From: marek@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Marek Lugowski)
Subject: Re: The (updated) Saga of Bobby Knight... / game reports 
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 09:26:03 GMT

	rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.edu (Rich Kulawiec) writes:

>Since I first posted this several years ago, Bobby Knight has continued
>to amaze us all and to rigorously defend his position as the biggest
>asshole in college sports.  I've added some additional info at the
>bottom, indicating where I'm unsure of dates or details; additional
>information as always welcome, as I like to post this annually in
>order to remind IU supporters that no matter how well their teams play,
>and no matter how good their players may be, their coach is an
>embarassment to their team, their school, and the Big Ten.

Careful there.  I would think that if you wanted to make a credible case
for your point, you would avoid appearing strident and vindictive.  Just
exactly what qualifies Knight as the "biggest asshole in college sports":
your modest list of misdemeanors?  90 lines and 720 words, according to wc,
after I took the headers our and your intro.  And what is in that file?
Has his program ever been corrupted by money or improper recruiting?  Have
his athlethes been caught using steroids or other performance enhancing
drugs?  Is he exploiting his players like slaves to win and then discards
them, ungraduated, unemployable?  Is he malicious?  Is he widely held in
contempt as a teacher and coach by coaches, players and referees?

Here is a sample nugget: Do you know what Uwe Blab's graduating GPA was in
his dual major in mathematics nad computer science?  Over 3.9.  Do you
think IU's computer science and math departments make it easy on athletes
such as Uwe?

I would wager that if you put corresponding effort into telling a balanced
story on Knight that you might actually paint a fascinating picture of a
complex person, as opposed to your list.  It is a bit saddening to me that
you derive so much joy from it -- I'd question your integrity, but I do not
know you, so I suspend judgment.  Similarly, I doubt you know Knight, aside
from his publicized eruptions.

I want to comment on a few of the points that you you brought up, and I
chose only those that specifically interest me.

>1989? In an interview with Connie Chung, Knight makes an analogy
>between bad officiating and rape: "If you can't do anything about
>it, you should sit back and enjoy it".

Odly enough, I have heard from several women friends the same sentiment
about rape, and found it unsettling.  But it does show that it enjoys a
considerable representation among the population, possibly as black humor,
so much so that it goes right over the head of the Average Joe/Jane who
takes it at face value and wants a charge. :)  I'd call it a blocking foul. :)

Furthermore, your very own list of Knight's transgressions shows, if
anything, that he NEVER takes anything sitting down, least of all bad
officiating.  If you need any further proof of looking at Knight through
the wrong end of the kaleidoscope :), look no furhter than here.

>?? The Dale Brown incident.  (exact date and details have gone fuzzy)

This may be news to you but I actually saw both of them very amiably
chatting and all made-up, prior to the last LSU/IU game at the NCAAs.
If you are going to list every quarrel Knight has had with someone and now
they are buddies, and count it towards Knight's title as top asshole, I
think you are holding grudges past their expiration date.  Give up.

>March, 1992: A picture of Norm Ellenberger holding a bent-over
>Calbert Caney (with shorts pulled part way down) as Chaney is
>"whipped" by Bob Knight makes the papers.  The obvious racist
>overtones of such a picture are apparently lost on the IU
>administration; Indiana sports information director Kit Klingehofer
>calls reactions "absurd" and says "it was all just a joke".

Why is this obviously racist?  If Rawlins (ex-Iowa) did the same, would it
be racist, but only if a white player was posing?  Is it really too gauche
for IU basketball team to present a less than military profile; are you
aware that whipping is still an ongoing practice in boarding schools in
England, Australia and New Zealand? -- nothing to do with whipping blacks.
Do you not see the much larger implication of this humor, that the star
player on the team is just a whipping boy for the "abusive" coach?  Even
when Knight is self-effacing, he just can't win over his hardcore enemies.
Makes you wonder about who is being unreasonable here.

>Various years: Knight's players transfer away in droves to escape
>him; examples include Isaiah Thomas (Detroit), Delray Brooks (Providence),
>Rick Calloway (Kansas), Larry Bird (Indiana State),
>Lawrence Funderburke (OSU), Bob Bender (Duke), and Jay Edwards (?).

Someone just posted that IU has a lower freshman transfer rate than other
Big Ten schools.  Also, not every superstar will fit into a program that
demands that they sacrifice individual displays of brilliance for the
overall team effect.  For a lot of people, like Calloway (I was in
Cincinnati then), IU was the first time in their life that they met their
equals and were put out of the limelight and told that they really aren't
Ready Yet (TM).  This is no different than best kids from high schools
everywhere having to acclimate to MIT on arrival.  MIT averages 2 suicides
a year among freshmen (order of magnitude); IU does not, and I'd rather see
Calloway go away then be unhappy.  Incidentally, just read in USA Today
that Calloway is now suspended for taking drugs, 2nd time, in his
professional league.  Makes you wonder why he would choose to go that
route...  Funderburke's showboating makes you wander also...  Larry Bird
was before my time -- I'd love to hear about this.  Didn't Thomas leave for
NBA money?  Wouldn't you?  After winning NCAA?

Closing comment.  I thank you for the dirt file on Knight, and I ask for a
similar file of exceptional things he has done (no need to list the wins
and championships, we know them), especially the graduations, and the stuff
with the star player who was paralized in a wreck, and all that -- and
running a squeeky clean program; after all, surely the alumni, and the
money, and the temptation to win for Indiana are all there as they are at
Kentucky, UNLV, Syracuse, Michigan and other once "soiled" places. :)

And what about all the Knight's once-assistants coaching out there?  Knight
is more than an asshole that stuffed an LSU fan in a trash can (was it a
offensive goaltending, is that the problem? :)).  He is a school of
baskteball and everytime Koach Krzyszewski wins another NCAA, my little
Knight rosary glows in the dark a little...

				-- Marek

P.s.  I appreciate the donkey, too.  Clearly Knight did not wish to offend
the local brotherood of boilermakers by finding an actual boilermaker
willing to appear on TV in a Purdue cap. :)

	 -=-=-=---------=--=--==-=---   -=-=--=   =---===  -=-- =-----

Obligatory basketball game reports (2):

I went to the Northwestern-Illinois game 71-81.  The cheerleaders were
definitely overdressed, especially the 7 magnificent dancers in black,
violet and silver costumes.  You could infer that they were uncomfortable
and hot, but they still did a good job and nobody was rushed to the
hospital.  The band was a riot (they trot out wailing like banchees while a
big bad drum pounds) with incredible oomph and truly primal drumming.  But
I wish that instead of playing Rossini at faster than fast they would
consider a rendition of k.d. lang's "big boned gal", etc.  Why waste all
that Northwestern School of Music talent on hackneyed material.  Anyway,
you could see the Illinois players look at the band instead of
concentrating on their practice -- the noise in Ryan-Welsh with the drums
going is a bit more than the ephemeral whispers in that
space-pod-cum-balloon in Champaign.  The floor was definitely overpainted
with blue paint (and the unnecessary "Big10" inscriptions; note that
Indina's home cort jut says "Indiana", no overpainting, because 'nuff said.
right?).  I did not see any players' cars, so I cannot say which were given
by the alumni and which by the alumni of rival schools.  The game was shown
on ESPN therefore resulting in a) attendance of more security/official
personel then actual paying attendees (therefore it was a sellout, albeit
lots of people did not show; or was it, they brought their cowbells and
bought tix for them separately -- I could not tell), and b) it preempted
the use of the ESPN network for Indiana basketball purposes, such as
showing the old films of Michigan getting pounded wretchedly, Michigan
losing free throws due to Assembly Hall noise, Michigan losing NCAA
championships and stuff like that.  Also, Illinois Coach Henson wore the
most hideous tie, one that even I, sitting as I am supposed to in the 32nd
row (sec 212, cc, 5), could clearly appreciate.  I was amazed that he did
not receive an automatic ejection with a game suspension to follow, or at
least a technical for wearing that.  But I guess the refs were blind, like
usual.  I suppose had he thrown it across the paint in a fit of rage they
might have called him for a walk...  All the coaching staff wore coats,
even though they do not work for a living (unless they have other jobs, of
course, but you'd think they'd change after knocking off, right?).  Team
colors: Illinois is about the butt-ugliest team in terms of team collors.
They look as bad live as they look on television, except on television you
can adjust tint so that the black players look green and the white players
look purple -- and the Illinois colors look acceptable.  The Wildcats' home
uniforms are lovely.  Violet and white has got to be the classiest second
best to white and red with the word "Indiana" on them, or the Polish
national flag. Even lovlier are Wildcard's sweatshirts on certain members
of NU student body, but you already knew that Northwestern sports the
prettiest women in Big 10 and possibly all of Division I.  Let's see...
the game was fun, but the referees decided that levitation was distinct
from walking, even though it entails repeated hops.  Illinois players
levitated several times, each time drawing sustained recognition from the
crowd for their skill.  The referees pretended not to notice, but even they
had to secretly admire such fleet-feet-feats.

Indiana - Penn State 105-57.  Did you hear the Penn State coach Parkhill
say that Indiana is a great team and that while he did not appreciate
losing like that he really enjoyed watching Indiana play?  Take that, KU fans.

				-- Marek
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college