Blogs

All in the Wrist

Knight and ESPN: Is this a good idea?

By Chris Wristen
February 28, 2008 | 8 comments

Oh, the irony.

Bobby Knight is coming to the dark side.

I couldn’t help but chuckle upon reading on ESPN.com this afternoon that Knight, the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history and long-time media adversary, has agreed to be a studio analyst for ESPN during Championship Week and the NCAA Tournament.

The idea of such a successful coach offering insight during the most exciting time of basketball season makes perfect sense. But this particular coach?

(Caution, vulgarity follows in just about all of the following clips)

This particular coach?

(That last one is track one on my iPod, dubbed over "One Shining Moment", for when I go running ... intimidates me into running harder).

For a man who seemed to despise the media so much, it is a bit surprising that Knight is willing to give the other side a try. And for a man with such passion a for profanity, it seems like ESPN is taking a big risk by adding him to its panel.

Few coaches ever have seemed so annoyed with reporters’ questions on a regular basis as Knight. To his credit, he seems to appreciate the impact media coverage of college basketball has helped the sport grow — ESPN in particular.

“I think ESPN has been real good for college basketball and I look forward to working with some of their people who I have known a long time,” Knight was quoted as saying in the report.

Few people in athletics at any level have had as vibrant and volatile of personalities as Knight, and it will be interesting to see how he behaves himself in the broadcaster’s chair.

Will he sound off on a fellow analyst and create the biggest uproar in TV since Janet Jackson exposed her breast during the Super Bowl halftime show? Or will he provide an eloquent blend of comedy and insight while delivering an attention-grabbing broadcast?

Only time will tell, but I look forward to watching.

Comments

You'll need a free KUsports.com user account (your LJWorld.com or lawrence.com account will also work).

Posted by sevenyearhawk (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)

well, you'd think they'd learn ...

Rush Limbaugh,
Dennis Miller,
and now Coach Knight

I bet the ratings are spectacular ... and hopefully all the chairs are bolted down!!

Posted by speedy (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

about time espn had some one with some smarts! coach knight will pull no punches and tell it like it IS!
now i could never have played for knight--he would never have recruited me either--but i respect him!
i never could have been a marine either. but respect for them YES!
have you ever heard the dumb questions they ask him. over and over? how many years ago has it been since he threw that chair? havn,t you ever wanted to throw one at a ref.?
? shaft,the son, asks questions but never waited for a proper answer. just agitated knight who basicaly had to tell him to shut up and he would answer the Q.
go for it coach!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by kupops (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I think the clips attached to the article are cheap shots. Why don't you have some clips about all the players that have graduated or clips about the lack of cheating? I am not a Bobby Knight fan, buy he is a great coach and his insight will be welcomed.

Posted by LAJayhawk (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

We all obviously know he won't be throwing chairs or going off on a profanity-laden tirade on any of the other analysts while giving his opinion on ESPN, and to suggest so is just ridiculous. So often sportswriters show us the vulgar speeches and crazy antics he has given over the years because they make for easy, cheep entertainment. But whether or not you have agreed with his coaching style or like him as a person, when he is sitting at the desk at ESPN, he, as we all know, will give us great insight as someone with extraordinary and extensive knowledge about the game of basketball. And, as speedy suggested, he will give us his true opinions, not this at-the-moment, ratings-hungry, political-speech-written style of "sports analysis" that exists now. He tells it like it is, whether you want to hear it or not.

It is rather curious, however, you sportswriters and your obsession with Bob Knight. I wonder what Freud would say about that.................

Posted by LAJayhawk (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Michael Wilbon just gave a 0% chance to Knight cursing on the air.

Posted by CaramelMacchMan (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 5:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree with Wilbon.... Comeon... get real... i thought Bill Parcells was ganna be bad on TV... look what happened???

Posted by cwrist (Chris Wristen) on March 1, 2008 at 1:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

kupops, you're absolutely right that Bob Knight has done tremendous work when it comes to graduating players and cranking out good citizens. One of his biggest priorities as a college coach at Indiana and Texas Tech has been to help raise funds for libraries, too.

The clips weren't included to be cheap shots, although I understand if you see it that way. Their inclusion (I guess with the exception of the chair-throwing one) was done to show how he has behaved when he knows the cameras are rolling. I don't expect him to cuss out Digger Phelps or another analyst, but his past behavior makes me wonder.

He's not the first controversial personality to become a sports analyst, either, as sevenyear pointed out.

I am looking forward to Bob Knight's analysis, though, and agree with speedy that he will tell it like it is. Perhaps he'll be similar to Charles Barkley in some regards.

Posted by chalmerica_industries (anonymous) on March 1, 2008 at 6:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Come on, people. Knight gets plenty of credit and praise. Yes, even from journalists, the primary targets of his venom. He gets plenty of love, but like many in the world of sports, he prefers (thrives off of) a "me against the world" mentality. But don't be fooled; he doesn't need you to stick up for him. Those clips are anything but cheap shots. They are actually quite representative of the way Kight conducted himself in the public eye. Which is what is relevant to his upcoming appearance on ESPN. Which is what the article is about.

Even when Knight isn't being criticized (although he absolutely deserves some criticism), people fall over themselves to defend him. He is a larger-than-life figure that to some represents all that is (or used to be) good about college athletics. So, they set up these straw man arguments, basically accusing Knight's critics of wanting only politically correct BSers, low graduation rates over good ole fashioned discipline, disrespectful youth, and the general downfall of society. This is merely changing the subject. Plenty of great coaches have won the right way, positively influenced their players, *and* weren't complete jerks. It is simply a bright red, undeniable character flaw of his, and as a public figure it will be criticized.