Sorry guys but I’ve seen coaches in Little League that act almost as bad as Knight. Granted they often get booted out of the league but Kight’s behavior isn’t that off the wall for a coach, or a player for that matter. We’re talking competitive sports here. We’re talking aggression. Ever seen Rodman head butt someone? Or McEnroe throw down his racket and cuss the ref? Give me a break. Heck I’ve seen people in the stands at a hockey game make Knight look like a sissy girl! I say his style is exactly what made him a winning coach for so many years. His players didn’t dare screw up! But now they know he’s just a bag of hot air and they can sue the school if he hurts their feelings.
Look, maybe within the world of sports you could tolerate that kind of behavior. (I wouldn’t, whether it’s Knight, McEnroe or anyone else you can name.) Where Knight was really going over the line was all the other stuff–abusing staff members, assaulting students in bars, etc.
Hang on a minute…what the heck am I saying here? NO! It’s not OK for coaches to grab their players by the neck. Just like it’s not OK for Little League coaches to act like Knight. It doesn’t matter how many people do it, assaulting your players is wrong. Don’t give me any bull about “this is competitive sport…this is aggression.” Rodman headbutts someone, he gets suspended. McEnroe throws his racket, he gets defaulted. Knight grabs a player by the neck, he gets excuses made for him. Not anymore, though.
Frank Kush and Woody Hayes are but two examples of coaches who were successful on the field, but who assaulted their players (and in Hayes’ cases, referees, cameramen, and pretty much anyone who got near him when he got mad). Kush and Hayes were fired in the 80’s–so even that kind of behavior wasn’t tolerated. How come it took IU till the 21st century to come to the same conclusion about Knight?
QUOTE]*Originally posted by Duke *
**How come it took IU till the 21st century to come to the same conclusion about Knight? **
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Let’s be honest here. We’re talking about big-time college sports. There must have been AT LEAST 2 things that kept Bobby Knight at IU for 29 years.
National recognition. Granted his teams haven’t challenged for a title in years, but he always would get headlines. Unfortunately, most of us remember the stories about his chair throwing, and about the players who transfer to get the hell away from him. Many schools love publicity, and the attitude that any publicity is good publicity may still prevail.
Alumni. For what ever reason the IU alumni are in love with Knight. Perhaps they remember the good years under Knight and keep hoping for a return to glory. The AD sure isn’t going to make a stink, when the feelings of the alumni (and their checkbooks) were in favour of Knight. The school president, I would be willing to bet, has heard from more than one alum that they won’t be writing cheques that are as big as they were in the past.
Bobby Knight was a hypocrite to the highest degree. A proclaimed moral man who was said he was trying to instill respect and discipline on his players (and others), yet failed miserably to give the same respect to those around him. He was a man who never concieved that in a given situation he might be wrong. His cult following is as big a sham as he is.
Methinks not everything is in the open with this. IU has been tolearating Bobby Knight for too long to suddenly have a change of heart. Either 1) somebody realized this guy was a walking lawsuit and the university was going to lose their proverbial shirt, 2) it is an easy way to terminate the contract of somebody that is beyond their time for fielding a winning team, or 3) something happened that made up their mind aside from his normal antics.
My own take on this guy? There is more to being a man than winning. How you lose is at least as important as how you win. It’s a sad testiony that many people worship this person. Kids are throwing away their college careers and leaving school because “there’s no reason to go on” anymore. If Bobby Knight had any balls at all, he would address these idiots and tell them to go back to school, get on with their lives, and make something of themselves. Instead, all he can do is try to cover his ass and encourage people to rage against the school.
I would respond as Mr. Cheney did: “yeah, big time, big time.”
Look I wasn’t defending Knight’s behavior, on the contrary. I’m just saying that to call Knight a hypocrite is silly. The powers-that-be at IU are the hypocrites.