I had to wait a week for the bile to recede after reading Bob Kravitz's puling rebuke of legendary Indiana basketball coach, Bobby Knight in the Indianapolis Star.  Seems carpetbagger Kravitz feels it is his responsbility to ride in to Indiana on his politicially correct horse and instruct the General on the finer points of etiquette.  Denver Bob's column would have been more appropriate to the society page of the Indy Star.  Kravitz, like the vast majority of American sports columnists, wears his political correctness on his sleeve.  And what is etiquette but  a set of politcally correct rules for manners?  So it's certainly O-K, at least in his own mind, for Kravitz to serve as Miss Manners to the General.

 The college that fired Knight after building its basketball program into one of the top programs in the country is having a little soiree associated with its Hall of Fame induction ceremony on November 6.  The ultimate no-brainer has Knight being inducted into the fellowship of such hallowed legends as Debbie Oing, Charles Hornbostel, and long-time equipment manager, Red Grow.  Perhaps the Hall could have a tandem induction for Knight and his nemesis, Myles Brand, busybody former I.U. president and the man personally responsible for destroying the Indiana basketaball dynasty Bobby Knight had established in his 29 years as head coach. During Knight's tenure, the Hoosiers compiled a 353-151 record.  Coach Knight has won more games than any other coach in NCAA Division I history.  Knight's teams at IU won 11 Big Ten Championships, 3 NCAA National Championships and one NIT national championship.  Knight's programs were free of recruiting violations and nearly all of the players went on to graduate from college.

 Since Bobby Knight left, the once-proud Hoosier basketball program looks like Amy Winehouse's apartment after a week-long jag.  The long downhill post-Knight slide includes a rash of NCAA recruiting violations and suspensions and has an execrable 9-29 record since the start of the 2008 season. The Indiana University administration and the blithering nimrods in the athletic department have effectively destroyed the dynasty Bolbby Knight established with his disciplined, knowledgeable, creative and completely clean coaching and recruiting regimen. 

 But Mr. Kravits thinks Knight owes the Indiana Hall of Fame an rsvp for their invitation to make their ceremony into an event worth covering.  The other 2009 inductees include soccer coach, Jerry Yeagley, Steve Downing, Katrin Koch, Joe Norman, Mike Rabold and Alan Somers.  I'm sure these Indiana alums deserve their props, but I doubt that the national media will be out to cover this Knight-less rubber chicken testimonial.

Kravitz goes on to whine that "Everybody on the list has RSVP'ed" except for Knight.  Of course they have.  This nice little ceremony is probably a career highlight for many of these respected Hoosiers.  It's hardly a milestone for Bobby, who won an Olympic Gold Medal in addition to his many championships.  Why should the man who devoted nearly 30 years of his life to IU dignify the university with a response to their attempt to aggrandize their little Hall of Fame by adding the man they slandered and attempted to publicly humiliate before they proceeded to dismantle his creation:  arguably the finest college basketball program in the county?

Make no mistake about it:  Bobby Knight is a proud and ferociously loyal man who would have fought for the Indiana University with his last breath if they hadn't impugned him, dismantled his creation and went on to present a farcical shadow of the respected basketball program the Coach built for them.

Duke's Coach Krzyzewski suggested in an espn.com interview that the school hadn't done enough to celebrate Knight's acheivements and the great young men he had developed.  He even suggested that re-naming Asembly Hall in Knight's honor might be a good start.

Not according to PC Kravitz however.  The myopic columnist suggests that attending the Hall of Fame induction would be a "good first step" in repairing the damaged relationship between IU and the man who gave the school its finest hours in the national spotlight.  As though the university should be able to dictate the terms of any "first step" in that direction.  Kravitz asks sarcastically:

"Should there be a month-long Bob-a palooza? Should we all be required to kiss his, um, ring?

No, Mr. Kravitz.  Coach Knight, as usual, has a better idea.  Posted on the Wikipedia site for Knight is this quote from the winningest coach in NCAA history:

"When my time on Earth is gone and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down and my critics can kiss my ***."  (1994)

Bob Kravitz should be first in line.

London bookies are now offering 8-1 odds against the return of the world's highest paid pin-tender to his position as Bag-boy for Tiger Woods.  Steve Williams, who has served for nearly 10 years in Tiger's employ,  immersed himself and his patron in a bit of controversy with off-hand remarks about Phil Mickelson at a charity dinner in New Zealand:

 "I wouldn't call Mickelson a great player because I hate the prick."

Although Williams is no stranger to controversy with his contentious barking at tour galleries and his occasional snatch and watery disposal of the odd spectator camera, this time the caddie's swelled head has clearly gotten too big to fit into the caddyshack.  Today Tiger hosts the opening of the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California and will certainly be called upon to interact with the press.  Woods has already felt compelled to address the issue, obliquely confirming his respect for Mickelson and his disdain for the caddie's obstreperous remarks.  While Tiger stated that the matter had been "discussed and dealt with,"  additional media heat directed toward Woods, coupled with the Mickelson management company's clear desire to keep this pot stirred, seems certain to help Steve Williams ease unceremoniously into retirement. 

 It could certainly happen to a nicer guy.  The PGA Tour has been able to remain remarkably free from the tabloid-style gossip and low-brow controversy that seems to embroil the rest of professional sports.  Sure there's the odd John Daly relapse, most recently a Williams re-enactment where Daly smashed a spectator's camera on his way to another missed cut at the Australian Open.   But Daly has served as comic relief to the more staid, country-club demeanor that prevails on the PGA Tour.  Daly is the tour's designated  screw-up:  while he may wander off to Reno and blow a half million dollars playing the slot machines, he remains generally affable and draws a certain element to the course,  somewhat akinto the fan who attends an auto race hoping for a crash.

Unlike, Steve Williams, however,  John Daly has earned his 15 minutes of defamation.  No amount of luck could account for two Major tour victories and Daly strikes a chord with Joe Six Pack or perhaps, in John's case, Joe Twelve-Pack.  Maybe New Zealand is so starved for a sporting connection that the Kiwis find Williams' tangential connection to pro sports sufficient  to care to hear his remarks.  I'm sure Tiger Woods doesn't care to hear any more of them.

8-1 that Woods unceremoniously gives Williams the boot by January 1?  I'll take the under.

The development of parity in the National Football League has encouraged a concomitant stress upon the importance of late season momentum.  It is crucially important to have your team peak, both physically and emotionally, around the time the playoffs begin.  The attempt to level the distribution of talent in the league makes the emotional intensity of each team an enormously important factor. Just look at the last 3 years for example.  In 2005 the Indianapolis Colts reeled off 13 straight victories to start the season, only to be knocked off by the burgeoning Pittsburgh Steelers, the eventual Super Bowl Champs.  The Steelers produced a middling 11-5 regular season record in 2005 earning them the 6th seed in the playoffs.  Despite their inauspicious start, the Steelers won 3 straight road playoff games (an NFL first) and beat the Seahawks to claim the Lombardi trophy.
  In 2006, the Indianapolis Colts roared out to a 9-0 start only to lose 4 of their next 5 games as their defense floundered.  The Colts won their last game, however and secured a Wild Card spot.  This victory combined with the return of their defensive spark-plug, Bob Sanders, helped the team regain momentum as the Colts soundly beat Kansas City and Baltimore on the road before clinching a Super Bowl berth with an electrifying 38-34 victory over their arch-enemies, the New England Patriots.  Their rainy Super Bowl victory seemed like an afterthought as the team's emotional high helped them carry the day against the Bears.
   2007 was no different.  The Patriots absorbed all the sporting news ink throughout the season as they went undefeated in the regular season and won their two playoff games to run up to 18-0.   It is hard to deny the Patriot's momentum, but the they had been hammering the opposition in the regular season, but barely escaped with victories in their last few games, particularly against the Ravens and in the playoffs against the Chargers.  Meanwhile, the New York Giants took the wild card route, struggling to even make the playoffs with a 10-6 record before stealing 3 upset playoff wins before vanquishing the Patriots in the greatest Super Bowl upset of the 21st century.
  My point?  This season's Indianapolis Colts are looking a lot like the last few Super Bowl Champions, their 6-4 record notwithstanding.  Struggling to stop the run and recovering from a nasty rash of injuries to their offensive line, the Horseshoes look like they are ramping up for another late season drive.  In the last 4 weeks the Colts have beaten the Patriots, Steelers, Chargers and Texans.  Earlier this season they laid a beating on the Ravens unlike anything Ray Lewis and his pals have seen before, with the Colts prevailing, 31-3.
  All this despite the fact that Peyton Manning is just now finally rounding into shape.  After undergoing two surgeries in the off-season to clean out an infected bursa sac in his knee, Manning didn't play or even practice for the entire pre-season. He lost over 25 pounds and seasoned observers recognized that the impeccable timing Peyton shared with his receivers was not yet in synch.  Even Sunday in San Diego, Manning was unable to hit a streaking Marvin Harrison on a post pattern, leaving the ball short and ripe for a Charger interception.
   Make no mistake, however, in assuming that Peyton Manning will accept an under thrown pass or a split second of errant timing.  This guy is simply the Hardest Working Man in Throw Business. No other quarterback in the history of the game has approached the game with the combination of natural ability, work ethic and game situational analysis that Manning provides week in and week out.  Interviewed on the Academy of Achievement  website in September, Peyton was quoted:  "You better work harder in college than you did in high school to make it in college, and if you get to pro ball, you better work harder than you did in college...you better be burning some hours and putting in the time in order to accomplish your goals.  That's one thing that can never be sacrificed, your preparation and your work ethic, keeping yourself in shape, staying sharp mentally and working with your teammates to improve yourself as a player."
   What other quarterback from any era could master or even manage the complex and intensely focused Lightning Offense?  Peyton often conducts the entire game as though it were a two-minute drill.  Opposing teams are forced by the Colts hurry-up offense to forego defensive huddles, gaining a modicum of advantage.  In addition, Manning is continually aware of his opponent's attempts to make personnel changes, and calls for quick snaps that often penalize the defense for having too many men on the field when substitutions can't be made quick enough to escape the QB's attention.
  Watching Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage is like watching a combination traffic cop and symphony conductor as he barks signals and last-minute changes to blocking assignments or simply audiblizes a new play.  He shifts players, spontaneously sends men in motion or points out defensive players likely to blitz who need to be blocked.   All this while minding the play clock which Manning plays like a Stradivarius: either using all of the seconds available to him and securing the snap on the final second available, or ramping up to warp speed to move the team rapidly down the field.
  Back in 2005, the USA Today recognized Manning as the No. 1 ranked NFL player in the league in their top 50 ratings, noting: "Manning has forged his success in the things we don't see, including tireless preparation for every imaginable detail before ever taking the field."  Quoting Jim Caldwell, heir-to-be-named-later for Tony Dungy as Colts head coach, the paper noted: (Manning) has an extraordinary ability to concentrate and focus on getting better....One thing about him, he's never satisfied.  And he wants to keep getting better."
  When all this is considered, what becomes abundantly clear is that Peyton Manning isn't likely to rest on his laurels and settle for that single Super Bowl championship.   He has held this team together when the rushing game has been non-existent, passing the Colts to victory even though his opponents continue to dare him to pass.  He has sharpened his already quick release to avoid taking sacks behind the Colts' makeshift and inexperienced line.  It's clear to this observer that Manning smells blood and senses that these Colts may well be another Super Bowl contender.  The relentless determination that carried the Colts back from 2-4 to 6-4 won't dissipate now that Indianapolis has finally reached the soft spot in their schedule.  Watch for the Hardest Working Man in Throw Business to turn it up a notch, if that's possible.

All contents Copyright

The deservedly esteemed and decidedly controversial columnist for the Kansas City Star, Jason Whitlock provides another provocative and thoughtful piece today on the demise of Kansas State head football coach, Ron Prince.  While Whitlock prefers to be on the front-line in calling out thugs and knuckleheads in the black athletic community, he prefers to play the incendiary race card in Prince's case.  He calls Prince's dismissal "the tale of a black coach cut down before receiving a fair opportunity in a backwoods environment."  

Generally, University towns are considered to be enlightened communities (not that I concur), and this particular university town is just 8 miles from Ft. Riley,  a United States Army post.   The city has been rated by CNN and Money Magazine as one of the top 10 environments in the nation for early retirees.  I would like to hear a definition of what Mr. Whitlock deems "backwoods" about Manhattan, Kansas.

Mr. Prince's demise was clearly facilitated by the fact that he was offered an opportunity for which he was not prepared.   His resume is as thin as Obamas, with no prior head coaching experience and a single long stint as offensive line coach and offensive co-ordinator at the Unversity of Virginia with a smattering of assistant coaching jobs of no real significance.  The fact of the matter is that Prince was thrust into a position for which he was unprepared, Affirmative Action style.

 Whitlock compares Prince's situation to that of Turner Gill at Buffalo in the Mid Athletic Conference.   Gill, like Brady Hoke of Ball State (who happens to be white) is doing it the old-fashioned way, working his way up: learning the ropes and developing the requisite network and experience to work on the grander scale of the BCS. Whitlock rightly concludes that this is the proper path to success, so why the gratuitous slap at Manhattan and the off-handed slam at the Kansas State Athletic Department?

It was widely known that Prince carried himself as a braggart, filled with bravado and prone to promising results he was unable to deliver.  During his near 3 year tenure, Prince was 0 for Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas.  He burned through 14 assistant coaches and certainly created a chaotic atmosphere there.   Whitlock acknowledges Prince's immaturity.

The column is dressed up as a paen for blacks to challenge "still-existing racial inequality.. by combatting it rather than (by) pointless whining."  Yet Whitlock blames the Athletic Department for improperly "nurturing" the cocky blowhard Prince.   Do you think the A.D at USC spends his evenings holding Pete Carroll's hand and stroking his forehead when he muffs a big game?   How much nurturing do you suppose Bobby Knight got while he was coming up?  I would suggest that Prince was rather given ample rope to run the show at Kansas State his way-"carry(ing) himself as the smartest man on campus....talk(ing) over everyone's head."  Yet he treated his coaches in a "humiliating and abusive manner" and "treated his players worse."  Sounds awfully smart to me.  I would suggest he hung himself.

It's really sad to see a generally stand-up guy like Whitlock play the apologist.  He indulges here  in the avoidance of responsibility and is simply practicing victimology.  Prince is victim only of his own arrogance and his own inaccurate opinion of his superiority.   Thrusting unqualified men and women to the front of the line to meet racial quotas is invariably harmful to both those promoted prematurely and those denied the positions they have earned by working their way up.  Ron Prince failed at Kansas State.  Tyrone Whittingham is failing spectacularly at Washington after failing just as big at Notre Dame-whose fault is this?  I'm sure Mr. Whitlock would like to see the instigation of hiring practices for the NCAA akin to the absurd racial guidelines used in the NFL.  There is perhaps no arena of life where the results of one's efforts in a competitive enivronment are so abundantly clear:  in the sporting world, you win or you lose and any fool can look it up.  Prince lost too much, it was his fault and suggesting anything else is just loser talk.

I know its blasephmous to criticize the nearly sainted Colt's head coach, Tony Dungy.  Criticizing this fine and deeply spiritual man is kind of like using Obama's middle name-while the facts of the matter are all out there in the open for the world to see, we Indianapolis locals are just supposed to wait patiently, like Dungy does, for the tide to turn.  Well, it aint' working.  Once again, coaching errors and a decided lack of intensity have gotten the Colts mired in a slough of despond that is nearly impossible to climb out of.  Great coaches find ways to win, and Dungy is apparently no longer capable of providing any additional spark or insight to his team.  I think he left his heart in Tampa with his wife and family when she made the decision to have their family bail on the team in the midst of a playoff drive last season. Dungy's distraction was a major factor in the Colts failure last season and remains one this season as well.

  Why is that the Indianapolis Colts, one of the NFL's finest franchises since Peyton Manning came to town, are incapable of devoting the requisite attention to the acquistion of a decent return man?  Special teams have been the achilles heel of this squad for years.   Admittedly, the special teams play has improved this year, particularly with the appearance of additional leg strength from Adam Vinateri as he regularly booms kick-offs deep into the end zone.  But why is it that an otherwise top-notch organization continues to field taxi-squad wannabes and rejects from NFL bottom feeders in the important position of kickoff and punt return man?  Pierre Garcon's ghastly avoidance of a fair catch against the Titans cost the Colts 30 yards in field position, a chance to score and is completely inexcuseable.  Of course,  Garcon was just the latest hope-and-a-prayer thrown up by Dungy, who seems to think this position is unimportant.   Well, it is important, for the struggling offense and defense are being further hampered by their 24th ranked special teams play.  This is wholly unacceptable and falls fully on the shoulders of the head coach.

  As do the 2nd half adjustments.  Admittedly, Jeff Fisher is a stellar coach at the top of his game.  But Dungy has been considered a coaching icon since his halcyon days in Tampa Bay.  Peyton Manning has continued to make Dungy look good, but Peyton is doing all he can to recover from an inactive preseason, considerable weight loss, and two surgeries.  His mechanics appear to be suffering from the inability to plant properly this early in his rehabilitation.  His passes while generally accurate, have a wobble to them:  they aren't the laser spirals we are accustomed to marvelling over.   I don't think its age that is showing here, Peyton just needs to get back to full strength.  But regarding the 2nd half adjustments, Fisher clearly won this chess match and combined with an excellent job by Kerry Collins finding the short middle pass against the Colts.  Defensive genius that Dungy is cracked up to be, you would think the Colts would have found a way to get some pressure on Collins.  None was ever visible in that woeful 2nd half performance.   If you thought Fisher got the best of Dungy, wait until the evil Belichik shows up Sunday night.  The 5-2 record put up by the Patriots without Tom Brady at the helm is the purest testimony to the coaching greatest of the biggest slimeball to ever coach the game.  But he sure can coach.  He has gotten the better of Dungy almost every time they have met, with Peyton's aerial plentitude rescuing the Colts in the greatest playoff game in history that led them to their only Super Bowl victory.  Are we to settle for that single trophy out of Manning's spectacular career or can we begin to start playing entire football games?

 Of course this week it was the 2nd half when the Colts failed to show up.  Against the Vikings, Texans and Bears, it was the 1st half.  Good coaches on top of their game are able to get a full 60 mintues out of their squads.  Look at the job being done in Buffalo and Miami and Atlanta where young and inexperienced teams play with vigor and intensity for a full 60 minutes.  Other than a stellar perfromance against the Ravens, there is none of that in Indianapolis this year.  Solid, experienced veteran squads can get by with a laconic, laid-back coach.  This very young, but lightning fast and potentially talented Indianapolis Colts team needs some leadership and it should come from the top.

  Unfortunately,  I don't see if coming from Tony Dungy.  And if Dungy no longer has it, it sure as hell won't be coming from Jim Caldwell, Mr. Dungy-lite.  As much as I respect Bill Polian, I think he has been blinded by his loyalty to Dungy.  Just another guy from Dungy's coaching tree isn't the answer.  His other students are failing spectacularly around the league:  Herman Edwards, Lovie Smith, and Marvin Lewis are not faring any better than Dungy and Caldwell won't either.

  The Indianapolis Colts need a coach with some fire in his belly to force them out of their comfort zones and be more mentally acute.  While Bill Cowher seems to be drooling over the prospect of coaching near his home at Carolina, he is the perfect solution to a coaching problem engendered by a guy whose wife wants him to stay home in Tampa.  Attention Mr. Polian and Mr Irsay: This team needs shaken, not stirred.  Shuffle Dungy off the scene and buy out Caldwell's contract and demonstrate that you remain willing to put a winner on the field and let the chips fall where they may.