Indiana fans, who first rallied for Bob Knight a few weeks ago are
set to do it again, though this time it's not clear what they are rallying
for other than to keep his job. Knight is alleged to have terrified an elderly, diminutive secretary,
allegedly had to be restrained from attacking his own boss, was alleged to have
physically attacked his assistant coach, his Sports Information Director, and
also his own son. For those who are keeping score, he is alleged to have
choked three people now - Neil Reed, the guitar maker in the Mexican restaurant,
and his SID.
We realize Knight has a very strong hold on people, and that there are
reasons for that. However, to assume that everyone who has come forth is lying
gets into an X-files mentality. It's almost impossible to run a good conspiracy
in an open society. We hope for the best out of all of this, but Bob
Knight is the basketball coach at Indiana. He is not Indiana basketball. That
belongs to an entire state, not one man. It's a magnificent tradition, and
Knight's best teams have played the game beautifully. However, Knight is not
separate from the rest of society anymore than Mike Tyson or Latrell Sprewell are.
You can't run around throttling people and intimidating little old ladies
without paying some price for it. If - and we'll wait for further information -
but if Knight did these things, then his behavior is a problem and needs to be
dealt with. It's unacceptable, and it should be cause for some reflection, to
say the least.