Bobby Knight at the football complex today - picture

Bobby Knight is a disgrace as a human being. He doesn't have the maturity of a 12 year old. I wouldn't let my kids go within a 100 yards of him. Anyone willing to overlook his disgusting behavior just because he won a few basketball titles should do some serious soul searching. What else are you willing to overlook in people because they are good at what they do?

I actually met Bobby Knight about 13 yrs ago in LaJolla, CA following the NCAA big dance. I ran into him at a restaurant and walked up to him and said, "hi, I'm a close personal friend of Sid Hartman's" he laughed out loud and we had a nice conversation. He couldn't have been nicer to me. So let's not go overboard calling him a "disgrace as a human being", he's anything BUT that. Granted it was just a chance meeting but I love his coaching and his grit.
 

Art, any thread you post on is the wrong thread.

That was one of your best ones Doc.

On a side note; wasn't there a school that held an annual chair throwing contest in Knight's honor? My memory says St Thomas. Anyone?
 

This reminds me of a pamphlet we used to hand out at a woman's crisis center I volunteered at.

Nice accusation there. OMG, he abused college basketball players, whom probably could take the old man out back the wood shed and tie him in knots. Get over it.

The fact that his winning percentage enters into this conversation at all shows how messed up the priorities of most sports fans are. There are a lot of winners who are flat out terrible people.

Nice to know that the court of opinion is the one judge we much adhere to.
 

Nice accusation there. OMG, he abused college basketball players, whom probably could take the old man out back the wood shed and tie him in knots. Get over it.
Unsurprisingly you missed the point.
Nice to know that the court of opinion is the one judge we much adhere to.
I am equally unsurprised that you both support the man and, as usual, want to shut down discussion.
 

Unsurprisingly you missed the point.

Elaborate then, oh wise one.

I am equally unsurprised that you both support the man and, as usual, want to shut down discussion.

Did I say somewhere that I support him? Where did I say we shouldn't discuss this? I apparently can't get over how many people are still butthurt over some actions this old fogey did about 3 or 4 coaching eras ago.
 


I would think, as far as principles go, not putting your hands on players would be sacrosanct.
 

99% of players who played for Knight won't say a bad word about him. They spent four years with the guy. I'll take their word over a bunch of idiots on a message board who have never even met him.
 


99% of players who played for Knight won't say a bad word about him. They spent four years with the guy. I'll take their word over a bunch of idiots on a message board who have never even met him.

We can read, Moron.

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Short history of the behavior that has made Bobby Knight a national embarrassment


1970s

It was reported (although years after the incident) that Knight choked and punched IU's longtime sports information director, Kit Klingelhofer, in the 1970s, over a news release that upset the coach.[6]

During the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Knight was accused of assaulting a police officer while coaching the US Basketball team before a practice session. He was later convicted in absentia to a six-month jail sentence, but extradition efforts by the Puerto Rican government were not successful.[29]

1980s

In February 1985, Knight threw a chair across the court to protest a referee's call during a game against the rival Purdue Boilermakers.[30] 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."[31] Knight's comment was in reference to an Indiana basketball game in which he felt the referees were making poor calls against the Hoosiers.

1990s

In March 1992 prior to the NCAA regional finals, controversy erupted after Knight playfully mock whipped Indiana players Calbert Cheaney and Pat Graham during practice. The bullwhip had been given to Knight as a gift from his team. Several black leaders complained at the racial connotations of the act (Cheaney is black.) [32]

Knight was shown berating an NCAA volunteer at a March 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."[33]

Former IU player Neil Reed alleged that Knight had grabbed him by the neck in a choking manner during a 1997 practice. A videotape of the incident was shown on CNN.[6]

2000s

On February 19, 2000, Clarence Doninger, Knight's boss, alleged to have been physically threatened by the coach during a confrontation after a game.[6]

An IU investigation inquired about an allegation in which Knight berated and physically intimidated a university secretary, once throwing a potted plant in anger, showering her with glass and debris. The University later asked the coach to issue an apology to the secretary.[6]

It was alleged that Knight attacked assistant coach Ron Felling, throwing him out of a chair after overhearing him criticizing the basketball program in a phone conversation.[6]

On September 8, 2000, IU freshman Kent Harvey told campus police Knight grabbed him roughly by the arm and berated him for speaking to the coach disrespectfully. Knight admitted putting his hand on the student's arm and lecturing him on civility, but denied that he was rough or raised his voice. The coach was fired from IU two days later.[6]

Two days after Knight was fired from Indiana University, Jeremy Schaap of ESPN interviewed him and discussed his time at Indiana. Towards the end of the interview, Knight talked about his son, Patrick, who had also been dismissed by the university, wanting an opportunity to be a head coach. Schaap, thinking that Knight was finished, attempted to move on to another subject, but Knight insisted on continuing about his son. Schaap repeatedly tried to ask another question when Knight shifted the conversation to Schaap's style of interviewing, notably chastising him about interruptions. Knight then commented (referring to Schaap's father, Dick Schaap), "You've got a long way to go to be as good as your dad!"[34]

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.[35]

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."[36]

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.[37] Knight denied the allegations. An argument between the two men was recorded via camera phone and aired later on television.[38]

On December 17, 2009 Knight insulted longtime rival Kentucky and its basketball coach John Calipari, saying "We've gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that's why I'm glad I'm not coaching," he said. "You see we've got a coach at Kentucky, who put two schools [UMass and Memphis ] on probation and he's still coaching. I really don't understand that."

On April 18, 2011 video surfaced showing Knight responding to a question concerning John Calipari and the University of Kentucky men's basketball team by stating that in the previous season, Kentucky made an Elite Eight appearance the year before with "5 players who had not attended a single class that semester." These claims were easily disproved by the University and the five players in question, including Patrick Patterson, who graduated in three years, and John Wall, who finished the semester in question with a 3.5 GPA. The Kentucky fanbase demanded an apology from Knight, which he gave on April 19 through his employer, ESPN.
 



disipline

I get an email once in a while that talks about what it was like in the old days. My teachers could whack me, and even other adults like friends' parents who were responsible for me when I was at their house, and the transgression might have pretty minor. Though I didn't get hit much, there certainly was the fear that I might get spanked again when I got home. I was taught to respect adults and persons in authority. I'm pretty sure the fear was far more significant than the actual pain.

I don't agree with some of the antics of Coach Knight, and the previous list of his shenanigans isn't pretty, but in the history of sport there have been many "great" ones that were "physical" with their players. Many of those incidents weren't splashed in the media, I think partly because a couple of generations ago things were different.

Now you can Google and find parents going to jail for spanking their kids. I think it's a bunch of crap. Do I support or condone abuse? Of course not. Is corporal punishment an acceptable form of discipline? Absolutely. The Bible, which has been around for several hundred years, implies corporal punishment is a demonstration of love, while the absence of it demonstrates hate for our children.

Sorry for the rant, all of which has nothing to do with Coach Kill, but I agree with MNGoldenGophers1 in that I'd rather have my son play for Knight than a large percentage of coaches who aren't teaching the right way, but rather setting a poor example by their own behavior.
 

Knight bashers = Loser Doosh Bag Club

And that's all I've got to say about that.
 

I get an email once in a while that talks about what it was like in the old days. My teachers could whack me, and even other adults like friends' parents who were responsible for me when I was at their house, and the transgression might have pretty minor. Though I didn't get hit much, there certainly was the fear that I might get spanked again when I got home. I was taught to respect adults and persons in authority. I'm pretty sure the fear was far more significant than the actual pain.

I don't agree with some of the antics of Coach Knight, and the previous list of his shenanigans isn't pretty, but in the history of sport there have been many "great" ones that were "physical" with their players. Many of those incidents weren't splashed in the media, I think partly because a couple of generations ago things were different.

Now you can Google and find parents going to jail for spanking their kids. I think it's a bunch of crap. Do I support or condone abuse? Of course not. Is corporal punishment an acceptable form of discipline? Absolutely. The Bible, which has been around for several hundred years, implies corporal punishment is a demonstration of love, while the absence of it demonstrates hate for our children.

Sorry for the rant, all of which has nothing to do with Coach Kill, but I agree with MNGoldenGophers1 in that I'd rather have my son play for Knight than a large percentage of coaches who aren't teaching the right way, but rather setting a poor example by their own behavior.

This is a ridiculous post. Parents all over the country send their kids to better schools than Indiana where they win championships, receive their degrees, and become model citizens. And on top of all that they don't have to play for a first rate jerk who still acts like he is in grade school.
 




This reminds me of a pamphlet we used to hand out at a woman's crisis center I volunteered at.The fact that his winning percentage enters into this conversation at all shows how messed up the priorities of most sports fans are. There are a lot of winners who are flat out terrible people.

Give it a rest with your crisis center analogy. Whether you like it or not, winning is a must at a big time program. Coddling the hell out of our kids today by showering them with a ton of positive affirmations (e.g., your special, you're the best, blah, blah, blah) and giving everyone participants ribbons has contributed to making a boat load of kids fat and worst yet, mentally/emotionally soft. Don't get me wrong, nobody should touch their wife/girlfriend or a child. But we're not talking about that, we talking about something very different. You only used part of my quote. Like I said, it's too bad Knight couldn't contain himself better but I'd go into battle with him any day because he'd give me the best chance of coming out alive. Get over it, the world is a tough place.
 


Coddling the hell out of our kids today by showering them with a ton of positive affirmations (e.g., your special, you're the best, blah, blah, blah) and giving everyone participants ribbons has contributed to making a boat load of kids fat and worst yet, mentally/emotionally soft.
Totally what I was advocating. Thanks.
 


Give it a rest with your crisis center analogy. Whether you like it or not, winning is a must at a big time program. Coddling the hell out of our kids today by showering them with a ton of positive affirmations (e.g., your special, you're the best, blah, blah, blah) and giving everyone participants ribbons has contributed to making a boat load of kids fat and worst yet, mentally/emotionally soft. Don't get me wrong, nobody should touch their wife/girlfriend or a child. But we're not talking about that, we talking about something very different. You only used part of my quote. Like I said, it's too bad Knight couldn't contain himself better but I'd go into battle with him any day because he'd give me the best chance of coming out alive. Get over it, the world is a tough place.

Count me as a Knight fan, even after decades of thrashing the Gophers. Funny how 98% of the people who have spent any significant time with the guy don't say anything bad about him. I would send my kid to play for him in a heart beat. Wouldn't be concerned one bit.

I would imagine the folks that are most adamantly outspoken against him fall mostly into a certain group but that's for another discussion.
 


Why's everybody worked up over a pretty lousy Texas Tech basketball coach? Unless one 3rd place Conference finish is worth all this angst.
 






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