There is a difference between what's new and what's news. When, not if, say a Britney Spears or a Mike Tyson does something stupid, it's hardly new. Yet, it is still news, given their respective track records and predisposition for doing stupid things.

When Bobby Knight slapped that Texas Tech player the other night, it was nothing at all new -- unfortunately -- but it was indeed news, given Knight's history of bullying people and otherwise embarrassing his employers.

Having covered Big Ten sports for a quarter century, I have my own personal experience in watching Knight's act from an uncomfortably close vantage point. Other than a few sad folks in downstate Indiana, there's no one in the Big Ten who wishes to see Knight come back...ever.

So, it wasn't new, but was it acceptable? No one in the coaching fraternity will utter the least little discouraging word on the subject. As is the case with wife-beaters and  other addicted abusers, there will always be the enablers who will rationalize the sad, hateful behavior of Bobby Knight.

Bobby Knight is addicted to mistreating people in the mistaken belief that he's right and the rest of the world is dead wrong. And unfortunately, in 2006, there are still many who think it's acceptable to slap your kid or spouse around.

Still, the enablers all point to the facts that both the school (Texas Tech) and the player's mother both said that they collectively had no problem with Knight slapping a player under his control. Therefore, we should all get a life and leave Knight free to slap whom he pleases.

I will answer those points thusly.

First of all, there is a reason why Knight now coaches in Lubbock, Texas. And that's because there's no way he could pull this same sorry act in a large metropolitan city or anything resembling a liberal arts college. After Lubbock, the only place Knight could get such a position of responsibility over young people would be back in Kazakhstan with Borat as his assistant coach.

Now, as to his mother claiming that Knight slapping her kid was perfectably acceptable, let me make a point that should be self-evident. If you send your kid to play for Bobby Knight, if you allow your child to be under his watch, you are giving tacit approval for his actions. In other words, you are sending your kid to Texas Tech knowing -- KNOWING -- that eventually Knight will bully, slap and otherwise humiliate your child.

There were two emails to ESPN.com that cut to the heart of this matter. One was from a former college wrestler who revealed that he had been bullied as a schoolboy and went out for the wrestling team to defend himself. On that team, the letterwriter claimed to have learned the difference between bullying and discipline -- adding that he also thought that Knight's actions were nothing out of the ordinary.

My first point is that Knight lost the distinction between bullying and discipline so long ago that he now believes they are one and the same. That proverbial ship sailed eons ago.

The other writer made the salient point that there is a disconnect in how you view Bobby Knight, if you are under or over the age of 35. You'll find not one person younger than 30 who would allow themselves to mistreated in that same fashion.

And that's why Knight will never win again and why Texas Tech will not come anywhere close to winning an NCAA title. The best players may be spoiled rotten, but they ain't about to let no old man slap their faces.

Knight, then, is little more than a beligerant dinosaur. Twenty years from now, people will look back with amazement that parents actually sent their children off to be slapped and abused by such a contemptable ogre. And all of Knight's enablers are dinosaurs, too.

We learn somewhere in grade school that the dinosaurs eventualy died out and in the next few years, the old school dinosaurs who find it perfectly acceptable to mistreat their players will all die out, too.

And I would argue that is a good thing.

So, Bobby Knight slapped another player, eh?  Wake me up when it's over.