What would an NCAA tournament be without a Bob Knight controversy? Admit it -
it's just part of the scenery. Whether it's pressing a bullwhip to a black kid's
butt, or being enraged at reporters, or losing it, a lot of people watch Bob
Knight the same way they watch NASCAR - for the wrecks.
This year the controversy is over Neil
Reed's allegations that Bob Knight choked him. While assistant Dan
Dakich says he has never seen Knight choke a player, and while AJ Guyton says
it's "outrageous," Knight says "[m]aybe I grabbed Neil Reed by the shoulder, maybe I took him by the back of the neck, I don't know. I don't remember everything I've done in
practice."Â
He does say, categorically and explicitly, that he never kicked the President
of Indiana University out of practice as Reed alleges.
Not to be cynical, but this is a man with a keen memory. If he can say that
he never yelled at the President, you'd think that he could remember whether or
not he choked someone (what Reed said was that Knight choked him and the two had
to be separated).
It seems to us that Knight, by all accounts a brilliant man, would remember
something as dramatic as choking one of his players. Even if he were every bad
thing his opponents claim he is - and we don't think he is, though we disagree
with how he expresses himself - wouldn't that kind of stand out as a day you
might have a hard time forgetting?Â
It just seems to us that the man would be able to say "hell no, I didn't
choke the little bastard, but I sure as hell wanted to about twice a day."
Saying he doesn't remember choking one of his own players isn't the same thing
as denying it, though as the Nixon and Clinton White Houses have shown, it can
be smart legal strategy.
Incidentally, one of the sources for CNNSI's account, we're guessing, would
be Jason Collier. We don't know that he his, but given his experiences at
Indiana, we'd be curious. Maybe some enterprising ACC writer can ask him
for his account.Â
If you want to follow Indiana reactions,
you can check in at Peegs' board, where passions are boiling over. Here's
the best line we've seen so far:
If he can weather the storm of the "chair"; Ted Valentine; the "kick"; the "head butt"; and the "whipping" of Calbert, then he/we will weather this one.
Â