"Bobby Knight is funny" seems like the quintessential oxymoron. Sour puss, one card short of a full deck, Type A Personality Poster Child and royal P.I.A. are what comes to the the Aging Disco Diva's mind when I think of Coach Knight.
- In 1979, Knight was arrested for assaulting a police officer during the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. Knight was angry that a practice gymnasium was not opened to his team, which went on to a 9-0 record in the tournament. Knight was later convicted in absentia in a Puerto Rican court. However, the charges were later dropped when Indiana Governor Otis R. Bowen refused to cooperate in extraditing Knight to the island commonwealth.
- In 1985, Knight threw a chair across the court to protest a referee's call during a game against the rival Purdue Boilermakers. Knight was suspended for one game and received two years' probation from the Big Ten Conference.
- Women's groups nationwide were outraged by Knight's comments during an April, 1988 interview with Connie Chung in which he said, "I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it." Knight's comment was in reference to an Indiana basketball game in which he felt the referees were making poor calls against the Hoosiers.
- Knight was shown berating an NCAA volunteer at a 1995 post-game press conference following a 65-60 loss to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament held in Boise, Idaho. The volunteer, Rance Pugmire, informed the press that Knight would not be attending the press conference, when in reality, Knight was running a few minutes late and had planned on attending per NCAA rules. Knight was shown saying: "You've only got two people that are going to tell you I'm not going to be here. One is our SID (sports information director) and the other is me. Who the hell told you I wasn't going to be here? I'd like to know. Do you have any idea who it was?...Who?...They were from Indiana, right?...No, they weren't from Indiana, and you didn't get it from anybody from Indiana, did you?...No, I—I'll handle this the way I want to handle it now that I'm here. You (EXPLETIVE) it up to begin with. Now just sit there or leave. I don't give (EXPLETIVE) what you do. Now back to the game.
- In February 2004, Knight made national headlines when he had an argument with then Texas Tech University Chancellor David Smith at a Lubbock supermarket.
- On October 21, 2007, James Simpson of Lubbock, Texas, accused Knight of firing a shotgun in his direction after he yelled at Knight and another man for hunting too close to his home. Knight denied the allegations. An argument between the two men was recorded via camera phone and aired later on television.
Yes, he was one of the great college basketball coaches of all time but I sure as hell would not want my kid playing for him...but I have to admit he was pretty damn funny and entertaining on The Tonight Show:
Who wudda thunk?
Technorati Tags: bobby knight, Tonight Show, Puerto Rico, Pan American Games, Retires, Texas Tech, Indiana
No comments:
Post a Comment