CalTech ends 11-year losing streak

Gotta hand it to the sharpshooters at CalTech...after an 11-year losing streak against powerhouses like Milwaukee School of Engineering and Harvey Mudd, the Division III Beavers finally won one (and we've got the scoreboard, above, to prove it). They beat Bard College, where the student code requires all students to wear berets after 8:00am. But in all seriousness, I applaud this monumental win. I can remember the story my brother told me about Stewart Peeples, who is, arguably, the most brilliant graduate of my high school alma mater. As I recall, Stewart was a tall guy, but never so much as even tried out for the high school team (he was busy studying for the SAT). He went to CalTech, played on the basketball team, and when it was winter break, the team voted to forfeit all their games so they could go home for Christmas.

By the way, why the "Beavers"...and in Pasadena of all places...hmmmm.

Congratulations, Coach Knight

I keep wondering how to spin this - I mean, Bob Knight gets the record, and it's significant, but I think he probably doesn't care - in his fashion, I don't doubt that he's looking at all the trove of hagiographic articles and thinking it's all bullshit. And that's one more reason why I like him. But at the same time, as a hoops media whore, I've loved all the press around this because it gets at who Knight is. I've never been a Knight apologist, but there's a lot about him that I really admire and like. There's, of course, also more to him than is shown in typical media rants - the chair-throwing, the ass-kicking of players, the aggressive press conference tirades. If you read John Feinstein's book, A Season on the Brink, (which Knight hated) it shows a side of Knight that you rarely hear about: a team of coaches from Japan shows up unannounced, and Knight accepts that, invites them to his practices, and shows them the cordiality that I don't think Rick Pitino would...there's the Landon Turner story, and the one that was most touching was when a young kid comes up to Knight in a restaurant after a terrible loss by Indiana. The kid explains to Knight that he and his family are big Hoosier fans and they just wanted to say hi...the kids' parents are deaf and mute, so this 11 year-old speaks for them. Knight is so touched by the courage of this kid that he graciously goes out of his way to chat with him and his family, invites them to some games, and arranges for them to walk out with a ton of I.U. gear.

So you hear this stuff, and it floors you. And you hear about the graduation rate of his players...and all this is great, and again, one of reasons to like Knight is that he says he just expects this - graduating and playing college ball are not mutually exclusive in his book. So good for him, and I'm glad he's here, because I think he's a dying breed.

But then you hear about the asshole stuff, and I don't mean popping that kid on the chin. I'm talking about never taking any responsibility for acting like a class-A jerkoff at Indiana - and you can be DAMN sure that if one of his players pulled this shit and didn't take responsibility, Knight would rip him. I'm talking about a postgame interview, a couple years after Indiana fired him, in which Knight lambasted his former assistant and then coach of IU...he said he was going to fire Davis, but then he got fired first. Quite a bitchy comment from a manly man.

Knight is worthy of admiration for much that he does, but watch your back because he just can't help himself when it comes to being a horse's ass.

West Coast Hoops

Grant Wahl from SI wrote a great little ode to West Coast basketball - Look West, young men. He's absolutely right - there's some great coaching talent in the Pac-10, WCC, WAC and even the MWC...and of course, with a great UCLA team, we're hoping that a rising tide lifts all boats. For those of you who still use velcro on your sneakers, what I'm really saying is that year after year, the West Coast somehow gets screwed when it comes to the Tourney - seedings are full of hooey, and a lot of Westies have to play in regionals elsewhere around the country (I know, I know...that happens to a lot of schools, but it happens a helluva lot more for the Westies).

This piece also has some really nice nostalgic tidbits - the PCAA (I used to attend Bill Berry's bball camp at San Jose State in the old gym, which was, like Harmon before it was "remodeled", a true gym), the floor at Maples...all great stuff.