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Jan
2008
Knight Notches Number 900
By Carol Pearson
Long-time NCAA basketball coach Bob Knight made history Wednesday night by leading a team to victory for the 900th time in his career. Knight, who is currently coaching at Texas Tech, was naturally thrilled, but many reporters were rather hesitant to interview him, thereby making it difficult to get any decent sound bites after the game.
Coach Knight, it seems, is every bit as famous for his myriad of outbursts as he is for actually coaching. Who among us basketball fans can forget that day in 1985 when Knight, who was coaching the Indiana University Hoosiers, threw a chair across the floor in reaction to a call? John Fitzpatrick, a Bloomington based reporter, certainly can not.
“To say I was scared that day is an understatement,” he said. “I mean, there I was this brand new reporter and my editor said, ‘John, you’re covering the IU-Purdue game today.’ Can you believe it? Indiana University! They gave me a Big Ten game between the two biggest rivals in the history of NCAA basketball on my first week. I was dumbfounded. It was only after I was nearly decapitated with three clipboards and practically stabbed with a grease pencil that I realized why they sent me there. No one else in their right mind would want to go there twice.”
Thankfully, a couple of reporters were able to find enough courage, and enough alcohol, to face the occasionally vitriolic coach. When Knight was finally asked how he felt and what his plans were for the future he replied, “I feel great. I want to win at least 100 more. By the way, why aren’t there more of you here? Are they afraid of me? Why would they be afraid of me?” He then stood up and threw a chair across the room, “For old time’s sake.”
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