Bob Knight quits on his team, retains position as basketball's biggest asshole

Several sportswriters have pointed out the irony of Bob Knight quitting on his team in mid-season. It's the sort of thing he would ruin a player for, but hey, he's tired. It happens.

It's not a coincidence that Texas Tech was the last place Knight coached. No major program would touch him, and no top-flight recruits would play for him, because he's a bullying asshole. I know he graduated most of his players, and also that he never cheated. So what? That's like being proud of not beating your wife. Idiot.

King Kaufman over on Salon (subscription not required - you may have to click through an advert) wrote a very good article about why Bob Knight is a bully and a hypocrite. It's better than I could do, so here's an excerpt, with an encouragement to read the whole thing for more insight.

For all the talk of an era ending with the last of the tough, old-school coaches walking off into the sunset, Bob Knight had ceased to be relevant years ago. For most of the last 20 years, he's only gotten his name in the papers when he pulled off his trademark move, bullying someone who for whatever reason wasn't in a position to fight back.

The signature moment of this last part of his career was the 1995 press conference he held up for several minutes while he publicly berated some NCAA volunteer for passing along the incorrect information that Knight wouldn't appear. It was vintage Knight: He was whaling on probably the single most powerless person in the building.