04/19/24
February 03, 2004
Bob Knight is in trouble again.: This time he blew up at the chancellor of Texas Tech at a salad bar, after the chancellor complimented him on his recent behavior. Early reports said that Knight would be suspended for five days, but now that's not going to happen. Is anyone really surprised?
posted by Sister Havana to basketball at 05:12 PM - 16 comments
Dunno if they're considering firing him at this point, jeff. He is coaching tonight (I'm watching them play Baylor....it was tied at the half w00t!). Knight's brought about the best Tech teams to play in quite a while, and his own recruits are just now working their way into his rotation and his playing style, so I think he can be very successful. If Tech decides that what they're paying him is too much, something like this would be a good excuse to fire him, but I don't think it'll happen. We'll see though.
posted by Ufez Jones at 08:12 PM on February 03, 2004
They're not paying him too much. He's the best thing to happen to that school in a long time. Schools, like everything else, are in a marketing game, and his winning teams are the best marketing they've had in a long time. Have you ever heard of Texas Tech before they hired Knight? Now, have you heard of them because of the chancellor or because of Knight? Sure, he embarasses the university from time to time- but he also gets them in a lot more newspapers and on a lot more TV time than any other individual in the university. Probably more so than all the other individuals in the university. Until that stops mattering, or until the embarassment factor gets a lot higher, Knight will stick around. He knows he's not risking his job. At least not yet.
posted by tieguy at 09:27 PM on February 03, 2004
I love Bob Knight, in spite of knowing very little about basketball. He reminds me of the way incredibly intelligent people can sometimes not have an firm grasp of reality.
posted by rocketman at 09:56 PM on February 03, 2004
Oh, I wasn't implying that they were paying him too much, tieguy. I was just saying that if Tech chooses to decide that they are (and not getting enough in return, as I should've put in the first part) then they could use this as an excuse to fire him. I'm not advocating that by any means. They beat the snot out of Baylor though.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:58 PM on February 03, 2004
I'm not saying they shouldn't fire him- if they had any self-respect or pride they totally would. But they're whores, like most companies are, and realistically they know that the publicity outweighs the damage to their reputation.
posted by tieguy at 10:18 PM on February 03, 2004
How does Bob Knight remind you of "incredibly intelligent people"?
posted by yerfatma at 09:03 AM on February 04, 2004
Bob Knight is a choad. Why do kids still want to go play for him? It's not like he's putting an inordinate number of them in the pros. I think he's in it to break Dean Smith's record, frankly.
posted by vito90 at 10:58 AM on February 04, 2004
Bobby Knight is an idiot and should be recognized for the liability that he is and put out of basketball.
posted by rushmc at 11:00 AM on February 04, 2004
Thankfully for Texas Tech, Bobby Knight is not a C.H.U.D.
posted by yerfatma at 11:41 AM on February 04, 2004
Bob Knight is not an idiot. He's a competitive hot-head, but he's no fool. Either you like him, which is true of many people that actually know him in person and not through the media, or you don't, which is pretty much everybody else. Personally, if I had been very satisified with my effort and job performance over a long period of time, and my boss came up and said 'good to see you're bring in the duckets now BOB' I'd flip my shit, too. The Athletic Director complained of not being showed the proper respect? That guy should check himself.
posted by garfield at 12:07 PM on February 04, 2004
Right on the head, garfield. Living in Indiana as I do now, I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who have good stories to tell about Knight. Of course, I still think he's a knob, but at least I know he has a nice side. This is a tale of two dipsticks. If the AD has so little tact as to publicly say to Knight, "Hey, glad you aren't being an asshole for US," he should probably expect a little anger in response. Of course, the phrase "a little anger" has no place in the same paragraph as Knight's name, who has all the control of Marlon Brando in a Twinkie factory. Texas Tech and Bobby deserve one another.
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:55 PM on February 04, 2004
How does Bob Knight remind you of "incredibly intelligent people"? He's a basketball genius. Though I know precious little about the sport, I know enough to say that you don't produce championship teams every four years at the college level without possessing something more than a knack for designing success. But at the same time, I think it's very clear that Bob Knight does not live in the same world as the rest of us. This is similar to my experiences with wildly intelligent people - they often behave in peculiar, erratic ways. This doesn't mean they are bad people, or that they lack all ability to relate to others.
posted by rocketman at 04:20 PM on February 04, 2004
you don't produce championship teams every four years Neither does Bobby Knight. Time has passed him by. And I'm sorry to say tales of his kindness go right over my head. Anyone who cannot sit down to a conversation with someone, whatever that person's job, and treat them with human decency until given a reason to behave otherwise deserves none of my respect. Did anyone see the ESPN interview a month or so ago with Bobby and some other college coach who used to be his assistant? The interviewer had barely gotten two words out of their mouth before Knight turned into a raging maniac. I am an enormous sports fan and I'll turn a blind eye to a lot of shit, but it only goes so far. All the basketball knowledge in the world doesn't make him ok.
posted by yerfatma at 04:41 PM on February 04, 2004
Here are the documents that the AD and the chancellor filed after the Knight incident, including some drafts.
posted by jeffmshaw at 05:40 PM on February 05, 2004
posted by jasonspaceman at 04:17 PM on February 06, 2004
Definitely not surprised. I wonder what it is that makes Bob Knight so combative. As John Feinstein said on Jim Rome's show today, everyone in America knows that if you scream at your boss in public, you're likely to be fired. Even if you hate your boss, you say "thanks for the compliment" in that situation. Unless you're dangerously unstable. Anyone else think the recanting of the suspension means they're taking this time to consider firing him? Seems counterintuitive, but that's my sense.