Tue Feb 09 2010
All right, I am going to say what some people are thinking. Some folks will disagree with me and that's fine, but I can keep my silence no more.
After Louisville defeated Marquette last Monday night, Rick Pitino was asked by the talking heads of one network or another to share his views about former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight. Pitino spoke in glowing terms about the "winningest" Division I basketball coach. Pitino was quoted as calling him a "wonderful guy."
Pitino and other coaches called Knight a "credit to (college basketball)" as well as a great teacher of the game. OK, I'm sure the guy has some good qualities.
The man became the youngest NCAA Division I coach and has done some amazing things. The claim that many people have made that Knight never knowingly broke an NCAA rule, while hard for me to swallow, doesn't erase his many other transgressions.
Just like Bill Belichick's failure to return to the field with one second remaining in Super Bowl XLII, and many other coaching faux pas committed throughout history, many of Knight's failures highlight a fundamental problem in sports today. It's not all about winning.
We all look at the win/loss column of coaches and teams and base our opinions on what that column tells us. A team or a coach with more losses is seen as lacking fundamentals, strength, integrity or something. Often that is nowhere near the truth. Look at how people treated Rich Brooks a few years ago compared to how they treat him now.
When Kentucky's men's basketball team got off to a rocky start this started people wanted to send Billy Gillispie back to Texas on the next train, plane, bus, car, balloon or whatever. Now that the Wildcats have won a few games people figure he's an all right guy after all.
So, let's look back on some of Bobby Knight's failures. First of all, I call them failures because a coach should set a good example and teach his players how to be responsible citizens.
How can a coach do that if he is the picture of poor sportsmanship? Let me ask that same question regarding poor taste.
>Knight was arrested in 1979 for assaulting a police officer in Puerto Rico when his team could not gain access to the gym for practice. I guess that's not an NCAA infraction, but you don't assault police officers.
>The famous chair throwing incident came in 1985 and he was suspended by the Big Ten. So, throwing chairs at officials is allowed by the NCAA? I could look it up, but I don't really care that much. It was in poor taste, and that's my point. No matter how boneheaded a call, the throwing of chairs is verboten.
>Knight's comments to Connie Chung in 1988 about rape, which I can't even bring myself to repeat here, were much worse than anything I've heard in a while. I thought Don Imus' comments early last year were reprehensible, and Knight's were as bad if not worse.
I don't think the NCAA or a college should discipline coaches for public statements about politics or personal views. However, his comments were unacceptable.
>Between using profanity and supposedly kicking his son, I could probably write a column or two about each subject. When coaches get mad they sometimes use words that you wouldn't use when talking to Grandma or your priest, minister or rabbi. I don't think that's right, especially if the team is made up of youngsters, but it's certainly not the worst thing that he could have done.
Did Knight kick his son or his son's chair? I don't know, but either way that isn't appropriate behavior.
>Finally "at least the final thing I plan to mention "more than a year ago there was talk that Knight supposedly hit Michael Prince on the chin. Prince, his family and others said that nothing inappropriate occurred, and that's probably actually true in this case. I remember seeing the incident ad nauseam, but it's kind of like seeing a known thief walking down the street with a purse and a gold watch.
Sure, he might walk into the police station and turn those two items over so that the rightful owners can be found, but it would still raise eyebrows.
Coaches need to be above the sort of behavior exhibited by Knight, and most of them are as I see it. Bill "the big tuna" Parcells comes to mind when I think of coaches who could use an attitude adjustment, but tolerance toward shenanigans only hurts the players they're supposed to be teaching.
I say, good riddance!
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