An Impossible Act To Follow
If you're from the state of North Carolina, or if you know anything at all about college basketball, then there are two little words that simultaneously embody greatness, class, respect and humility all at the same time. Those two words are "Dean" and "Smith". For those of you not aware, Dean Smith was the coach of the University of North Carolina Tarheels from 1961 until 1997, a 30 year span in which he defined greatness and what it meant to be a great coach. Along the way he also became the winningest coach in NCAA history, the winningest coach in the NCAA tournament, took UNC to the second most Final Four appearances ever, grabbed back to back NCAA titles, dominated the ACC Tournament, compiled .728 overall winning percentage and somehow found time to write the best selling coaches basketball book EVER. All this while nurturing his players, guiding them along in both their academic and basketball careers, and creating life long bonds with many of them. Essentially Smith became one of the models against which all coaches are now measured, and he did it with a grace and humble manner that was as endearing as it was gratifying.
The reality is that this brief resume I've included here only touches the tip of what Smith truly accomplished, and what he meant to UNC and to the game of basketball in general. Those things cannot ever really be expressed. Even taking away one of his greatest accolades, that of being the winningest coach in NCAA history, does not really diminish the man, or lessen his stature in any way shape or form. In fact, when Smith's record is broken sometime this week, I assure you he will be one of the people giving the highest praise to the new title holder - that's just the man he is. I just WISH the guy breaking the record didn't have to be such a complete asshole.
I'm speaking of course about Bobby Knight, the one time coach of Indiana, and the current coach of Texas Tech. This man is the antithesis of everything Dean Smith was as a coach and of everything he stood for as an individual. To see his record fall to such an unbearable excuse of a person is a travesty of the sporting world. Bob Knight's antics over the years have been nothing short of an embarrassment - to himself, to the schools he's coached at, and to college basketball in general. The choking, the chair throwing, the berating of the reffs (the only coach I've ever seen heckle a reff as much as Knight is Coach K...big shock considering Kry Baby was an assistant under Knight at West point when he was starting) the abuse of his players, his staff, other coaches, fans, the list goes on and on and on. And what's worse is that Knight has rarely, if ever, shown the slightest remorse for his actions. He seems to take pride in winning without class or style, as if he truly believes the old adage that winning isn't everything - it's the ONLY thing.
Any fool can tell you that in many situations brute force and intimidation will often produce the same results as patience, respect and dedication, but at what cost? Dean Smith's players played their hearts out for him because they loved him as a man, and respected him as a coach. Knights players play hard for him out of fear of what could happen if they don't. Just as recently as last month Knight was caught on film striking the jaw of one of his players in order to get his attention. This is just typical Knight behavior, and while initially there was great media discussion over the event, eventually it was just brushed away as Bob Knight being Bob Knight. I could go on and on about about the differences between the two men, the importance of winning the right way versus winning at all cost, the duty coaches have to guide their players as men and not just brow beat them into reaching a goal....but I wont. I'll simply leave you with a quote from The Man himself in terms of players - Mr. Michael Jordan, who played for both Smith @ UNC and Knight on the Olympic team. He pretty much summed up the differences between the two men thusly "Coach Smith was the master of the four corner offense, Bob Knight is the master of the four letter word." That's a direct quote.
So basically Mr. Knight, what it boils down to is this...you can break the record, and you can keep building on it until you have a heart attack on the court, but you can't make it classy, and you can't make it stylish, and you can't make it respectable. Enjoy your record book.
The reality is that this brief resume I've included here only touches the tip of what Smith truly accomplished, and what he meant to UNC and to the game of basketball in general. Those things cannot ever really be expressed. Even taking away one of his greatest accolades, that of being the winningest coach in NCAA history, does not really diminish the man, or lessen his stature in any way shape or form. In fact, when Smith's record is broken sometime this week, I assure you he will be one of the people giving the highest praise to the new title holder - that's just the man he is. I just WISH the guy breaking the record didn't have to be such a complete asshole.
I'm speaking of course about Bobby Knight, the one time coach of Indiana, and the current coach of Texas Tech. This man is the antithesis of everything Dean Smith was as a coach and of everything he stood for as an individual. To see his record fall to such an unbearable excuse of a person is a travesty of the sporting world. Bob Knight's antics over the years have been nothing short of an embarrassment - to himself, to the schools he's coached at, and to college basketball in general. The choking, the chair throwing, the berating of the reffs (the only coach I've ever seen heckle a reff as much as Knight is Coach K...big shock considering Kry Baby was an assistant under Knight at West point when he was starting) the abuse of his players, his staff, other coaches, fans, the list goes on and on and on. And what's worse is that Knight has rarely, if ever, shown the slightest remorse for his actions. He seems to take pride in winning without class or style, as if he truly believes the old adage that winning isn't everything - it's the ONLY thing.
Any fool can tell you that in many situations brute force and intimidation will often produce the same results as patience, respect and dedication, but at what cost? Dean Smith's players played their hearts out for him because they loved him as a man, and respected him as a coach. Knights players play hard for him out of fear of what could happen if they don't. Just as recently as last month Knight was caught on film striking the jaw of one of his players in order to get his attention. This is just typical Knight behavior, and while initially there was great media discussion over the event, eventually it was just brushed away as Bob Knight being Bob Knight. I could go on and on about about the differences between the two men, the importance of winning the right way versus winning at all cost, the duty coaches have to guide their players as men and not just brow beat them into reaching a goal....but I wont. I'll simply leave you with a quote from The Man himself in terms of players - Mr. Michael Jordan, who played for both Smith @ UNC and Knight on the Olympic team. He pretty much summed up the differences between the two men thusly "Coach Smith was the master of the four corner offense, Bob Knight is the master of the four letter word." That's a direct quote.
So basically Mr. Knight, what it boils down to is this...you can break the record, and you can keep building on it until you have a heart attack on the court, but you can't make it classy, and you can't make it stylish, and you can't make it respectable. Enjoy your record book.
posted by CarpeDM | 7:16 PM
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