Posted on 11/02/2023 6:41:40 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Bob Knight, one of the most legendary college basketball coaches of all time, died Wednesday at the age of 83.
Knight was a three-time national champion and made five Final Fours, all during his 29-season tenure at Indiana.
Knight's first head coaching job was with Army in 1965; he took the Hoosiers job in 1971, where he stayed until 2000. He then coached Texas Tech from 2001-2008.
"It is with heavy hearts that we share that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington surrounded by his family," his website said. "We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as Coach requested a private family gathering, which is being honored. We will continue to celebrate his life and remember him, today and forever as a beloved Husband, Father, Coach, and Friend."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
He coached at West Point, as a story goes he was playing golf with a friend and for every missed shot he would break a club in anger. Soon he was out of clubs and his friend just played thru. As they got to the 19th hole Bobby asked to borrow a club so he could carry it to the bar.
Condolences to family and friends of Bobby Knight.
RIP Bobby
I forgive you for beating the SU Orangemen in the final.
GOAT. I was a fan and follower since vhildhood.
I have never seen a person do more good under the radar, but get absolutely savaged by media. He didn’t care, though, and that made it even better.
His counterpart at Texas Tech at the time, Mike Leach, was the closest thing to Knight as a football coach.
Sadly we’ve now lost both of them.
I’ll toss a lawn chair across my yard today in honor...
His headstone should be chair.
Wonder if they’ll bury him upside down?
“When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want them to bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass!”
Oh you beat me to it.
I know there can be a fine line for a coach between being tough and being an embarrassing spectacle, but I really believe Knight’s legacy as a coach was diminished because he was on the wrong side of that line too many times.
It’s probably because people didn’t know about the good he did under the radar, because he did it under the radar.
But on the other hand,a chair throwing incident got wide publicity, and painted him in a negative light.
And, again: Whose line?
One of his peers threatened to kill an opposing coacj in a press conference and he has been deemed a “legend” and not a peep about it.
Knight was wrongly painted and didn’t care. I loved it!
“One of the Most legendary” is one of the dumbest phrases I’ve read today.
I also heard that in the off season Knight would teach Military Strategy.
“hope there is a chair for you.”
Hope you hang onto it.
I admired this man.
I have my own vision for what makes a great coach: Don Shula and Bill Belichick in football, John Wooden in basketball, Anatoly Tarasov (international) and Scotty Bowman (NHL) and Herb Brooks (NCAA) in hockey (my sport). And I consider Vince Lombardi the greatest coach in any sport in modern history.
Bob Knight falls far short of these guys — mainly because he let his antics shape the story of his coaching.
That’s odd you say that,..the people he was hardest on were his players and they almost universally honored and respected him. His were old school traits like Woody Hayes, Bear Bryant, Vince Lombardi, Mike Ditka etc. Built men of character and respect. Not much of that going on anymore.
Being hard on his players was fine. Being a jerk in public was over the top — and certainly didn’t demonstrate “character” himself.
Read the book “A Season on the Brink” by John Feinstein which detailed the 1985-86 season of the Indiana University’s men’s basketball team. Great book, great Coach, great man. He damn sure didn’t coddle anybody. If you played basketball at IU you were either a man when you started or became one under Coach Knight or you washed out. RIP Coach. Hope there’s some talent up there to work with.
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