Bobby Knight not only called out John Calipari with his recent comments during a speech in Indiana, he called out all of Big Blue Nation. While our Coach took the high road, the rest of us know better. How Mr. Knight thinks he can be a mouth piece for integrity is beyond me, and I decided to spend a little time talking about why I feel that way...:: 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.
:: 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.
:: In 1985, Knight threw a chair across the court to protest a referee's call during a game against the rival Purdue Boilermakers. Knight was suspended for one game and received two years' probation from the Big Ten Conference.
:: After being called for "...the cheapest technical foul I ever received" (Knight: My Story, pg. 292) during an NCAA regional tournament game against LSU in March 1987, Knight slammed his fist down on a telephone at the scorer's table while complaining to the head referee. After the tournament, Indiana University was fined $10,000, and Knight received a reprimand.
:: During an exhibition game against the Soviet national team in November 1987, Knight ended the game by pulling his team off the floor half way through regulation. Knight had received two technical fouls for leaving the coach's box, while the Soviet coach had received none for committing the same offense. Enraged at the non-calls against the Soviet coach, Knight ordered his team off the floor after he was expelled, effectively ending the game, which the Hoosiers were losing at the time.
:: 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." Knight's comment was in reference to an Indiana basketball game in which he felt the referees were making poor calls against the Hoosiers.
:: In 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, however, several black leaders complained at the racial connotations of the act (Cheaney is black.) (Knight: My Story, pg. 297.)
:: During a game against Notre Dame in 1993, Knight allegedly kicked his son, Pat, who was then a player, after he made a bad play on the court. Later, both father and son claimed that Knight had really kicked the chair his son was sitting in.
:: At Michigan State in 1994, Knight "head-butted" Indiana player Sherron Wilkerson, who had just sat down after coming out of the game. In his book, "Knight: My Story," Knight blamed the contact on severe back pain he was experiencing at the time, which flared as he bent over to speak to Wilkerson.
:: During a speech at Assembly Hall, Knight said "When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass." Real classy.
:: Knight was shown berating an NCAA volunteer at a 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."
:: 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.
:: On February 19, 2000, Clarence Doninger, Knight's boss, alleged to have been physically threatened by the coach during a confrontation after a game.
:: 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.
:: 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.
:: 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.
:: 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, "You've got a long way to go to be as good as your dad (referring to Schaap's father, Dick Schaap)!"
:: 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.
:: On November 13, 2006, Knight was shown allegedly hitting player Michael Prince under the chin to get him to make eye contact. Knight didn't comment on the incident afterwards and as of yet hasn't done so.
:: 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. Knight denied the allegations. An argument between the two men was recorded via camera phone and aired later on television.
There are just a few of the many complaints that have been made about Knight over the years, which leads me (and anyone else that cares to join) to say "Mr. Knight... SHUT IT."
Knight really got you guys going didn't he. You know what is crazy? I can think of a lot of other stuff he did that didn't make your list. But we still loved him at IU.
ReplyDeleteSearch youtube for "Bob Knight speech." One of the players secretly recorded him after a practice. I have never heard a coach berate a team like this. Warning: Rated R.
Josh Harris
At least Knight called out IU for the Sampson hire. Still, he should just shut up. No matter how good he was in another life, he is mainly irrelevant today. I don't think he really thought his words would carry outside of the people he spoke to that night, but now that it's been out in the open he isn't going to back down, just the way he is.
ReplyDeleteKnight is a bully, nothing more. He made a living in college basketball before the landscape changed. Now he is nothing more than a bitter old man trying to say that things were better in the old days when he could horse whip kids into shape. It really is a little sad that he feels necessary to call out hard working coaches like Cal when he doesn't understand how the system works today.
ReplyDeleteNot only does he not understand how the system works today, but he is just flat out wrong to call out Cal. If IU could of gotten Rose to come to Bloomington they would of taken him in a heartbeat. He was cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse not once, but twice. As for the mess at UMASS, Cal was only guilty of not keeping a closer eye on his star player. This was the first time he had an NBA caliber player and he learned first hand how players are treated from would be agents. It's funny how his little Coach K didn't catch the same thing at Duke. Of course the NCAA chose to turn a blind eye to that one.
ReplyDeleteThe point is Cal has been cleared by the NCAA of any wrong doing at both schools. If they believe that Cal is innocent after doing full blown investigations why is Knight so sure of his guilt when he knows nothing of either case?
Again Knight is an irrelevant, bitter old man who hates Kentucky.
Josh, at UK we get different pokes and jabs from people like Bob Knight. We always react the same. It is part of the downside of being the best. We are under a microscope unlike any other. If there is something going on at every single school the story will be centered around UK. It is an easy way for national writers to get cheap views. They know if they say something anti-UK there will be a backlash from UK fans.
ReplyDeleteIt just pisses me off that the scrutiny isn't consistent and often unfair. Calipari doesn't like the one and done rule either, but he is going to do what he can within the rules to win. I think high school players should be allowed to turn pro, but are obligated for three years before being allowed to go to the NBA if they choose to go to school. I think this would re-establish some of the integrity Knight is talking about... This system would benefit Calipari even more than the current one... So bring it on.
As for Knight's assertion that coaches should be put on probation instead of program's, I think there might be something to that as well. With that said, the two infractions that Cal's teams have faced were found to not be his fault.