Bobby Knight

[superjohn]

I didn’t either. I saw him haunched over and holding on to Isaiah and I looked up to see if he’s had back issues or something, after someone said he didn’t look great; usually the back and/or a hip is going out by now. And that’s what I came to learn.

you start to wonder how many more years he’s got if he’s forgetting things in 10 minute spans and forgetting key details of old memories. The latter is a sign of a pretty advanced dementia.

He also has about the worst case of rosacea on his nose that I've ever seen.

 

[Rocktheworld]

He also has about the worst case of rosacea on his nose that I've ever seen.

I know the twitter video had me thinking the contrast on the television it was recorded on was off, I haven’t seen a nose that purple since Tom Caughlin was coaching in the NY winter lol

 

[Rocktheworld]

Emotional Bob Knight ends 20-year split with Indiana

The 79-year-old coach was honored at Assembly Hall during halftime of the Hoosiers' game against rival Purdue on Saturday.

www.espn.com

No quotes from knight (nobody interviewed him?) and no public address; “he didn’t need to”, per the article

On the day he returns to IU after shunning the program for 20 years. Yikes.

 

[Kathy]

Emotional Bob Knight ends 20-year split with Indiana

The 79-year-old coach was honored at Assembly Hall during halftime of the Hoosiers' game against rival Purdue on Saturday.

www.espn.com

No quotes from knight (nobody interviewed him?) and no public address; “he didn’t need to”, per the article

On the day he returns to IU after shunning the program for 20 years. Yikes.

More than likely not done because of the dementia.

 

[Rocktheworld]

More than likely not done because of the dementia.

That’s the subtle point I was making

None of us were aware of anything like this; did IU tell people to not interview and not let him speak publicly? It’s just weird, this all seemed super planned with the former players there... an odd time to let a guy with dementia shuffle across some hardwood, and why do it after the event that I linked via Wikipedia? This is like ABC or whomever it was trotting out Dick Clark for New Years after he had his stroke

 

[ZenConn]

Great coach. Glad to see him back at IU. IMO, one of the best X and Os coaches ever.

 

[tuvent08]

Man, the Vitale interaction was sad and awkward.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I just watched the video in full. God it’s sad. Has to be pointed about like he half understands where he is. Now I understand why the former players were all emotional about him being around at IU again: they know that this is the most cogent they will see their General (as painful as it was) at IU, and that he is on the fast decline.

 

[Kitaman]

Man, the Vitale interaction was sad and awkward.

Vital wanted to hug his friend, but BK is not the same 'friend'. He yelled 'defense' and showed how its done. LOL That word seems to sum up all the great coaches.

Vitale handled it professionally, and still showed admiration and love. I doubt it phased him at his age.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The guy is a legend if you ask me. 902 wins and three titles. Not the easiest of folks and certainly feisty on my opinion, but the guy won.

I still think he was the best college coach I ever saw. Really got his teams to play well above their talent level year after year.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I thought you must be exaggerating but no. There's something really really wrong with that guy. That wasn't in the least bit playful, so goshdarn disrespectful to Vitale.

Westside Jeff on Twitter: "A very special moment as Bobby Knight returns to Assembly Hall for the first time in decades. I.U. nation celebrates. And he's still got the fire. Starting the "Defense" chant. #bobknight https://post original url/pBl3udKO2S" / Twitter

As someone with experience, he looks and acts like someone with either dementia or Alzheimers.

 

[QDOG5]

Chief loves the guys as do his ex players and that tells you all that you need to know.

I'm not sure Neil Reed(RIP) would agree with that.

 

[jibsey]

I just watched the video in full. God it’s sad. Has to be pointed about like he half understands where he is. Now I understand why the former players were all emotional about him being around at IU again: they know that this is the most cogent they will see their General (as painful as it was) at IU, and that he is on the fast decline.

People with severe dementia often do not like to be touched. Saw it up close myself. Bobby was a great coach but before this he was not a nice person to put it mildly. I think a similar thing happened several years ago with Vital and him right?

 

[MilliniumPrince]

He was a bully, a jackass, and a caveman in many ways. He is also the only coach I rank above JC for getting the most out of the talent around him. He could win with just about anyone.

But absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

[CL82]

He threw the chair at Assembly Hall during an IU. He did coach the Olympic team in 1984 I think. Knight was a great coach. Gave some advice to JC once. Told him if you could be the coach at a school “university of” a state then strongly consider it because if you were successful you’d have the whole place behind you. JC obviously took that advice and thrived! For coaches of a certain generation, Knight was THE guy.

Yep, he also said that Big 10 was a conference of institutions but the Big East was a conference of coaches. Boy was right about the latter. When I think about the greats who coached there it in its relatively short existence, it really is staggering.

Heard the story a little differently. Calhoun had an offer from Northwestern and UConn. Bobby told him that the Big 10 was about the institutions and the Big East was about the coaches and suggested JC would have more success in the Big East coaching against some of the greats of the day.

He said both IIRC. Essentially he said that IU would always be a great basketball school whether he was there or not (ironic in hindsight) but that in the Big East coaches had more impact on the success or failure of their programs.

Regardless, he gave Calhoun advice that led him to UConn. That will always be a plus mark for me when I think of him.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Threw it during a game against Purdue in 1985.

Only 3 of 6 free throws made on the technicals shot by a guy who had been 20-21 from the line. Could it have been the thrown chair playing defense?

 

[Chief00]

It’s just sad that people feel embolden taking shots at Bobby Knight at this point or for that some disgruntled failed employee at St Joe’s throwing Calhoun under the bus for not picking something up off the floor when he just had half his stomach removed.

 

[Rocktheworld]

People with severe dementia often do not like to be touched. Saw it up close myself. Bobby was a great coach but before this he was not a nice person to put it mildly. I think a similar thing happened several years ago with Vital and him right?

Depends on the person, everyone is different

But yes there are some who do not like being touched or anything. Honestly, when I see it, I think it’s probably their learned defensive response from being poked and prodded and moved in the facilities they’re from

 

[mhshuskies]

Bobby is great. Wish there were more like him.

Oh yeah, we really need more giant a..holes!

 

[CL82]

Oh yeah, we really need more giant a..holes!

Yep, there seems to be no shortage of lesser ones, if you follow my drift.

 

[mhshuskies]

It’s just sad that people feel embolden taking shots at Bobby Knight at this point or for that some disgruntled failed employee at St Joe’s throwing Calhoun under the bus for not picking something up off the floor when he just had half his stomach removed.

Knight and Calhoun are worlds apart, both great coaches, both tough, but JC is not a mean spirited bully, Knight is.

 

[businesslawyer]

Chief loves the guys as do his ex players and that tells you all that you need to know.

No, it's not all you need to know. He thought he was helping his players when he assaulted an in uniform Puerto Rican policeman in San Juan during the Pan Am games. But for the fact that powerful white men didn't go to jail for assaulting Puerto Ricans in those days -- even Puerto Rican police officers -- he should have done time. Tell me that John Thompson assaulting a white police officer in Pittsburgh would have gotten off with defying local officials and you'd be a liar.

I wish him nothing but peace in his diminished state, and he was an outstanding basketball coach (I saw him coaching Army with Mike K in the NIT in the 60s) -- not on Calhoun's level by the way -- but don't tell me he was a good person. Good people don't assault police officers because they want more court time.

 

[businesslawyer]

It’s just sad that people feel embolden taking shots at Bobby Knight at this point or for that some disgruntled failed employee at St Joe’s throwing Calhoun under the bus for not picking something up off the floor when he just had half his stomach removed.

LMAO. You're comparing a coach who thought violence while coaching was acceptable with an incident of not picking up a piece of paper? Do better.

 

[Madmannsucks]

LMAO. You're comparing a coach who thought violence while coaching with acceptable with an incident of not picking up a piece of paper? Do better.

Yeah, not sure how the 2 are connected.

 

[Chief00]

No, it's not all you need to know. He thought he was helping his players when he assaulted an in uniform Puerto Rican policeman in San Juan during the Pan Am games. But for the fact that powerful white men didn't go to jail for assaulting Puerto Ricans in those days -- even Puerto Rican police officers -- he should have done time. Tell me that John Thompson assaulting a white police officer in Pittsburgh would have gotten off with defying local officials and you'd be a liar.

I wish him nothing but peace in his diminished state, and he was an outstanding basketball coach (I saw him coaching Army with Mike K in the NIT in the 603) -- not on Calhoun's level by the way -- but don't tell me he was a good person. Good people don't assault police officers because they want more court time.

Based on your comments, you don’t get Bobby Knight. Whatever happened in Puerto Rico around a basketball practice availability you make it into a racial incident, and you should know better. Sure sometimes Bobby Knight was a jerk or got too passionate about winning and yes in his quest for winning he lost perspective. Most great coaches by nature don’t have balanced perspective. He grab players of all races - said words he shouldn’t have said to refs of all colors. But, you overreach and make it about White and Black and that’s a cheap shot. Both White and Black players hugged Bobby Knight last game.

As for court practice time craziness, talk to one of Calhoun’s assistants that had to mediate Gampel practice time between Geno and Jim prior to the Werth practice facility. Can I excuse any of these behaviors? - of course not. But, I am not getting all high and mighty about it.

 

[businesslawyer]

Based on your comments, you don’t get Bobby Knight. Whatever happened in Puerto Rico around a basketball practice availability you make it into a racial incident, and you should know better. Sure sometimes Bobby Knight was a jerk or got too passionate about winning and yes in his quest for winning he lost perspective. Most great coaches by nature don’t have balanced perspective. He grab players of all races - said words he shouldn’t have said to refs of all colors. But, you overreach and make it about White and Black and that’s a cheap shot. Both White and Black players hugged Bobby Knight last game.

You need to read what people say instead of what you'd like them to be saying. I have no clue whatsoever whether Knight would have swung at a white police officer who was trying to force him off the court in that situation. Frankly, as swinging as a police officer because you don't want to follow his instructions is not acceptable behavior for anyone, much less an employee of a state, I don't particularly care why he thought assault was an acceptable option there or if race had anything to do with it.

The reaction of law enforcement and the State of Indiana to the incident, the ignoring by a state of the judicial branch of another part of the U.S.'s papers to extradite, and the ultimate settlement of the matter all were largely influenced both by Knight's standing as a powerful white man and the fact that it was Puerto Rico that wanted him extradited and not Iowa. That's what my point was and that's the truth. Anyone who thinks that you would get away with assaulting an in uniform police officer in a white state -- that the government of your state would protect you from being tried for hitting a police officer somewhere else in the U.S. -- is lying.

 

[superjohn]

It’s just sad that people feel embolden taking shots at Bobby Knight at this point or for that some disgruntled failed employee at St Joe’s throwing Calhoun under the bus for not picking something up off the floor when he just had half his stomach removed.

Bobby Knight and Calhoun are really nothing alike, I always hated this comparison.

 

[pj]

You need to read what people say instead of what you'd like them to be saying. I have no clue whatsoever whether Knight would have swung at a white police officer who was trying to force him off the court in that situation. Frankly, as swinging as a police officer because you don't want to follow his instructions is not acceptable behavior for anyone, much less an employee of a state, I don't particularly care why he thought assault was an acceptable option there or if race had anything to do with it.

The reaction of law enforcement and the State of Indiana to the incident, the ignoring by a state of the judicial branch of another part of the U.S.'s papers to extradite, and the ultimate settlement of the matter all were largely influenced both by Knight's standing as a powerful white man and the fact that it was Puerto Rico that wanted him extradited and not Iowa. That's what my point was and that's the truth. Anyone who thinks that you would get away with assaulting an in uniform police officer in a white state -- that the government of your state would protect you from being tried for hitting a police officer somewhere else in the U.S. -- is lying.

To borrow a legal term, "statement not in evidence." You have no idea whether the state of Indiana protected Knight because he was white, or because he was their basketball coach; and whether the outcome would have been any different if Knight had been black and the police officer white. You're simply speculating here, and accusing others of racial bias without evidence.

Early stages of dementia often make people irritable and angry. Popular and powerful sports figures often get a lot of leeway in their conduct, regardless of their race. I don't think we need to go beyond those two generalizations in explaining everything that happened around Bob Knight.

 

[Chief00]

You need to read what people say instead of what you'd like them to be saying. I have no clue whatsoever whether Knight would have swung at a white police officer who was trying to force him off the court in that situation. Frankly, as swinging as a police officer because you don't want to follow his instructions is not acceptable behavior for anyone, much less an employee of a state, I don't particularly care why he thought assault was an acceptable option there or if race had anything to do with it.

The reaction of law enforcement and the State of Indiana to the incident, the ignoring by a state of the judicial branch of another part of the U.S.'s papers to extradite, and the ultimate settlement of the matter all were largely influenced both by Knight's standing as a powerful white man and the fact that it was Puerto Rico that wanted him extradited and not Iowa. That's what my point was and that's the truth. Anyone who thinks that you would get away with assaulting an in uniform police officer in a white state -- that the government of your state would protect you from being tried for hitting a police officer somewhere else in the U.S. -- is lying.

Is there a video available to see what actually happened?

 

[Chief00]

You need to read what people say instead of what you'd like them to be saying. I have no clue whatsoever whether Knight would have swung at a white police officer who was trying to force him off the court in that situation. Frankly, as swinging as a police officer because you don't want to follow his instructions is not acceptable behavior for anyone, much less an employee of a state, I don't particularly care why he thought assault was an acceptable option there or if race had anything to do with it.

The reaction of law enforcement and the State of Indiana to the incident, the ignoring by a state of the judicial branch of another part of the U.S.'s papers to extradite, and the ultimate settlement of the matter all were largely influenced both by Knight's standing as a powerful white man and the fact that it was Puerto Rico that wanted him extradited and not Iowa. That's what my point was and that's the truth. Anyone who thinks that you would get away with assaulting an in uniform police officer in a white state -- that the government of your state would protect you from being tried for hitting a police officer somewhere else in the U.S. -- is lying.

Seems like you gave a very one sided account of what happened. The below from SI vault: