Knight Gets 900th Win

By Trashtalk Superstar

Last night, Bob Knight put another notch on his belt. He earned his 900th career coaching win as his Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated #10 Texas A&M 68-53. Knight already had surpassed Dean Smith to become the coach with the most career wins in Division I college basketball.

Now he's moving into uncharted territory.

But, true to form, Knight didn't let the celebratory mood surrounding his latest career milestone keep him from being pissed off about something. Upon receiving a post-game standing ovation, Knight addressed the Red Raiders fans:

"You folks being here, seats being full for a change, really made a difference tonight."

It's good to see that Coach Knight hasn't let all of his career achievements take away his edge.

Bob Knight is still the same old Bob Knight.

Congratulations to Coach Knight, I guess.


Edit (1/18/08):

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not criticizing Bob Knight. He's a great basketball coach, and his innovative motion offense and tough man to man defense revolutionized college basketball. The modern era of college basketball owes an enormous debt to Bob Knight. His Indiana teams of the 1970's and 80's changed the way the game is played. He basically pioneered the modern era of college hoops.

And I agree with his criticism of Texas Tech's fan support. Although I grew up in Chicago's Southern suburbs, I'm the product of an old school Texas family. I've got ancestors who were around in the days of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin -- including a Colonel who got absolutely owned by General Santa Anna at the Alamo. Believe me, I know Texas and the intricacies of Texan culture like nobodies business. And the fact is, nobody gives a rat's ass about college basketball (or any basketball, for that matter) in Texas. Basketball simply isn't part of the cultural landscape in the Lone Star State.

I'll give you an example: four years ago, I was in Austin at the time of the Texas/Oklahoma basketball game. Both teams were ranked in the AP top 15 at the time. Texas had been in the Final Four the previous year. Oklahoma had been in the Final Four the year before that. The game was going to be nationally televised. It was the very definition of a BIG game. Yet, the UT athletic department had to advertise the game all over Austin radio and TV (even on the day of the game) just to try to draw a decent crowd.

The advertisements pointed to the importance of the game and to the fact that it was going to be nationally televised. And they actually had to say something to the effect of: "Sure, it's not football, but it's still a BIG game, and it's still Oklahoma. Come on out and show your support for UT athletics. We NEED your support. It won't look good to have empty seats on national television. Great seats are still available!"

And the ads were still running hours before tip off.

Texas has been a top tier program for years. But they don't have the kind of fan support that other elite basketball programs have. And, out in Lubbock, Bob Knight has made Texas Tech into a solid program: he's brought a winning tradition, numerous NCAA Tournament appearances and a decent amount of national attention to a university that wasn't on the college basketball map (hell, since Tech is in Lubbock, TX -- A.K.A. the middle of nowhere -- it's barely even on a Rand McNally road map) prior to his arrival.

Yet there are usually more empty seats at Tech's home games than at a typical Joe Biden Presidential campaign speech -- and that's a lot of empty seats!

So I can't really blame Bob Knight for making that comment. Although it probably wasn't the right time or the right place to make his feelings known, Coach Knight was just speaking the truth.