The school's trustees stood up to men's basketball coach Bob Knight on Sunday, firing him after years of condoning his inappropriate, offensive, hurtful and childish behavior to put a winning team on the court. The decision is a victory for college students nationwide, because in firing their living legend Indiana's trustees had to stop looking at basketball as a business and Knight as their perpetual meal ticket, and put students' interests above their own financial concerns.
Knight enjoys nearly universal recognition as both a basketball mastermind and an unparalleled jerk.
Coaches are part of the grossly profitable business of collegiate athletics and are subsequently given more leeway than the average professor. However, coaches have as much or more impact on both their players and students as professors have on students. To abuse this power as Knight did for so long, or to condone such abuse as Indiana's officials did, helps no one. By most accounts, Williams is an amiable person who treats others, particularly his players, with respect. There is a fine line between yelling and acting like a madman in the name of competition and just behaving like a jerk.