The, uh, volatile Bobby Knight has retired from coaching the Texas Tech basketball team, and has installed his son in his place:
Bob Knight, the winningest NCAA men’s division I basketball coach in history, has retired as Texas Tech’s coach, effective immediately.
Knight, who won his 902nd game Saturday when the Red Raiders downed Oklahoma State, will be replaced by his son, Pat. Knight informed athletic director Gerald Myers of his decision Monday morning.
Now, that’s quite a gig - Goes to a school starved for basketball success, gets pretty much free reign (including shooting near the houses of rural residents while he is hunting), continues to give the world the finger (pretty much unmolested by the Tech administration), decides to quit in the middle of the season, and annoints his son as head coach.
That must be the second best job at Tech, the first one being Myers’ job as AD, since he can lounge around napping all day while Knight makes the important decisions.
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20 Responses to “Bobby “T” Knight Calls It Quits - Right Now”Search
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Why are we mad at Bobby Knight? Wasn’t he a great winner in Indiana? Or, am I thinking of someone else?
I’m not mad at him. It’s a perfect ending to a wild career. However, there are a lot of names that fit him as well as “legend,” such as: oaf, boor, bully, egomaniac, hot-head, etc.
For his benefit, I hope he is more remembered for 902 wins than for throwing chairs across the floor or strangling his own players (and, out of decency, I will not discuss his alleged object lesson using toilet paper).
AW, Bobby Knight won a lot, but at a price for which his players and the U of Indiana paid dearly in humiliation for his notorious tantrums and childish, boorish behavior.
Why Texas Tech salivated over getting this guy is beyond me–only if winning was the only thing. A Vince Lombardi type of coach he is not and would not be worthy to shine Vince’s shoes were Vince still alive.
Tech’s football helmets still look like the hull of a pimped out bass boat. Maybe they could tackle that issue next.
Wow - where do you start on BK. What happens to any one of us go gets so obsessed with something that we go stark raving mad. See Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Bobby Knight, Woody Hays at Ohio State, Dr. Frankenstein, etc. I’m sure there is a medical term for it but I don’t know what that term is. Out there at TT, where culture clashes with agriculture, there’s no telling what a man might do.
Rastus, glad you mentioned Woody Hayes of Ohio State shame. He was definitely no Lombardi either and the bane of the Big 10 (before it became the Big 10 + 1). An adolescent mind in an adult body with an uncanny ability to win at any cost.
#2 RickG - I hope he’s more remembered for the young men that he helped mold into solid members of society. His graduation rates are 2nd to none and yeah, he won a lot of games, but first and foremost he was a teacher.
#3 Adee - name some players that have played for Knight who claim they have paid this price you’re speaking of and are humiliated. You won’t find them.
#4 What the hell are you talking about?
The price of winning can sometimes be very expensive. A lot of schools bend over backwards to get a winning coach. In Tech’s case, they gave Knight whatever he wanted to get him but with his attitude, he was lucky that Tech wanted him. At least the student athletes knew what they were getting when they went to Tech so you can’t have sympathy for them. I am surprised he didn’t stay until he won a 1000 games.
#5 Rastus
There are people who comment here who have a Bobby Knight attitude about politics.
Oh no, I forgot about raiderdav. We obviously have a Knight advocate. See what you’ve done, Rick.
Actually, I’d say that the attitude Rastus is referring to is an unwillingness to compromise on core beliefs and an expectation of high standards. I think the medical term you’re looking for is cojones.
#10 I was a fan long before he went to Lubbock texpat.
The University of Indiana paid the price for Knight’s antics in the terrible reputation that went with them. Basketball wasn’t a only sport it was an obsession. It became a joke among other schools in and outside the Big 10. The school finally had enough. As a grad of the University of Wisconsin I kept noticing in the news what was happening in the conference–the goings on at Ohio State under Hayes and at Indiana under Knight. Specific players, don’t know any names from those years ago.
I’m obviously not into sports and am not asking this question to rouse anger but am curious. I only remember the movie……….. Was he any worse than the military when they take those young people and make them men/women? I’m not speaking to his tantrums. I am asking about how he treated the players.
#14 - I don’t think you die if you make a mistake in basketball.
when did code pink and a sympathizer of the Berkly city council start posting on LST’s?
#14 AW: You are correct - he’s just a strict, unwavering disciplinarian. With this era of prima donna players, he stuck to his approach. He began his coaching career at West Point.
His tantrums over the years are unfortunate because that is what the media will replay today (obviously more memorable for most people). They won’t be showing the millions and millions of dollars he’s raised (and donated) for the school libraries of Indiana and Texas Tech Universities.
17.
He is a cad and a boor. He once said of women that if rape is inevitable, they should lay back and enjoy it. He choked a player (oh, and then lied about it before the tape turned up). He humiliated his nominal bosses in the administration. He bullied anyone he could.
The fact that he had his good points should not excuse unacceptable behavior, even from starry-eyed fans whose only criterion is winning and who think classy behavior be damned.
He’s a jerk.
A cad and a boor? Nice thesaurus job.
And you are continuing to perpetuate a manipulative media story. That Connie Chung ‘rape’ quote is ridiculous and was a textbook chop job by an unscrupulous reporter. I’m guessing you won’t be citing any other Connie Chung reports (ever) because it isn’t convenient for your needs.
Read his autobiography sometime so you can hear a different side to the story and make up your mind, rather than take the easy road and pile on like everyone else.
And I’m not a starry-eyed fan whose only criterion is winning. I believe that collegiate athletics should prepare young people to become leaders in society, and not semi-pro athletes with no future when they don’t make it to the big leagues. The vast majority of Knight’s players graduate and do something with their lives.
Here’s what the people that actually knew him are saying, as opposed to the standard film clips that get replayed on the news:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3230953