What's the Fuss?

By now it’s no secret.

Bob Knight has resigned from Texas Tech. His future in coaching is one of the great unknowns of this season. During the past few weeks, video footage of Knight has been played and replayed, showing America a man that many consider mean, irritable and an old grouch.

I beg to differ.

Somewhat.

I know people who know Knight. I know people who’ve played for Knight.

I’ve met Knight.

He’s not as bad as people think.

I interviewed Knight in September 2006. It was my second month in Panama City and he was in town to fish as part of the Gulf Coast Community College athletics auction.

It was in the back office at Howell Tackle that I saw who Bob Knight really is.

“Any time that I’ve enjoyed people and can help them, I do that,” he told me. “I’ve done a lot of things over the years using either fishing or golf to help support programs. That’s just the kind of the thing I’ve always done.”

It is.

Knight has always come off as a media-hater. His sometime vulgar tirades toward reporters can easily support this. He yelled at me just once, after I asked a question about how his team was going to look that season. He said since it was only September, how the hell could he know that.

I felt initiated into an elite group.

But, I digress.

What really got me about Knight is what happened after our interview, something that sports reporters dream of — a sit down with Bob Knight.

In full disclosure, I am an Indiana University alum. I started school the year after Knight was fired in September 2000.

Heading into the interview, I battled with myself whether to disclose this information. For the betterment of the interview and a possible future relationship with Knight, I chose not to. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t relevant.

After we spoke about fishing and basketball, he started questioning me.

First it was about me living in Panama City. Then it was about where I’m from. Then he asked the question I dreaded: “Where did you go to school?”

My jaw almost dropped. I told him the truth.

“Well coach,” I said. “I actually went to Indiana.”

“Oh…really?” Knight responded. “Ok…um…well…” and he went on to talk about fishing in Minnesota, where I’m from.

As a proud alum of Indiana, I still show my support with license plate holder and a sticker on the back of my car. Maybe he saw that. Maybe that’s why he asked that question.

When we got up to leave the office, he shook my hand. Told me I had a bright future and that I was a good man.

Coming from Knight, I knew it meant something.

Right there, I saw the real side of Robert Montgomery Knight.

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