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Reactions: McCallum's Hot Button Fans divided on Knight
In this week's Hot Button column, Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum applauds the firing of Bobby Knight. The column touched a nerve with many users. A sampling of the responses we received follows. I completely agree with you. Bob Knight deserved to be fired long ago. I'm a woman's coach, and imagine if I would grab one of my players. They would send me to jail. Knight's way of coaching is from an another time, but I will admit that he did get results with it -- 10 years ago.
Good goin', Jack. Aside from his coaching abilities (which have been in decline for a while now), Bob Knight is a hypocritical moron who deserves everything he's getting. And all those IU students who marched and vandalized in protest have shown that they are just as ignorant and immature as Bob Knight!
I agree 100 percent. Knight is an arrogant bully who should have been fired years ago. If he would have grabbed my child I would have personally kicked his fat rear. Hopefully he will never coach again and will never get another chance to embarrass a college that would be stupid enough to hire him. Besides being a first-class jerk, has anyone noticed that Knight's teams haven't accomplished much of anything for the past decade or so?
Is this SI or the National Enquirer? Your story on Coach Knight’s firing is biased and unfair. Coach Knight was not given a chance to respond to the disrespectful stepson of one of his biggest critics. What happened to due process? Coach Knight is a decent person. We have Sprewells and other idiots in pro sports because the media, including SI, has created a no-rules, no accountability, go-for-broke atmosphere in sports. While Coach Knight has overreacted at times, he insists player and students play by the rules. Look at his record, and his players' athletic and academic records. SI, let's get back to fair and accountable journalism, and knock off the National Enquirer stuff.
Finally, CNN and Sports Illustrated accomplished what they set out to do years ago. Whenever there was the least bit of controversy with Bob Knight, CNN/SI broke the story. The Bob Knight/Neil Reed tape accompanied all stories about Knight. This situation sums up what is wrong with the U.S. today. There is no discipline, and there is no room for those who want to invoke it. The only question is: whose job will CNN/SI be after now? Because I project it will be at least a year, maybe two, before Coach Knight is coaching again.
I was born and raised in Indiana. Of course, Indiana is known for its Hoosier Hysteria when it comes to basketball. I, for one, say "Finally!" I think that Bobby Knight thought he was above the rules. He seems to be able to win a lot of games, but could these have been won without the verbal and physical abuse? Probably. I'm sorry to say that I was from the state that let such a man stay around so long. Sorry America.
I agree completely with your article! Everyone around here seems to think that winning is more important than being a good and decent human being. I feel sorry for all the people who are harassing Kent Harvey. I've seen signs threatening his life. Why aren't these people being arrested?
It is obvious after reading your column that you have personal issues with Bob Knight. Regardless of whether or not Knight's firing was justified, I have never seen such rub-in-your-face gloating and glee emanate from a supposedly unbiased source. It is painfully obvious that Bob Knight has a problem with authority, but neither you, nor I, have any idea of what goes on behind closed doors, or the way Bob Knight feels in his heart. If you would like to be short-sighted and applaud the dismissal of a legend who has been coaching since you were writing with crayons, though in poor taste, that is your right. But your unabashed enthusiasm at the removal of an admittedly imperfect man doing the only thing he has ever known how to do -- coach basketball -- will get exactly the type of response I'm sure you're after. I'm sure you will call his tradition an embarrassing, over-lived, over-hyped one, but you and I know Bob Knight was only too old-school for his own good. That doesn't make him the monster that you so eagerly try to create.
Although Bob Knight is as hated here in Puerto Rico as in any other part of the country, I think that his firing was wrong. While he was winning championships, he could show people soiled paper after he defecated and [IU President Myles] Brand did not have a problem. As for the many reporters who are celebrating the firing, I just feel pity for them. These are the many reporters, including your McCallum (I decided to use last names since that is a trait so admired by some college freshmen at Indiana), who got their butts handed to them so many times by Coach Knight. You never saw one of these pitiful sportswriters stand up and speak out bravely during the many times Coach Knight tore them a new butthole during a press conference. I pity all you cowards because now you celebrate the dismissal of a college basketball legend. I wonder what are you guys are going to write about next?
How many sportswriters’ professional lives could withstand the same kind of scrutiny that Coach Knight has been under the last 30 years? Jack McCallum's gloating would be inappropriate under any circumstances, but considering how painful this is for the Indiana University players and staff it is particularly reprehensible. I guess Sports Illustrated doesn't have a "Zero Tolerance Policy" for cruel, petulant writers. I'll bet that when Theodore Roosevelt wrote about "those cold timid souls" he never dreamed that a lot of them would end up behind typewriters.
In an era where high-profile sports figures are elevated to God-like status regardless of their law-breaking or unacceptable public behavior, the firing of Bob Knight was like a breath of fresh air! I have often wondered what has happened to the term "sportsmanlike"? That superb attitude and classy way of comporting oneself has recently been put on the back burner. Perhaps now our sports figures will realize they can't get away with the unruly behavior they've been accustomed to maintaining. I also think the media should do less to "glamorize" sports figures' bad conduct.
I agree with everything that Jack has to say here. Good riddance to bad garbage. The firing couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. I just feel sorry for the kid who had to bring this forward, but the blame doesn't lie with him. Knight is the one who touched him. Doesn't matter if he cursed at him or not. He touched a student, which should pretty much be a fireable offense by itself. But as President Brand indicated in the news conference, there have been many incidents that were against the design of the zero-tolerance contract. As far as I'm concerned, and based on what I heard from President Brand, Knight should have been released after the first incident. Isn't that what "zero-tolerance" means? But I have a feeling that no one in the main office at IU wanted to be the one who had to go on record as getting Knight fired. Fortunately for them, a scapegoat came along. Now Brand comes across as someone who is just doing his job instead of a hard-assed tyrant. It all seems to be the kid's fault. And as I said before, I truly feel sorry for him and hope that this won't deter him from standing up for what is right and wrong in the future.
Why is it that Mr. McCallum never wins awards for sportswriting? I got my answer in this column. It is sad to see that students who could not play basketball to save their lives brought on Coach Knight’s downfall! Three whiners who rode the pine complained about Coach Knight. Oh, how surprising is that? How come none of his starters complained? Why did Mr. McCallum not talk to them before he wrote his article? And Mr. McCallum is upset that Coach Knight would not cancel a fishing trip. What does that have to do with anything? I barely see the connection between that and disrespecting an Athletic Director. Would you cancel your planned vacation Mr. McCallum?
Let's see, Bob Knight is a disciplinarian, lectures on manners, and graduates players. Bob Huggins has not graduated a player from Cincinnati in 10 years. Who's doing kids and the NCAA a disservice?
Here is the deal. COACH Knight was fired because he gave a lesson on manners to a 19-year-old, disrespectful kid. The problem is not MR. Knight, it is all the people who think that this is a bad idea. If his father would have taught him to be a good kid, this would not have happened. COACH Knight does not have to apologize about any of his actions. Rather the kid should apologize to him. I think the underlying issue here is the stepfather put the kid up to it. Hear me out. The father was a radio talk show host, "was" being the keyword. He was known for not liking MR. Knight. He knew what buttons to push and had his son push them. You watch -- I bet this was revenge or an attempt to get another radio job and/or a huge settlement from a lawsuit.
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