Bobby Knight famous for both victories and outbursts, dies at 83

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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He was brilliant. He was a bully. He coached some of the most perfectly disciplined basketball ever played, and then acted undisciplined in his own life.

He was an American original and a cultural touchstone with oversized impact, in ways good and, yes, sometimes less so.

You could say Bob Knight was a product of his time, but even half a century ago he pushed the edges of proper conduct; attempting, say, to beat down the door to the referee’s dressing room was frowned upon back in the 1970 NIT as well.

Complicated? They don't get much more complicated than Robert Montgomery Knight, one of the greatest coaches of all time. He combined a demanding will and a legendary temper to become as famous for his authoritarian outbursts as decades of dominance highlighted by three national college basketball titles.

Knight died on Wednesday at his home in Bloomington, Indiana after a lengthy illness, his family announced. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer was 83.

sports.yahoo.com

Coaching legend Bob Knight, famous for both victories and outbursts, dies at 83

Bob Knight was an American original and a cultural touchstone with oversized impact — both good and sometimes less so.
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com

Go Gophers!!
 


Him and Woody Hayes, one of a kind. Did a lot of good and not-so good. Though I feel for the family, my mother also passed with Alzheimer's.
 


TC has a home for Danny b and sinkyn. Both IU grads and they are always right. Go IU! Please doogie do not respond how great Danny is to you.
 


He was a good guy overall, he just didn’t care if people knew it. And a great coach.
 

Wow. RIP to one of the greatest basketball coaches and teachers of the game to have ever stormed the courtside. Like him or not, he defined Indiana basketball, and a championship coach.
 


i know two people that were on the court the night he threw the chair

Uwe was on the free throw line. Uwe loved Coach. When Uwe's first was born Coach sent a telegram to Uwe's wife: don't let Uwe handle the baby, he has hands of stone

Lori was the head cheerleader and the chair headed her way. The cheerleaders wrote a critical note to Coach and she had to deliver the note. She handed the note to Coach, he gave a quick look, crumbled it up and threw it in the trash. Then got down to what gear the Cheerleaders were missing and made certain they got it (nike stuff iirc)
 





My Bob Knight story - this is 100% true.

Gophers were playing Indiana at Williams Arena in the '74-'75 season. Indiana had May, Benson, Buckner etc and was a year away from the perfect season.

went to the game with a HS classmate and his friends from St. Cloud State. One of the St. Cloud students was from Indiana, and was from the same town as Indiana 6th man John Laskowski. he brought along this big banner. He wanted to go down and run around the floor of the court with the banner, but it was so big he needed someone else to help him carry it. no one else wanted to do it, but I had consumed a few beverages, so I said what the heck.

we got down courtside. now that I think about it, I have no idea how we got past security, but we actually got up on the court, rolled out the banner, and ran around the court. it was a pro-Indiana banner, so Gopher fans were booing and giving us the finger. We stopped in front of the Indiana bench and Knight shook hands with this guy. (but not me...) then we got the heck off the court.

I was a student at Augsburg at the time and was a student manager for the Auggie men's basketball team. Auggie's coach was Irv Inniger - former MN Muskie in the ABA, who played college ball at Indiana. So Irv saw me running around the court with this Indiana banner and he thought it was hilarious.
 





Standing in the middle of the student section the night in '94 we handed him his worst loss. The student section spent the entire night trying to get inside his head and by the end of the night we all were laughing and high-fiving believing we had made his life miserable. All at once in the middle of a sour face he glanced over at us with a mischievious smirk on his face and I realized he was playing all of us and having as much fun playing his role as we were ours.

Rest in Peace Coach Knight. You were the best bad guy an opposing student section could have ever hoped for.
 

CPTMidnight said:
Standing in the middle of the student section the night in '94 we handed him his worst loss. The student section spent the entire night trying to get inside his head and by the end of the night we all were laughing and high-fiving believing we had made his life miserable. All at once in the middle of a sour face he glanced over at us with a mischievious smirk on his face and I realized he was playing all of us and having as much fun playing his role as we were ours.

Rest in Peace Coach Knight. You were the best bad guy an opposing student section could have ever hoped for.
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I'm almost positive it was a Sunday afternoon CBS game....
 

Last Final 4 appearance was at the HHH Dome in 1992.

My favorite Knight clip:

Game Face

 

Had much more potential to be a better coach yet he didn't know how to treat people. Did good things with his money, but he didn't know how to respect people. No doubt a bully who never grew up and doesn't regret what he did, making him a bad role model for society.

I always wish people nothing but the best as your soul goes somewhere.
 
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I'm very sad to hear this. Knight was great at his craft and a great entertainer. A very complex man.
 


BleedGopher said:

Go Gophers!!
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Help me out here. For some reason I thought this was in '88-'90 ish timeframe, but I looked and yes it was '94.
The reason I ask is I was in high school and my history teacher was a huge Indinia fan (yes Indinia). I thought the Gophs gave them one of those "worst ever" beat downs. I graduated in 1990. Maybe the worst on their home court? Maybe I'm full of shit, and it was just a normal loss, but
I remember writing on the chalkboard "Indiana Loooosiers!!!"
 





He played a great part in a movie called “Bluechips,” the movie was a great depiction of him. Always wondered why he never commented about the movie. Perhaps he did. I just never heard it. I would like to hear it if anyone has heard something.
 



If I could only use one (1) word to describe Coach Knight, it would be "intimidating". He earned the label as a bully and maybe that was why a victory over him was so satisfying.
 

He was a great coach, one of the greatest coaches of all time. He probably would have been a great football or baseball coach if he had decided to coach those sports. Listening to his broadcasts were very interesting and I always learned something about basketball when I watched.

I always felt sorry for his players after I saw them lose because I knew they were in big trouble from his wrath!! If you have the time, read the book "A season on the brink" by John Feinstein who spent a season with inside access with the Hoosiers and is a phenomenal read. (Knight read part of it and threw it in the trash - lol)

He was a big fan of the Chip Hilton sports books which I am a huge fan of - they were written by the legendary basketball coach Clair Bee. They might be a bit outdated but I always thought they were the best sports series books ever written.

I felt bad when I heard of his passing - I really admired a lot of things about him.
 

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