ahead ESPN, Fox, and whoever else, and celebrate the achievements of this “great” man. Go ahead and celebrate that he just quit on his team. The same media outlets that threw Bobby Petrino under the bus for quitting on the Atlanta Falcons won’t even take a stab at this Bobby in Texas. Sure, Petrino left a group a guys to go coach another group, but does it make it any worse than what Knight has done?
Unlike the professional level, college players are not drafted. They choose the programs and coach they want to be with for the next 4 years of their life. If Petrino is a snake for running away from multimillionaires that were mostly there before him, and didn’t make Petrino’s hire a deciding factor to play for the Falcons, why is Knight’s stepping down so gracious? He QUIT on all those recruits, and in the middle of the season. He can walk away, but they are locked in for 4 years or will have to sacrifice a year of eligibility to transfer.
One thing Knight mentions in this clip of ESPN’s “top 10 Bobby Knight soundbites” is that when he dies all his critics can kiss his ass. Well, he didn’t have to die, but just retire, because all I’m seeing from the media is a lot of a$$ kissing. But as for myself, I won’t pucker my lips. I’ll just righteously put my foot in his a$$, as it still seems the proper thing to do.
Resignation does not delete files and erase the past. It’s supposed to put an entire career in perspective, but some of us have chosen to skip over the negatives.
The sudden retirement marks another chapter in the life of the most overgrown kid in sports. Outside of the wins and his 3 national titles, his actions on and off the court have been childlike. As a parent, your child is punished for the temper tantrums and unnecessary outbursts. But as a coach, the NCAA allowed it to continue for years, if your name is “Bobby Knight”.
Temple’s John Chaney was slammed by the media in ‘94, for his postgame explosion and threats to kill former UMass coach John Calipari. The NCAA and Temple University demanded and received an apology. Put that man in a red sweater, with either an “IU” or “TT” embroidered on the front, and suddenly there is no pressure for apologies. If the man’s name is Bobby Knight, suddenly it’s not a terrible act, but the terrible twos or terrible 52’s, etc.
The Indiana Hoosiers finally had enough of Knight and sent him packing in 2000. But seriously, how much of his $h!t did they put up with, and for how long? This is a person designated to assist young boys in becoming men, yet he’s never showed any signs of being a man himself. In fact, the sniveling baby showed more signs of needing a pacifier than anything else.
This is the man you want assisting in your child’s steps to adulthood:
I’ll admit the man has done more with less talent than Dean Smith, John Wooden, Joe B. Hall, and some others. But the overachievement of his teams can’t make me ignore the wild man that paces the sidelines. How far did Woody Hayes get at Ohio State? Did anyone cut him some slack, because he was fielding a winner on the football field?
Here are some of the news worthy events in the life of Bobby Knight:
- In 1979, Knight was arrested for assaulting a police officer during the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. Knight was angry that a practice gymnasium was not opened to his team, which went on to a 9-0 record in the tournament. Knight was later convicted in absentia in a Puerto Rican court. However, the charges were later dropped when Indiana Governor Otis R. Bowen refused to cooperate in extraditing Knight to the island commonwealth.
-In 1985, Knight threw a chair across the court to protest a referee's call during a game against the rival Purdue Boilermakers. Knight was suspended for one game and received two years' probation from the Big Ten Conference.
-Women's groups nationwide were outraged by Knight's comments during an April, 1988 interview with Connie Chung in which he said, "I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it." Knight's comment was in reference to an Indiana basketball game in which he felt the referees were making poor calls against the Hoosiers.
-Knight allegedly kicked his own son, Patrick Knight, during a 1993 game (Knight claims he actually kicked a chair).-Knight was shown berating an NCAA volunteer at a 1995 post-game press conference following a 65-60 loss to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament held in Boise, Idaho. The volunteer, Rance Pugmire, informed the press that Knight would not be attending the press conference, when in reality, Knight was running a few minutes late and had planned on attending per NCAA rules. Knight was shown saying: "You've only got two people that are going to tell you I'm not going to be here. One is our SID (sports information director), and the other is me. Who the hell told you I wasn't going to be here? I'd like to know. Do you have any idea who it was?...Who?...They were from Indiana, right?...No, they weren't from Indiana, and you didn't get it from anybody from Indiana, did you?...No, I—I'll handle this the way I want to handle it now that I'm here. You (EXPLETIVE) it up to begin with. Now just sit there or leave. I don't give (EXPLETIVE) what you do. Now back to the game."
-On March 14, 2000, just before Indiana was to begin play in the NCAA tournament, the CNN/SI network ran a piece on Knight in which former player Neil Reed claimed he was choked by Knight in a 1997 practice. Knight denied the claims in the story.
-On April 11, 2000 CNN/SI aired a tape of an IU practice from 1997 that showed Knight with his hand around the neck of Neil Reed.
-In February 2004, Knight made national headlines when he had an argument with then Texas Tech University Chancellor David Smith at a Lubbock supermarket.-In March 2006, a student's heckling at Baylor University resulted in Knight having to be restrained by a police officer. The incident was not severe enough to warrant any action from the Big 12 Conference.
-On November 13, 2006, Knight was shown allegedly hitting player Michael Prince under the chin to get him to make eye contact. Although Knight didn't comment on the incident afterwards and as of yet hasn't done so, Prince, his parents, and Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers insisted that Knight did nothing wrong and that he merely lifted Prince's chin and told him "Hold your head up and don't worry about mistakes. Just play the game." Prince commented, "He was trying to teach me and I had my head down so he raised my chin up. He was telling me to go out there and don't be afraid to make mistakes. He said I was being too hard on myself."
-On October 21, 2007, James Simpson of Lubbock, Texas, accused Knight of firing a shotgun in his direction after he yelled at Knight and another man for hunting too close to his home. Knight denied the allegations. An argument between the two men was recorded via camera phone and aired later on television.
*source: Wikpedia
Now Bobby has temporarily retired from coaching college basketball, and his son takes over at Texas Tech. Go ahead ESPN, Fox, and whoever else, and celebrate the achievements of this “great” man. Go ahead and celebrate that he just quit on his team. The same media outlets that threw Bobby Petrino under the bus for quitting on the Atlanta Falcons won’t even take a stab at this Bobby in Texas. Sure, Petrino left a group a guys to go coach another group, but does it make it any worse than what Knight has done?
Unlike the professional level, college players are not drafted. They choose the programs and coach they want to be with for the next 4 years of their life. If Petrino is a snake for running away from multimillionaires that were mostly there before him, and didn’t make Petrino’s hire a deciding factor to play for the Falcons, why is Knight’s stepping down so gracious? He QUIT on all those recruits, and in the middle of the season. He can walk away, but they are locked in for 4 years or will have to sacrifice a year of eligibility to transfer.
One thing Knight mentions in this clip of ESPN’s “top 10 Bobby Knight soundbites” is that when he dies all his critics can kiss his ass. Well, he didn’t have to die, but just retire, because all I’m seeing from the media is a lot of a$$ kissing. But as for myself, I won’t pucker my lips. I’ll just righteously put my foot in his a$$, as it still seems the proper thing to do.
Resignation does not delete files and erase the past. It’s supposed to put an entire career in perspective, but some of us have chosen to skip over the negatives.
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