Why is Bobby Knight still a thing? We’ve known for several decades already what kind of horrible human being he is. During his 76 years on this planet he’s racked up an infamous resume of deplorable actions that should have long disqualified him from relevance and being worthy of our attention.
Yet here we are again, talking about another disgusting thing Bobby Knight did. This time, he went to give a motivational speech at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and he ended up under investigation from both the FBI and the U.S. Army for groping the female employees.
The women accused Knight of a range of boorish behavior: from touching them on the shoulder while commenting on the attractiveness of their legs, to hugging them too tightly around the chest, to hitting them on the buttocks, according to documents compiled by investigators and Washington Post interviews with three of the women.
Wow! This is….actually…not shocking at all. We’re not surprised one bit to learn that Knight treats women like objects, a la his buddy and surrogate Donald Trump. What’s surprising his why he was hired for this gig in the first place. WHY?!
Why invite this socially regressive troglodyte with an infantile command of his temper and impulses? What the hell was he doing there in the first place?
No charges were filed by any of the women, but it’s still very difficult to fathom why anybody glamorizes a despicable person who hasn’t won anything since the early 1990s.
Bobby Knight resume update:
-Made pro rape comments to Connie Chung
-Performed slavery themed prop comedy at NCAAs
-Choked his own players https://t.co/wkb3K6f45s— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) July 7, 2017
Shall we run through the Bobby Knight gamut again?
-During March Madness 1992 he flipped a bullwhip toward the bent-over ass of his own star player Calbert Cheaney. I guess he didn’t see any issues in the imagery of a rich, old Caucasian man cracking a whip on his unpaid African-American laborer, who was posed in a submissive position.
-Asked by Connie Chung in a 1987 interview how he handled stress, he responded, ”I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” While he did say that he’s not talking about the act of rape itself, but using it as a metaphor for…uhm, yeah, we’re not going to dignify his weird twisted like a pretzel “logic” for why he’s talking about violent sexual crime.
-Here he is choking Neil Reed, one of his own players:
-Slapping one of his own players at Texas Tech
-He stuffed a fan from an opposing team (LSU) into a trash can.
-The most infamous incident, tossing a chair across the court during a rivalry tilt with Purdue
-Kicking his own son (a player for him at the time)
Or how about this beauty, when he denounced all Puerto Ricans, at a time that he was supposed to be representing this wonderful country of ours.
Bobby Knight – Pan Am Mishap – Coach, Indiana, University, and Ten – JRank
In 1979 at the Pan American Games, Knight, in a confrontation with a Puerto Rican police officer, punched the cop after Knight was ejected from a game on a technical foul. The Puerto Rican government then put out a warrant for Knight’s arrest, but he could not be extradited from the U.S. In the late 1980s Puerto Rico recalled the warrant. Knight, quoted in Sports Illustrated at the time, said of the Puerto Ricans, “F—’em, f—’em all.… The only thing they know how to do is grow bananas.”
There are more incidents on his rap sheet over at this link.
The plain truth is, everyone has a “hey I met Bobby Knight, and dude is a total and complete asshole” story. Here’s mine over at this link, and it fulfills every single stereotype that accompanies him- bullying, hating the media, denouncing writers, unnecessary use of physical force, over-the-top military imagery.
When his fate was finally sealed at Indiana University, the repugnant curmudgeon said he was hunting grouse at the exact moment. Wow! What a strong alpha male you are to be battling such a fierce beast!
Ernest Hemingway would marvel at the manner in which you emerged triumphant in the age old man vs nature narrative.
Just four months ago, Bobby Knight publicly wished death to the leadership at IU during the time he was head basketball coach.
It really does make a ton of sense that Bobby Knight is BFF with Donald Trump. They’re alike in so many ways:
old rich white men, clinging to a past that never really existed (except in their heads), whose legitimate accomplishments peaked in the 1980s; individuals possessing racist, sexist, misogynist and xenophobic world views. Don’t forget the frighteningly sophomoric obsessions with despising the media.
Most importantly, both have a cult following them that will refuse to ever see their glaringly obvious faults.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.