ISN'T IT JUST ABOUT TIME

for Bobby Knight to say farewell? And all those who enable him?

Once at a grade school basketball game I observed a coach insert his thumb and index finger into the neck of the jerseys of his players and actually jerk them around when he talked to them or substituted them into the game. It wasn't with force, but the guys were little. He wasn't.

I was standing there with a friend of mine whose son was a star for that team. I said mattter of factly, "I'd have a ton of trouble with that coach if it were Scott's team." All he said was, "We're watching him very closely."

A coach never needs to touch his players. Certainly not the way Knight did. It is absolutely out of line. Don't buy the litany of excuses that Knight followers have. They are wrong. He was wrong. He should be fired. It's that simple.

But the player who was abused (and yes, it was abuse) and his parents supported Knight. Just like the grade school parent I mentioned. They want their kid to play. It's that simple. Maybe they should be fired, too.

Knight will go Woody again. You can count on it. And when he does, just remember the line offered by former U of I coach Lou Henson, "he's a classic bully." No one ever said it better.