Bob Knight Refuses to Say Kentucky, Shows He Still Lacks Class

Bob Knight isn't one to stop holding a grudge.

This was evident over the weekend when Knight appeared on ESPN as the network's college basketball analyst and refused to refer to Kentucky by its name and instead called it the "team from the SEC".  

One might think he is just being biased since the Wildcats play Indiana University in the Sweet 16.  But this issue goes a little deeper than that; Bob Knight has a personal problem with Kentucky's head coach, John Calipari. 

Back in December 2009, Knight called out Calipari at a fundraiser and implied Calipari was a cheat because he had left two schools on probation.  It's no secret that Calipari has never run the cleanest programs in college basketball and that he has been subject to many NCAA violations.

But Bob Knight is a hypocrite.

Knight is currently a member of the media even though he treated the media with no respect during his tenure as a head coach.  He's a person who, as a coach, demanded respect from his players yet never showed much to anyone else, especially referees and the school officials that employed him.

What makes Knight hypocritical in this matter is his friendship with former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Jerry Tarkanian led one of the NCAA's dirtiest programs when he was at UNLV.  His players hung out with a known gambler, Richard Perry, and were part of one of the most embarrassing moments in college sports history when the Las Vegas Review-Journal published a photo of Perry in a hot tub with three UNLV players.  Due to numerous NCAA infractions, UNLV was banned from the 1992 NCAA tournament.

When Tarkanian returned to college basketball to coach Fresno State, the school was placed on probation after Tarkanian left.  So, like Calipari, Tarkanian left two schools with a hanging cloud of NCAA violations.  But only one of these men is Bob Knight's friend—the other is the target of his spurn.

Bob Knight must not like John Calipari for some unknown reason; it's clearly not just because Calipari likes to bend or break NCAA rules.  Otherwise he would not be friends with Jerry Tarkanian.

It doesn't matter why Knight doesn't care for Calipari; he should grow up and do what he's paid to do, analyze college basketball instead of trying to slight Kentucky because he has a personal issue with their head coach.