Weighing in on Bobby Knight

Josh Q. Public:  Rows and floes of angel hair; and ice cream castles in the air.

Public Service Announcement:  OK, here we go!  Bobby Knight.  We all saw it by now.  We all saw Bobby give Michael Prince that slap in the face.  That attention grabber.  That attention grabber on the sideline during a timeout.  If we were living in vaccuum, this would be no big deal.  In and of itself, that little jab was nothing.  But we don’t live in a vacuum.  That little jab did not happen in and of itself.  The General has been here before.  And before that.  And before that.  So many before thats, in fact, I’ve lost count.  Now, if we were living in a vacuum, all those “and before thats” would surely have cast Bobby Knight out of the basketball world.  In and of themselves, all those “before thats” would have added up to Bobby Knight being out of our hardwood heads a long time ago.  But again, we don’t live in a vacuum.  That’s what makes the Bobby Knight story so difficult.

In the middle of a game with Kentucky, Knight dope slaps Wildcat coach Joe B. Hall in the back of the head.  Knight wins three National Titles.  Coach Knight gets himself arrested for assaulting a police officer during the Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico.  Coach Knight leads his team to the Gold in said Pan Am Games.  The General drags one of his players off the court by the jersey on national TV.  The General becomes the youngest head coach to win 300 games, 400 games, 600 games and 800 games.  Knight throws a chair across the court to protest a referee’s call during against silly toupee wearing Gene Keady and the hated Purdue Boilermakers.  Over one two-year period, Knight goes 63-1, including back-to-back 18-0 seasons in the Big Ten.  Bobby kicks his own son during a game.  At Indiana, Bobby graduated nearly 80 percent of his players. The national average for Division I schools is 42 percent.  During an interview with Connie Chung, Coach Knight says:  ”I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and let it happen.”  At Indiana, Coach Knight endowed two chairs, one in history and one in law, and raised millions for the library.  The General threw a potted plant at his secretary.  To increase graduation rates, the General has been lobbying the NCAA to adopt this rule: Revoke a team scholarship for every player who doesn’t graduate within five years.  Assistant Coach Ron Felling says Knight threw him off a chair and punched him in the chest.  Knight marched Army to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament three times (and because of West Point’s height requirements, he did it without a player over 6 feet 6).  Bobby Knight feigned whipping Hoosier Calbert Cheaney.  Caught on tape.  Front page news.  Protests by civil rights leaders.  Bobby Knight cuts players for skipping class and for doing drugs. ”Hey Knight, what’s up?”  Bob Knight grabs a student by the arm and berates him for not giving him his propers.  Bob Knight leads Texas Tech to back-to-back-to back NCAA Tournaments.  The first time Tech teams have earned invitations to post-season play in three successive seasons in school history.  Bobby stuffs a belligerent fan into a trashcan during the Final Four.  Bobby’s programs have never been placed under NCAA sanctions.  He once put Tampax in a player’s locker as a motivational insult.    He won Coach of the year honors five times.  Coach Knight slaps Red Raider Michael Prince on the chin for not paying attention.  Coach Knight moved one win closer to catching Dean Smith.  Nine more, and he passes the legendary North Carolina coach for the most wins in Division I history.

Coach Bobby Knight, the General, slaps player Michael Prince for not paying attention.  An incident in and of itself, harmless.  Coach Bobby Knight, the General, moves one win closer to catching legendary Dean Smith.  An event in and of itself one of greatness.  However, we do not live in vacuum.

Public Knowledge:

1.  The whole OJ thing.  Just disgusting, vile, and despicable.  I can’t imagine what’s going through Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman’s families’ minds.  I can’t imagine what’s going through Fox’s.  Yes I can.  The owners of Fox also own the publishing house putting out the Juice’s book.  Disgusting, vile, and despicable.  Now, the big question:  Am I watching?  Sadly, the answer is, probably.  Not for nothing, I remember the day my mother took me down to Belmont Sports Shop and bought me a pair of brand spankin’ new Juicemobiles.  Those Spotbuilt cleats with the orange bottoms.  While I’m rambling.  I remember when she took me to Bradley’s to get my first album ever.  KC and the Sunshine Band.  Shake, shake, shake.  Shake your booty.

2. Fire up that hot stove!  The Toronto Blue Jays are closing in on a deal with free agent, Frank Thomas.  Does that pave the way for a Bonds move to Oakland?  Probably. 

3.  Nuggets forward K-Mart to miss the rest of the season because of a bad right knee.  Shocker.  Has this guy done anything but whine and get hurt since Jason Kidd stopped getting him the rock?

4.  USC to win National Title.  In basketball.  Later.  Maybe.  Guard O.J. Mayo, a two-time Mr. Basketball in Ohio, considered the top prep prospect in the country, has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Trojans.  He he he, Trojans.  This kid has been widely touted as the top player since the seventh grade.  This kid led North College Hill High to two state titles before transferring to Huntington High in West Virginia this year.

5.  King James and the Chosen Ones looking more and more like a championship caliber team every day.  They’ve just won four in a row and own the best record in the Eastern Conference.  Cleveland has been dominating mugs.  Out rebounding everybody in all eight games and shooting 48 percent over the winning streak.  Yowza!

6.  I can’t believe I’m writing this but, the NFL career rushing and TD record holder can add another trophy to his shelf.  Dancing with the Stars winner.  I hope he’s embarrassed.

7.  The Answer will pay for the funeral of a dude who died three years after he was shot in Philly because he refused to hand over his Iverson jersey to a group of teens.  What do you even say about that?  All that comes to mind is, Practice?

8.  Manny for Heilman and Lastings Milledge?  That’s what Big Bad Buster Olney says.  Hey, he was right about D-Mat.  How good would the Mets be with Manny in the middle of that line-up?  Scary good.

9.  News flash!  Phillies still want Soriano.

10.  Sugar Ray Rice.  I hope he busts out against Cincy this week-end.  I hope he wins the Heisman.  I just do.

11.  I don’t about you, but a Sox starting rotation of D-Mat, Papelbon, Boom Boom Beckett, The Thrill, and Tim Wakefield looks pretty gosh darn good to me.  Pretty gosh darn good.

12.  Not for nothing, I like Michigan to win outright over OSU.  That’s just me.  I’m kooky like that.

13.  I know I keep saying but, I love those Pittsburgh Penguins.  The young core of Staal, Crosby, Malkin and Fleury are going to be mighty good for a mighty long time.

14.  I hope the Jets lose every game for the rest of the season.

15.  Sugar Ray Rice and Brian Leonard are not the only Scarlet Knights NFL bound.  Kicker Jeremy ”Don’t Call Me” Judge Ito should find himself in the Show too.

16.  I like the NBA’s new crackdown with the technicals.  Just shut up and play I always say.

Public Spectacles:

Peace out homies.  Six Two and Even!

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