September 12, 2010

As of the time I read the article, the NYT had run it with an AP byline at the top.

Shoddy. Some individual(s) put enough time into that piece to warrant a named byline. The Times should have demanded one.

On the other hand, maybe it's just as well. The article stated:

"Knight spent nearly three decades carefully building the image for Indiana's signature sports program."

Never mind the moments of utter carelessness and image destructiveness.

For once, I totally agree with Fife. IU should have either cut ties with Knight well prior to when they did, or found a way to make it workable.

Personally, I would have cashiered him immediately after he spoke his mind on the inevitability of rape. That offended me more than the player grabbing and chair throwing. It doesn't get mentioned nearly as much as the other transgressions. Lord knows what wise counsel he gave to his teams on casual day to day basis behind closed doors.

Addressing Knight's behavioral issues and any underlying disorders he may have/had would have been an enormous undertaking. He would not likely have been a willing or cooperative patient. With every year that went by with him not getting help, the situation just got worse.

Not much progress to be found here. Knight is still playing the eternally wounded victim, doesn't appear to have grown to the point where he can accept any responsibility for his past actions and their significance and see things from a larger perspective. It's still all about Bob Knight.

Might as well end on an up note. One of the things I most admire about Coach Knight concerns the money angle, which also doesn't get mentioned often. I don't recall that he ever made his contract or compensation an issue at IU; he coached his butt off and took what they paid him, which as time went by came to be a hell of a lot less money than other people were making.

posted by beaverboard at 08:56 AM on September 12, 2010