Reading Circle

I just finished A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein, the bestselling sports book of all time. It was its fame as a great sports story that led me to want to read it. For the last few years I've sort of felt like a person who hasn't read To Kill A Mockingbird - you know you should have read it a decade ago, so that has sort of kept you from even reading it now. However, since I have spare time - it's seemingly all that I have lately - I decided to revel in the books series of Knightmares (did you see what I did there? Yeah, that's why I'm a writing legend in my own mind.)
Anyway, the book is good but not great. I think so many people read it because it is like watching a car crash. Following Bob Knight around would be frightening. When you are finished with the book all you've really found out is that Knight does care about his players and he cares that they graduate, but you also konw that he is an extremely moody psychopath.
You can also see - even in 1985-86 - what is still Knight's problem in the college game. It doesn't seem that he can recruit or that he cares to. What is interesting is that it seems that Knight would be a better NBA coach than in college. In the NBA, he wouldn't have to worry about getting his players to class or about ensuring he had good players, he could do what he clearly likes - just coach the game. That is why he enjoyed his time as the Olympic coach in 1984.
ASOTB discusses Knight getting Isiah Thomas, but beyond that he shows little interest in recruiting. The best part about reading the book 20 years later is that it talks about Knight recruiting Damon Bailey when Bailey, now enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, was only an 8th grader. Check that, Bailey was a middling point guard for IU, but Knight clearly loved him. Knight has yet to make a splash on the recruiting trail at Texas Tech, and I don't know if he'll be able to. The bottom line is that this book is scary. I don't know how Steve Alford survived - or why he would ever talk to Knight after what he dealt with. The book also clearly foreshadows Knight's future meltdowns, however, it doesn't take a psychic to know he would go over the edge.
If you care about sports non-fiction and haven't read this book, you should. Otherwise, your resume as a hardcore sports, and especially basketball, fan is in jeopardy.
Final note for those who may think it: Yes, obviously Knight would have a tough time coaching in the NBA because young men being paid millions of dollars wouldn't put up with his nonsense the way college players do. Maybe a team Knight coached would have to circulate its players out every four years no matter what. However, the underlying point about Knight just wanting to coach basketball, I feel, is accurate. In some ways, Gregg Popovich does a bit of a Bob Knight impersonation with the Spurs, but he is different in some important ways - such as not quite as moody and prone to bouts of craziness.
Final, final note: Coming into the halftime show, ABC chose to play Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" over the highlights. What does this mean? Is it A) support for the Cavaliers and their fans and their dream of winning four straight, B) a ploy to keep fans watching by encouraging them that one of these games will actually deliver something watchable or C) a wry meta-comment on the Finals' horrible television ratings by using the song that accompanied the final scene of the Sopranos finale? Choices or your own explanation is welcomed in the comments.