Gone too soon

Here it is, the day we’ve all dreaded.

At the spry age of 83, Robert “Bobby” Montgomery Knight has kicked the bucket. The world of college basketball will never be the same.

Now I’m not saying that Bobby Knight was a good man. Or a nice man. Or a pleasant man. Or an intelligent man. Hell, I don’t even know if his players liked playing for him. Just ask Neil Reed what he thought (RIP).

What I am saying is that Bobby Knight was probably the last certifiably insane person to ever coach a college basketball team. There will be no more like him (nor should there be). He is also thus far the only inductee into the IRE Real-Ass Dude Hall of Fame. Regardless of what you think of the man, we should at least respect that.

Bobby Knight accomplished more things in his life than most of us will. My only regret is that his announcing career didn’t last longer. I can’t imagine why it ended so quickly:

what is a reel ass dude?

Definitions vary. But in short, it’s any person that rides a fine line between being insane…or criminally stupid…and a total menace to society.

Which leads to a bigger question that I get asked everyday of my life: how does one get inducted into the Internet Ruined Everything’s Hall of Fame of Real Ass Dudes (IREHOFRAD)?

Because this is such an elite club, one must meet the following criteria:

1. Demonstrated clear excellence in insanity or stupidity. But their eccentricities can’t lead them to be perpetually in jail. Remember, being a menace to society is a clear disqualification for being a real ass dude. Serial killers, mass murderers, and Harvey Weinstein will never qualify.

2. That being said, there are bonus points for criminal activity. DUIs, robbery, minor drug trafficking, embezzling, manslaughter, fraud, etc, are perfectly acceptable. Sex and hate crimes, however, are an automatic disqualification. OJ Simpson totally rides the line here.

3. Have outstanding achievements in the fields of entertainment, business, sports, politics, technology, etc, that will stand the test of time REGARDLESS of their insanity, stupidity, and criminal activities. A prime example here is Bobby Knight. The man had no business coaching a college basketball program who nevertheless won three national titles. This is why Knight was the first inductee into the HOF.

Basically to get into the Hall, inductees must exemplify, or outright facilitate, the decline of society’s collective super ego.

Have someone you want to nominate? Let me know in the comments.

On the ballot next year is OJ Simpson, Brett Favre, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Donald Trump. Only one can get in.

9 Inspirational quotes from Bobby Knight

Robert Montgomery Knight was born on October 25th 1940 in Orville, Ohio. In his 40+ year career, he won the NCAA Division I National Title three times in basketball which includes an undefeated season in 1976. He was inducted into the Basketball HOF in 1991 and the College Basketball HOF in 2006. He is widely considered one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time.

We should all stop and appreciate that this is a real man who actually exists.

“The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare.”

“Mental toughness is to physical as four is to one.”

“I think that we as a people are always prone to think about, well, tomorrow will be a better day. Well, why will it be a better day? And I think the more that we believe in doing things better, doing the right thing rather than hoping that that’s going to happen, let’s make it happen.”

“I’ve always felt that, you know, the Almighty has a lot of things to do other than help my basketball team.”

“I’ve always been a great fan of the state of Pennsylvania. One of the people – one of the people that I admired the most in college athletics was Joe Paterno.”

“I don’t think I have ever been out of control.”

“I’ll tell you one thing about Donald Trump: There will never be a Benghazi in a Donald Trump administration.”

“I’m an unemployed teacher right now and I’m looking for a place to teach.”

https://youtu.be/m1ihZ5xJSNw

“I tell you what really fries my ass. When somebody gets on me for the way I look. Fat. Overweight. Well, I may be overweight. But I’m sure not fat. And I guarantee you, I’m a better athlete than any @#%$ body writing. To this day, they don’t want to play tennis with me. The don’t want to play me in golf. They don’t want to @#%$ run with me.”