Commentary: IU’s Hands Were Tied

Indiana University could not have fired Bob Knight yesterday. So the board of trustees did the only thing it could: put in place guidelines that will justify Knight’s firing in the future. You see, the university is largely to blame for this whole mess. Knight has acted like a buffoon for thirty years, and Indiana University has let it happen. No one in the school’s heirarchy ever bothered to challenge Knight and draw the line. And because the school had looked the other way for so long, the board could not suddenly jump up and fire Knight. That would have been completely hypocritical. You can’t let the guy run amok for decades and then decide it was wrong and fire him. So now Knight is under a zero-tolerance policy, or so they say. Now the board has given itself an opening to get rid of the coach who overshadows the school. The next time Knight crosses the line, firing him will be easy. And he will cross the line. It’s part of who he is. The only question is, will zero tolerance really mean zero tolerance, or will they let Knight off the hook again?