Knight: My Story

Rating:
Summary: The General
Review: In "Knight: My Story", coach Knight lets us all into his world.
This autobiographical view takes the reader on a trip from Knight's high school days in Orrville, OH, all the way to the start of his first season at Texas Tech. Those familar with "The General" will no doubt be impressed that "he tells it like it is" as easily in the written form as he does with the spoken word. There's no question that this is Knight's book!
Basketball coaches will appreciate the snippets that Knight provides of "his" approach to basketball. While, not an "X's and O's" kind of book, there's plenty of basketball talk found here! Knight philosophical view of the game and competition itself really jumps off the pages of the book.Bobby knight is a coach to be reckoned with. His thoughts and views about the game of basketball are unbelieveable. He is the greatest coach that ever lived.

Rating:
Summary: Great Coach -- Not So Great Book
Review: Let's get my bias out of the way first: I like Coach Knight. While he has lost his temper at times, he is an honest person and a fine teacher of college men. The vast majority of players who have played for him claim that they are better people because of him and I believe them.

That being said, I can't get quite excited about this book as I can regarding Texas Tech's chances in the upcoming basketball season. While this book is full of many interesting anecdotes and stories, it lacks organization. This is especially true as you near the end of the book. Instead of following an outline or logical flow, the book jumps from issue to issue and story without logical transitions.

Overall, I would recommend it to people who are big Bobby Knight fans except that I would be surprised if there is anything in the book that would be all the surprising to a big fan. What I enjoyed was when he would share his opinions of other sports stars and coaches and even his opinions of political leaders. For example we learn of his friendship with Ted Williams and hunting trips with President Bush and Stormin' Norman but that comes mixed between some other topics that aren't as compelling.

There have been other books written about Knight such as Feinstein's that might not be as flattering but might be more compelling to read. I would recommend reading this book and one of the others and comparing them. It would make for an interesting contrast.

In short, I'll be rooting for the Coach again this season, but it won't be beacuse of anything that I read about it in this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!!!
Review: Often criticized, often misunderstood, Bob Knight has finally delivered with his own words. Many men who had had success in athletics simply write and autobiography, but Knight's book is much more. While telling the story of his life, Coach Knight also provides us detailed information on his coaching philosophy and theories. Young coaches, and even old ones, can certainly learn a lot from Knight. Too many people involved in athletics today don't seem to understand what they're trying to accomplish. Knight fully explains that the goal of athletics, in particular basketball, is so much more than simply winning games. He gives an in-depth look at what he has tried to accomplish over the years. He explains that he has tried to not only teach his players about the game, but about things that relate to their lives.

Reading this book was an educational and entertaining experience. Anyone involved in athletics can benefit by reading it, and I would most definitely recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: One for the ages
Review: What a book. It is filled with info I never really knew. Never an Indiana basketball fam, I was always a Bobby Kight fan. I finished the book in one reading. I could not put it down. His love for fishing and hunting is explained in his book.

Rating:
Summary: Selective and Subjective
Review: What we have here is Knight's version of a "story" which began in 1940 when he was born in Orrville, Ohio. He played for Ohio State (starting only two games in three years but was the "sixth man" on an NCAA championship team in 1960), began his coaching career as an assistant at Cuyahoga Falls (Ohio), was head coach at the U.S. Military Academy, and then at Indiana University where three of his teams won an N.C.A.A. championship. Today, he coaches at Texas Tech University. As with all other memoirs, Knight's is both selective and subjective: selective in terms of what Knight remembers (or at least what he is willing to share with his reader) and subjective in terms of how he interprets that "what." Having coached varsity basketball in New England for 13 years at two different boarding schools, I was soon convinced that basketball is probably the most difficult game to officiate. Almost all of the calls are subjective. Officials do not call what happened; rather, they call what they think they saw happen. I suspect that Knight encountered a similar situation when writing this book with Bob Hammel. His account may not be in all respects exactly what has happened in his life thus far but I am convinced that what he offers in this book is what Knight sincerely believes happened. More revealing, to me at least, is his explanations of why he was involved in so many different controversies along the way.

According to Knight, he has almost always been a victim of circumstances such as when he was accused of assaulting a police officer in Puerto Rico and arrested (1979), of choking an Indiana player (Neil Reed) in 1997, grabbing the arm of an Indiana student (Kent Harvey) in 2000, and then verbally abusing the university's female legal counsel. Also in his opinion, he was victimized by the "stupidities" of Indiana University officials (notably President Myles Brand) and fired without just cause. Knight discusses these and other circumstances in this memoir. He is (with few exceptions) highly critical of journalists, especially sports writers, for unfairly exaggerating various incidents and thereby misrepresenting (if not totally misunderstanding) his intentions. For example, with regard to the incident in which he hurled a folding chair across a basketball court, he has explained with evident pride in his chair-throwing skill, that no one was in any danger. His nickname "The General" reminds me of George S. Patton who, until the day he died, felt victimized by the coverage of his soldier-slapping incident. (In fact, Patton slapped several whom he accused of cowardice and insubordination.) Among the recurrent themes throughout this book is Knight's strong sense of righteous indignation but keep in mind that all this is his version of what happened. Also why.

So what do I make of this book? As a former basketball coach, I thoroughly enjoyed the detailed accounts of various seasons and of especially important games. Also, in fairness to Knight, I am grateful (I really am) to share his perspectives on what has obviously been, until now, a highly complicated and controversial career. Knight helps me to understand why so many people love him, respect him, and support him. Perhaps without realizing it, he also helps me to understand why so many other people view him with contempt and even hostility. At least in one respect, Knight reminds me of Billy Martin and Woody Hayes who, when working with certain kinds of athletes (talented, obedient, thick-skinned, deferential, preferably reverential), consistently produced winning teams. Also like Knight, their behavior on and off the field of competition was highly controversial and both of them frequently expressed the same righteous indignation which Knight does in this book.

Even his severest critics concede that Knight is a great basketball coach. No one denies that he loves the game and coaches it with both passion and precision. These same critics also concede that there have been many instances in which Knight has demonstrated extraordinary kindness, compassion, and generosity with his players, albeit after they no longer played for him. And finally, his critics (albeit grudgingly) concede that he is highly intelligent, has a sharp wit, is wholeheartedly loyal and devoted to family members and friends, and (when so inclined) can really turn on the charm. However, they hasten to add that....

In the final analysis, Knight's "story" has many different versions. This is his.