Some Want a Knight Countdown to the Year

Texas Tech basketball Coach Bob Knight again put himself in a harsh spotlight with a profanity-laced outburst regarding his relationship with former player (and now Iowa Coach) Steve Alford during a TV interview.

If this latest performance eventually leads to Knight’s losing his job, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Stephen A. Smith will gladly hold open the exit door.

“While the sports world laments the me-first behavior of individual celebrations, few take notice of one reality: Rarely have these athletes harmed anyone other than themselves or their images,” Smith wrote.

“They’re not known for berating and intimidating or for instilling fear in those with the audacity to go against them. I can’t think of one individual more recognized for such tactics than Knight.

“It is time the man disappears.”

Trivia question: Who was the last Michigan player to win the Rose Bowl most-valuable-player award?

The very high rent district: From Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News: “If you’re keeping score at home, the Yankees are now paying as much on taxes and revenue sharing as the Marlins did on the team that won the World Series.”

The vultures are circling: Let the Lakers drop a couple of December games, as they did against Golden State and Houston, and folks around the NBA can’t wait to take their shots.

“Gary Payton is frustrated. Karl Malone is hurt. And Kobe Bryant is trying to carry the team alone,” writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “The Lakers are always melodramatic, but lately they’ve turned the Clippers into L.A.’s feel-good story.”

It was a very good year: As 2003 slips away, Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser recalls several who will have fond memories.

“Jack McKeon, 72, won the World Series and celebrated by chugging a can of Ensure. Annika Sorenstam shut a lot of mouths by shooting 71 in the first round of the Colonial. Hopefully, one of them was Vijay Singh’s. With his hair dyed like Billy Idol’s, Bill Parcells came back to the NFL and performed CPR on the Dallas Cowboys, willing them to the playoffs. And Marvin Lewis raised the dead in Cincinnati.”

Not exactly Tiffany’s: The ugliest souvenir from the 2003 college football season? According to John Henderson of the Denver Post, it’s Ohio State Buckeye jewelry.

“Imagine wearing a necklace of large, brown nuts separated by red and gray beads. Imagine wearing it anywhere outside Columbus, Ohio. Imagine being disassociated by family, friends and stray dogs.”

Looking back: On this date in 1957, Tobin Rote threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as the Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns, 59-14, in the NFL championship game.

Trivia answer: Quarterback Brian Griese in 1998.

And finally: Louisville forward Larry O’Bannon, to the Louisville Courier-Journal after his team’s upset of No. 2 Kentucky: “This makes the next year a whole lot nicer. All those UK fans, they won’t say much to me.”