She Ought to Throw a Chair at Him

Bob Knight might intimidate his players and officials, but the Indiana basketball coach is overmatched at home.

After a close victory over Michigan State a few years ago, Knight said he came home to relax and eat.

Instead, his wife, Karen, a former basketball coach, berated him for how the Hoosiers played.

“I look at her and say, ‘Lady, why don’t you bake a pie or something?’ Her response was, ‘Well, if I did, you can bet . . . my pie would be better than your zone offense.’ ”

Trivia time: When was the last year that a Big Ten school finished No. 1 in the final college football polls?

Home alone: Alonzo Highsmith, former Oiler running back and an unbeaten fighter in Houston, was speculating on what would happen if the Oilers and Astros left town.

“I’ll be fighting in the Astrodome. It’s going to be me in the dome. I’ll be the only ticket in town.”

Wait just a minute: Lorenzo Romar, UCLA assistant basketball coach, in Inside Sports: “Everyone tells me, ‘No problem, you guys will win it all again!’ And I tell everyone, ‘Yes, there is a problem. The problem is, you’re nuts!’ ”

Odd couple: Charles Barkley on reported friction with Phoenix Sun teammate Kevin Johnson: “He likes to go to church. I like to go to strip joints. So we can’t do a whole lot together.

“We’ve got to compromise. I don’t mind going to church with him, but we’ll have to be different until he comes to my joints.”

Cruel: George Foreman in Playboy magazine on his reluctance to retire after winning the heavyweight title: “My mother would put it this way: ‘The cat chases the rat. When he gets the rat, he plays with it a little bit.’ ”

Really?After Florida routed Georgia, 52-17, Saturday, Bulldog Coach Ray Goff said in what might be the understatement of the year: “We are not a good catch-up team.”

Bottom line: Guard John Starks in USA Today on Pat Riley, former New York Knick coach: “He brought us a winning attitude. No matter what you say about him, the man was a winner.”

Looking back: On this day in 1951, USC defeated Army, 28-6, at Yankee Stadium before a crowd of only 16,508. Frank Gifford was a standout player for the Trojans.

Trivia answer: 1968, when Ohio State was national champion.

Quotebook: Jane Fonda in Baseball Weekly after the Atlanta Braves won the World Series: “It’s the most exciting day I’ve ever had with my clothes on.”