1986 Big Ten Title - Knight postgame
I posted this before, but seems timely tonite
I don't miss those non-sense pressers
You prefer today's pressers filled with bland coachspeak?
Was it just me or did Knight look and move like he would commence a series of exclamations that would make just about everyone in the room blush at almost any moment? His body language was one of the more amusing aspects of this clip.
He comes off as a total hothead, but in reality, Bobby Knight is a pretty likeable and charming guy. It's the same thing as if people judged Bo solely on his habit of spiking his headset and blowing his stack at referees on th esidelines. In football, that's standard. In basketball, Bobby throws a chair or picks up a technical for saying something he shouldn't, it stands out a lot more. I guarantee you, Bo (and to a close extent Lloyd) were just as vulgar and vocal on their guys as Bobby Knight ever was.
Swears by him to this day.
I had a great fan experience w/UM hoops as a student - started with a B10 title in '86 and ended with the national title in '89. However to a degree I always had Indiana envy. Knight's teams were a lot of fun to watch - almost like a clinic.
Knight's comments in the video r.e. Michigan not always playing hard may seem a tad obnoxious, and you would never hear a coach say something like that publicly today...however they were upset in the 2nd round by Iowa State that year, after having gone 28-4 and having been #2 or #3 most of the season.
Frieder, schooled by Johnny Orr in one of many great Michigan matchups in the NCAA. The whole Big Ten nearly collapsed in the NCAA tourney that year, after an amazing year in the conference. IU lost early, Purdue lost early, Michigan was upset by Johnny Orr and Iowa State and only Jud Heathcote's Spartans made it as far as the Sweet Sixteen.
Michigan has an unfortunate history in the NCAA tournament. The great Dave Strack teams with Cazzie Russell ran into the dawn of the John Wooden era at UCLA. (And, I think, Bill Bradley's Princeton team.) There was Frieder, running into Johnny Orr. And Steve Fisher running into the late Hank Gathers' Loyola Marymount team. We have an unfortunate way of bumping into a lot of NCAA legends.
Fisher won more NCAA tournament games in that one run than Frieder won in his entire tenure at Michigan
I was just a freshman and back then, the students sat in the rafters
As a grad student, I was able to get seats for my wife and I in the blue seats behind one of the baskets. I'll never forget that game. Afterwards, we decided to go to Thano's Lamplighter to celebrate. Little did we know the team liked to frequent that restaurant too. Sure enough, a short time after we were there, a bunch of the players and coaches came in - Tarpley, Relford, Henderson, a young Glen Rice, and Bill Frieder and Steve Fisher also. When I left I was able to congratulate Coach Frieder and shake his hand.
Interesting thing about the Knight interview was how he critiqued the Michigan team. You don't see coaches doing that today ever. But I think he was spot on in his comments.
RIP Thano's.
played for UM in the late 60's as a WR. Went there one time with him and met Thano - cool guy. I too miss that place. Good stuff. It was a long time staple for sports teams to frequent.
Amusing.
I'm proud to say I saw Bobby Knight pick up a technical foul in person, at Crisler in (I think) the 1994-5 season. It's like a freaking badge of honor.
A lot of Michigan fans don't realize that Bobby was just about the closest friend Bo had in the coaching profession, and if you believe both when they tell the story, they both could very well have ended up at Wisconsin had Wiscy not treated Bo like shit when he went to interview there before he ended up at Michigan. A few years later, Knight interviewed there, called Bo to ask about it, and Bo pretty much told him their AD was a trainwreck. Bobby said no, ended up at Indiana, and that was that.
Just think of the possibilities of Bo and Bobby leading the charge at the same university.
in the same athletic department. Kindred spirits. The synergy would be fantastic.
But at Wisconsin?
Barry Alvarez must have some great stories; the clash of a major athletics department and the culture in Madison. On paper, I should have all kinds of reasons to hate Alvarez. A resume that runs through all of our rivals; Nabraska, Iowa, Notre Dame. I presume that Alvarez would like nothing better than to beat Michigan, in basically everything.
But what he has done in Madison is pretty astonishing. He's built success and stability. He's done well in fundraising. Their programs have few blemishes. They seem to be having fun in Madison.
Maybe the administrators in Madison learned from Michigan; to just leave athletics to the athletics guys.
the highlight for me was at 2:10.
and the whispers at 3:03.
ok, more seriously, bobby knight is a funny guy. but he sure was a bully.