NCAA Football Indiana Basketball

Former coach and current ESPN analyst Bob Knight is nothing if not a shill for any company that will pay him to endorse its product, and his latest is this Volkswagen commercial:

I have to say, it sucks, and it's a little embarrassing to watch Knight making a fool of himself like that. Awful Announcing says, "I'm all for people making as much money anyway they can, but this is a little ridiculous." And Sporting Blog says, "this new VW commercial featuring Knight is just not good. Like, at all." I agree. C'mon, Knight. You're better than that.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption today, and he had some interesting thoughts about his mentor, Bob Knight, who resigned -- but didn't retire -- this season:

"I still don't think he's through with coaching," Krzyzewski said. "I think he'll come back -- not that he's told me that, but he loves the game so much."

I think he'll return to coaching, too, but it's odd to think of Knight as someone who "loves the game so much," just because he never seems happy when he's in the process of coaching.

Krzyzewski also said he hopes Knight, in his work as an ESPN analyst during March Madness, spends time actually teaching the viewers about the game and its history. I'd love to see that, but I'd love it even more if Knight would answer legitimate questions from his co-workers.

Most people who are new on a job try to do their best to be helpful, but former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight is not most people. So the news that Knight joining ESPN as a college basketball analyst does not mean Knight will answer ESPN's questions about the current situation at Indiana:

Appearing on Mike and Mike in the Morning, Knight gave a nonsense answer to Mike Greenberg's completely legitimate question about Knight's thoughts on the mess created by Kelvin Sampson. When Greenberg asked again, Knight said, "I appreciate very much your doggedness in this, but we're done with that subject."

And that was it. Which is ridiculous. ESPN should have told Knight that as long as he's cashing an ESPN paycheck, he needs to answer the questions that ESPN's hosts ask him. That would have made for some compelling TV and radio for ESPN's viewers and listeners. Instead, we got an exercise in time-wasting that concluded with Greenberg comparing Knight to his wife.

Appearing on ESPN2 this morning, Dick Vitale asked the obvious question about the recently fired Indiana basketball coach, Kelvin Sampson:

"My big question, that day when I did the game, is why?" Vitale said. "Why in the world would you take a chance with phone calls that really aren't going to change the complexion of your recruiting? ... Why in the world would Kelvin Sampson, who can motivate, he can inspire, he can X-and-O, he can coach, jeopardize that opportunity after he was under penalties at Oklahoma? I just don't understand, but again, you have to get into the psyche of what makes a guy, I guess."

That's the question I can't figure out either. Why does Kelvin Sampson simply have no interest at all in following the rules of the NCAA? I can understand why Sampson might not agree with the rules, but I can't understand why he would allow his contempt for the rules to ruin his coaching career. As Vitale said, you have to get into the psyche of what makes a guy, I guess.

Here's the way ESPN's Brent Musberger signed off on Tuesday night's Indiana-Purdue game:

"We certainly hope that we see coach Sampson Saturday, still on the sideline with the Indiana Hoosiers," Musberger said, referring to Indiana basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, who is expected to be suspended or fired in the next three days because of the multiple rules violations the NCAA says he has committed.

Let's unpack that quote a little bit. If Musberger wants to see Sampson coach on Saturday, that means he doesn't want Sampson to get suspended or fired. So either Musberger doesn't think Sampson committed the violations the NCAA has accused him of, or he doesn't think these violations are offenses worthy of firing a coach.

If it's the former, Musberger is sitting on a huge story. All of the ESPN reporters who have investigated this story, led by Pat Forde and Andy Katz, have given strong indications that Sampson did, in fact, commit the violations he's accused of. If Musberger has information that his colleagues haven't reported, why hasn't he shared that information with ESPN's viewers?

If it's the latter, Musberger ought to explain himself a bit better: If Sampson did break these NCAA rules, repeatedly and after being warned, why on earth shouldn't Indiana fire him? Does Musberger just believe coaches shouldn't be held accountable when they break the rules?

Either way, Musberger's statement doesn't make a lot of sense.

The most frequent criticism that ESPN basketball commentator Dick Vitale faces is that he's too positive: Every player is sensational, every coach is brilliant. But at least that means you know that when Vitale criticizes someone, that person really deserves it. And since Vitale is calling for Indiana Athletic Director Rick Greenspan to get fired, you know Greenspan really deserves it. Here's what Vitale said this morning:

Vitale said of Greenspan's decision to hire disgraced coach Kelvin Sampson, "The athletic director needs to be held accountable as well. ... When you're an athletic director and you hire a guy from a school that has already had penalties and you know that ... and you're an unbelievably prestigious university like Indiana in the world of basketball, you hire that guy and now he goes out and does it again, you've got to be held accountable."

Vitale also correctly called Greenspan's claim that he's not the only one who was involved in hiring Sampson "a cop out." The buck stops with Greenspan, and if Sampson deserves to get fired then Greenspan deserves to get fired.

After Erin Andrews described Sampson as "very honest" and Doug Gottlieb asked, Who possibly could have thought that Kelvin Sampson would break the rules, it's refreshing to hear some common sense on ESPN about the Indiana basketball mess.

I'm on the record as saying that not only should Indiana basketball coach Kelvin Sampson lose his job over his latest NCAA rules violations, but so should Athletic Director Rick Greenspan. Many in the basketball media have said the same, but ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb disagrees:

Although Gottlieb, like everyone, thinks Sampson is about to get fired, he defends Greenspan, saying, "People like Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas are saying that Rick Greenspan needs to be broomed as well, I disagree with that ... Who possibly could have thought that Kelvin Sampson, a bright man, a good basketball coach -- it's one thing to have another NCAA violation, but to do the exact same thing is dumbfounding, he's going to be out by the end of the week, but I think Greenspan should keep his job."

I like Gottlieb as an analyst, but he couldn't possibly be more wrong here. The entire reason Greenspan should have seen this coming is that Sampson has done it before. To answer Gottlieb's question, "Who possibly could have thought?" I would merely say: Anyone who has followed Sampson's career.

OK, Erin Andrews. I realize that ESPN didn't hire you for your ability to deliver scathing commentaries on the controversies of the day. And I realize you need access to do your job, and the more favorable your reporting, the more access you'll get. But you wouldn't seriously refer to Kelvin Sampson as "very honest," would you?

Yes, you would:

Sampson, Indiana's beleaguered basketball coach, allowed Andrews to sit in on today's practice. Afterward she went on SportsCenter and gushed about Sampson, who will almost certainly be fired because, the NCAA says, he violated recruiting restrictions and repeatedly lied about it.

"Coach Sampson, very honest," Andrews said, "in saying, 'Look, this has been a difficult couple of days, how could it not be'. He spoke about the meeting that he had with his team right before that Wisconsin game on Wednesday. He said it was one of the most difficult times he's ever had in addressing his team."

Actually, nothing Sampson says is "very honest." When he gives an account of a meeting with his team to Andrews, he's not being "very honest," he's making a desperate attempt to elicit some sympathy because the whole world thinks, correctly, that he's a liar.