Victory 880 is quickly approaching and given the fact that this site is in its infancy, I thought that best that we entertain the idea of Bob Knight and what he means to Texas Tech.
There will be a number of articles over the next two to three weeks regarding Coach Knight and the victories, the incidents, and the what he has meant to collegiate athletics. I was first introduced to Bob Knight as a teenager reading A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein. I remember reading it in 1989 and from that point forward I was infatuated with Indiana basketball and Coach Knight in particular. I think I was intrigued because I had never seen anyone really coach like this book portrayed Knight. For me, it was never a question of whether there was a right or a wrong to his method or coaching or, as portrayed in SOTB, berating his players. I say all of this because my fascination for Bob Knight grew before I ever thought about attending Texas Tech. I say all of this because I realize that this college blog is dedicated to Texas Tech athletics and if I say anything complimentary about Knight then there is the definite appearance I am merely a schill for Texas Tech and Knight does nothing wrong.
I promise to be honest about how I feel about Knight and the record and his actions. If I praise Knight I am doing it out appreciation for something that he or his team has done and if I criticize him then it is for the same reasons.
I was extremely conflicted when I wrote about the Michael Prince/Bob Knight incident. I believe that Knight was right on the line of trying to be a good coach and taking discipline a little too far. I know that Prince's parents were okay with how Knight treated him, but that was after the fact. I liken it to someone else disciplining your child. You obviously trust that person to look after your child, but disciplining he or she is another matter. If the discipline was minor and well-intentioned then there is a pretty good chance that the parent will overlook the incident. I think that this was the case with Prince.
So what does Coach Knight mean for Texas Tech? Some one had commented earlier in the year that this program was horrible and they should fire Knight. Well, realistically, that's not going to happen. Knight is signed until 2012 and and at that point Bob's son, Pat Knight, is to resume control. So the question I post to you, is this program on the right track? We have a number of talented guards, but few talented big men. This year's class appears to be pretty good from most accounts, but how much does that matter? I think that if it bothers you that the number of truly special players on the squad appears to be few and far between, I would think that this bothers Knight as well, so do you believe that this will drive Knight to future program success?
In the process of all of this I am doing my best to post as many different articles as I can find about Bob Knight and the record and I have a couple to start begin with.
Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News wrote about Knight and the history behind the record.
There was also another good article on Saturday of the UTEP game in the El Paso Times, with lots of quotes from Don Haskins and Billy Gillispie.
There was this small note from the DMN College Blog about Knight abruptly ending a telephone press conference? Well, here's the AP writer who asked the question. For those of you who don't remember, this writer, Tim Dahlberg, asked Knight if he felt he would be more remembered for his tantrums or his record. There are two sides to this, does this guy have an expectation of having his question answered, when he knows that it will infuriate Knight and does not have an obligation to answer it? Personally, I think that there's probably a little bit of glory for the writer who can bait Knight into doing something that might cause controversy and then the writer has his story. If I had to guess, I think that Knight believed this was the writer's goal from the beginning so why even play. Knight did answer his question, but maybe not the manner in which the writer would have liked. Does Knight have an obligation to answer the question? Probably, but more than likely I'm sure that he thought that if this was going to be the tone of the press conference, then cut bait and move on.
There is also this biography of Coach Knight from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame website.