[ARETE] Sport and Society - Bobby Knight 11-7-23

[richard crepeau]

Sport and Society for Arete

November 7, 2023



Late last week, the news of the death of Robert Montgomery Knight was announced. I have let this news settle while traveling and also because I didn’t want to make too hasty a response. Those who have read this column over several years may be familiar with my views on the late great basketball coach. Over the last few days, I have been reading obituaries and tributes, as well as going back to read my own writing on Bobby Knight that dates back into the late 1990s. My last piece on his legacy was written when Knight retired from coaching in 2008.

In the History of American Sport, Bobby Knight is a towering figure, or perhaps two towering figures, as there seems to have been at least two Bobby Knights. One was a gentle considerate man, who performed numerous acts of kindness, mostly out of the public eye. He was a man dedicated to his craft and his players and to performing at the highest level with maximum effort at whatever task was at hand. He was dedicated to forming the highest standards of character in his players and insisted on their dedication to basketball and education. His players, or many of his players, loved him and respected him, mostly after they were no longer being coached by him.

Coach Knight did not walk around the rules, and he never was cited for a violation of NCAA regulations. There was no money passed under the table nor any other inducements in recruitment. In so many ways, Robert Knight was a coaching ideal: first at West Point; then, for the bulk of his career, at Indiana University; and finally, at Texas Tech University. He was the most popular person at the University of Indiana and perhaps, in the entire state of Indiana. He was worshiped as a demigod by Hoosier Hoop Fanatics. He was also the most powerful person on the campus and, perhaps, the state of Indiana.

Then there was the other Bobby Knight. At best, he was an arrogant egomaniac with a dictatorial style. He was always right, never to be crossed, immune to criticism: a World Class Jerk. He seemed to bathe in the limelight of bad behavior, crude language, and the mocking of those who were critical of his methods. He knew that he knew more about basketball than any living human being, and maybe he did, but his problem was he could not stop telling others of his brilliance.

Over the years Coach Knight left a trail of transgressions and ill-will across the world of sport. His rap sheet is awesome in scope and kind. I once tried to capture some of this by creating an advertisement for a fictious video collection. It follows:



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GREAT NEW VIDEO COLLECTION FROM INDIANA UNIVERSITY



"PROFESSOR ROBERT MONTGOMERY KNIGHT ON MANNERS"



Once you see it, you'll need to own it.



Only $5.99 if you act NOW and then only $15.95 per month after you have previewed each video. A new video will be sent directly to you each month until Indiana University develops a definition of zero tolerance. Available in DVD, CD, and VHS format. THIS OFFER IS NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES.



In the first video of this one-of-a-kind collection, you will see Professor Robert Montgomery Knight diagram his latest encounter with IU student Kent Harvey, who transgressed all IU standards of etiquette by greeting Professor Knight with the vulgar "Hey, Knight. What's up?"



See Professor Knight reenact the encounter on the IU campus with assistant coach Mike Davis playing the part of the ill-mannered student. See Professor Knight gently explaining to this unpolished freshman the acceptable forms of greeting on the campus. Share in this valuable lesson imparted with such skill by one of the best teachers in the history of Indiana University. All in the comfort of your own home.



Hear Professor Knight tell the media, "I would have to be an absolute moron," to have mistreated the student, thus revealing the impeccable logic of Professor Knight's self-description.



In subsequent video lessons learn other significant points of proper manners and behavior.



Hear Professor Knight demonstrate the proper techniques of dealing with Puerto Rican security guards. See how word choice and physical contact can combine to make your point with greatest emphasis.



See Professor Knight demonstrate the proper technique of chair tossing in a public place. Note the wrist action, his ability to maximize distance, and how to choose the most dramatic moment for such action. See Professor Knight's consummate use of body language to convey his message.



Hear Professor Knight's touching explanation of how he would like to be remembered by posterity, complete with full instructions on burial position. Hear why the Professor prefers to spend eternity standing on his head, leaving his posterior available for expressions of homage.



See Professor Knight demonstrate the proper techniques of objecting to the errors of officials. This will include acceptable terms to be used in describing the officials and their transgressions, as well as the always-important proper form of exit from a basketball arena while preserving dignity and making your point.



See Professor Knight's multifaceted abilities to pound his fist on a desk both during games and at press conferences. Hear him explain how to get maximum elevation of a telephone off a desk with minimum exertion.



And in the weeks and months ahead see Professor Knight demonstrate:

-the proper stuffing of a fan into a trash can

-the full mannered insulting of underlings at NCAA events

-the office plant toss designed to make the point without physical injury but with full emotional impact

-the use of a bull whip to provide full historical context to lessons in motivational technique

-the ability to appear to choke someone without actually doing so as a cultured teaching technique

-acceptable methodologies for awareness and sensitivity training for the philistines of the fifth estate



Yes, all of this and more, drawn from the extensive and comprehensive files of world-renowned Professor Robert Knight, a self-acknowledged expert on manners. Remember you can learn the valuable lessons from the MASTER without traveling to Indiana University and without having any contact with the Professor all through the miracle of distance learning and technological pedagogy.



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Although a fictitious video, the incidents listed are all drawn from Bobby Knight’s time at the University of Indiana where he was untouchable. No administrator was willing to try to discipline or punish him until the transgressions finally hit a breaking point.

To me, the measure of the man came in an interview he did with Jeremy Schaap on ESPN television in September of 2000. During the interview, Knight became irritated by some of Schaap’s questions, and he turned on Jeremy, the son of the great sports journalist Dick Schaap and, ostensibly, a great friend of Knight.

It was an ugly scene in which Knight told Jeremy and the television audience that Jeremy would never approach the greatness of his father: “You got a long way to go to be as good as your dad, you better keep that in mind.” Knight was visibly pleased with himself at that moment.

To me this was the most revealing moment of Bobby Knight’s public life. It was painful to watch and underlined the character of this public bully. This great man was never any smaller.

On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don’t have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.



Copyright 2023 by Richard C. Crepeau













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