Bobby Knight is still crude, vulgar, and nuts: "Dear Bobby, you're no John Wooden"

... Wooden was classy; Knight was not

Bobby Knight would like to be known as one of the upper echelon of great college basketball coaches. He did win three national championships while at Indiana. 

However, he also demonstrated that he does not have the temperament to be dealing with young people -- or people as a whole. His mercurial temper has gotten him in trouble over the years, and now he is even belittling one of the most revered and successful basketball coaches in history.

In an interview with Joe Buck that ran on Direct TV last night, one that Mediaite described as "bonkers," Knight railed against Indiana University for having fired him for having assaulted a student at the Bloomington school.

According to the transcript of the interview, Knight said this, "Some kid came up to me and said, 'Hey Knight, what's going on?' That kid made a dumb mistake. I went over to that kid and I did a lot more for the son of a bitch than his parents ever did for him. And I went over there and said, "Son, let me tell you something; you don't address adults like that under any circumstances.' And that's why I have no use for Indiana University, because they used that as a reason to get me out of there, and that's absolute bullshit."

Knight was right to be upset with a young person who does not have respect for his elders. But, that does not allow him to assault the young man, which is what he did. 

The university president and board of trustees agreed that he had to go and eventually fired him after a series of situations in which they could no longer justify keeping a person who engaged in what would be considered criminal behavior on board as coach. 

Ongoing problem that could not be ignored

Knight physically choked one of his players at practice, igniting a national firestorm prior to his being fired at IU. Knight told Buck that he had grabbed many kids over the years, and he does not apologize for that. 

Yelling at players is not wrong. It is necessary. I have done it over the years, too, but coaches are not permitted to assault any athletes. That is an abuse of the coaching process.

In other words, in Knights's eyes, winning justifies everything, including assault and physical abuse of athletes. That was acceptable in the early-and-mid Twentieth Century, but times have changed.

Bobby Knight never changed, and for that reason, he was fired. 

John Wooden 

The truth is that Knight is not even in the same class with John Wooden, UCLA's legendary mentor who won ten national titles in 11 years back in the 60s and 70s. Not only was Wooden the greatest coach in college basketball history, he is a revered figure, and Knight is obviously jealous of the Indiana native. 

Knight said that he did not question Wooden's coaching, but said that Wooden allowed a UCLA booster by the name of Sam Gilbert to provide players with many large gifts, including cars. 

"I've never been a Wooden fan ... I have a lot of respect for John Wooden as a coach, how he coached. He was a good coach, but from then on, and I don't mind saying it, I don't respect  Wooden because he allowed Sam Gilbert to do whatever it took to recruit kids."

First, Wooden kicked Indiana all over the court when they faced off in the Final Four many years ago. That still rankles Knight. Second, Wooden was not a "good coach." He was a "great coach." Third, Indiana boosters were just as bad as those at UCLA, but the media in Indiana protected Knight and his coterie of buddies. They did not get caught.

Wooden was a class act; Knight never was

The major reason that Wooden will always be considered great and Knight is still considered good is because of character. Coaches should not use abusive or vulgar language in dealing with young people. 

Wooden never did because he was classy, professional. Knight did and he is considered to be sleazy. Just using vulgar langage as he did in public demonstrates that he is not in the same class as Wooden, who was raised by a Protestant minister in Indiana. 

By using such language in that interview, Knight demonstrated that he had no respect for the audience who was listening to him or the public at large. He believes that vulgar language is "cool," just as the young kid believed that calling Knight by his last name was cool. 

They are on the same level, but he will never realize that.