Smoke Break

Knight Time Excitement

I’m going to say this in hopes that locusts don’t swarm and cover every inch of my body and my teeth don’t fall out of my mouth, molar by bicuspid.

Bobby Knight is a natural for television.

Compounding my admiration of Knight’s television work is the ever-shifting perception I had of him as a coach.

Watching college basketball in grade school and high school, Knight was the biggest clown in the circus. His antics made him a centralized figure in the theatre of the rectangle. His clean program — relative to lauding someone who has a clean dog, even though Sniffles doesn’t use toilet paper and eats sardines off the floor— made him the envy of other fan bases and coaches. His red sweater, red faced cuss-outs cast him as the lead villain.

It was cool to see someone treat other people like garbage and get cheered when you returned home. I soon realized that my justification was based on what I’ve seen in professional wrestling, not exactly a good mirror of life. Then again, Knight might have owned the same mirror. That is the only reason a grown man would bring a whip to practice and throw a chair to incite a crowd, right?

Much like laser tag, these actions weren’t cool in college and the actions are not admirable now. No one deserves to be treated the way Knight treated his players and members of the media. Compounding his lame antics was postseason success on par with Scott Norwood’s right foot in the autumn of his coaching years.

Fast forward and now he’s become what he most desires: the center of attention.

All of those years of peppering press conferences with a sailor’s vocabulary, grabbing players by the jersey at half court and (amusingly) contorting his face to find that definitive game face, Knight was the show. Win, lose or %$@#%&* early NCAA tournament exit.

Knight has willingly accepted his position in the media because he gets to hear himself speak. That has always been enough of a reason for him to give it all he’s got.

It is easy to separate Knight the television personality with Knight the coach.

Knight the television personality speaks on the pleasantries of man-to-man defense and sharing the ball to create the best possible shot. His insight is second to none and his analysis is a far cry from the (Boom! Pow! Wham!) vocabulary that inhabits most of those incontinent former players turned analysts.

However, don’t credit Knight the person. While the rest of the broadcasters are well coiffed with pocket squares and ties sitting prominently amongst their custom-fitted lapels, Knight has to be different. Let the general stand-alone again!

No ties, no cufflinks for Knight. His rolled-up pullover and khaki combo might have others confused with the nattily attired men running the Bassmaster Classic. No rules for Knight. He can drop his jig and minnow wherever he pleases.

I still wish nothing but flat soda and ill-fitting shoes on Bobby Knight. He can’t be completely absolved for the way he treated people, but listen to Bobby the broadcaster. It could provide you with a great Knight cap after another bad SEC basketball game.