"The General"

As I set here thinking about the once great Indiana University basketball coach, now senile ESPN sports analyst Bob Knight I am forced to make a mental connection to an old neighborhood dog that once tortured the residing children of the area.

Growing up for us was no different than most. We had the colorful neighbors and local nuisances that grew to become legend, just as Bobby has. One particular nuisance was a once great, now rabid championship breeding dog that everyone referred to as The General.

The General earned his nickname torturing small children by imposing fear from a glaring emotionless stare, and a powerful bark that to a young boy seemed to shake the surrounding houses. Then there was the ever present terror of potential danger The General could do to a kid if her ever got them by the throat.

As a kid in our neighborhood there was daily potential for serious harm if The General had his mind set on handing it out, and you never knew what would set him off. The threat was ever present and accepted as part of life, kind of what I imagine it to have been like in the Indiana locker room.

Inevitably, as the old cliché goes, you can’t bite the hand that feeds you. We all knew it would happen eventually, and it did. One evening as the owner bent to set out food for the foaming neighborhood Hitler he was given the same treatment the neighborhood kids had received on a daily basis… a horrific bite on the ***.

This proverbial bite on the *** is mirrored by Coach Knight’s actions being overlooked as he berated and assaulted Indiana University players and staff until he physically assaulted his “owner” former UI athletic director, Clarence Doninger leading to his dismissal from his coaching position.  

As with Doninger, the owner of the demon dog had been told on numerous occasions about the General and his offensive actions but chose to disregard the accusations.  After all, the dog was once a champion. Only after The General turned on his owner and the initial onset of disbelief from the attack had faded was the decision made to put the rabid dog down.

This is where my comparison with Bobby Knight and the neighborhood bully chihuahua stops. The chihuahua wasn’t given a national stage to berate UK basketball fans which also includes an overwhelming number of children. 

A part time sports analyst insulting the fans and coach of the team that just won the national championship doesn't seem to make a lot of sense for any network trying to maintain any credibility to what winning a national title means and seems bad for NCAA basketball. If you want to stir up ratings get an active coach to call out a national champ, not a guy who won his last title almost twenty five years ago, and has since threatened the well being of women, young men, and the people who put food on his table.

What are the benefits of yet another televised or media fed Bobby Knight tantrum? Is this going to be another example of how Bobby Knight takes a great gig and lets his mouth and actions "backdoor" his relevancy?

One thing is for certain, Coach Knight has sent a message loud and clear to each and every member of the Big Blue Nation…

He doesn't want to be your facebook friend.

-R. Gonzalez