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Back off on Bob Even boorish Knight deserves a second chance
It's time to cut Bobby Knight a little slack. I say we let him come back from Elba and land at Texas Tech or wherever he wants to land and we give him that good old American clean slate. If Robert Downey Jr. can slide back onto the scene with Calista Flockhart and if Marc Rich can come home with a presidential pardon and if Jesse Jackson can be talking from the pulpit again, well, The General can return to the sidelines. Get out those XL sweaters, again, Bob. Shine those loafers. Teach that man-to-man defense to new people. I've been a long-time Knight basher of the first order, never comfortable with his confrontational style and his king-of-the-world ego. I did a little jig when Indiana University blew him out of the water. I admit that I did. I simply think now that enough is enough. A second chance is in order. The man has paid a severe price. He has gone from the highest spot on the coaching altar of Dick Vitale, votive lights around his snarling face, to public buffoon. All of his accomplishments at Indiana have been diluted by his forced and noisy departure. Listen to some people now and the very idea that some institution of higher learning would hire him to direct a basketball program is like bringing in Attila the Hun to direct the humanities department. Bobby Knight isn't Attila the Hun. He's just a coach and maybe he's learned some lessons and maybe he can do some good. Sports Illustrated senior writer Leigh Montville appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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