Back in Bloomington

He did not wear a red sweater or give an inspirational speech. But he didn't need to. Throngs of fans clad in the red of IU and Texas Tech eagerly waited in line at Barnes and Noble, 2813 E. 3rd St., hoping to catch a glimpse of the man known as The General, Bob Knight, upon his return to Bloomington.\nKnight was in town to sign copies of his new biography, "Knight: My Story" with co-author Bob Hammel, the former sports editor of the Bloomington Herald-Times.\nThe mass of people standing in line formed a labyrinth that snaked between the bookshelves and out the door. Even more fans waited outside on the sidewalk. Others simply sat on curbs or milled around in the parking lot. \nThose latecomers (late meaning less than 30 minutes before Knight's arrival) hoping to find parking spaces were out of luck -- every space in the shopping center housing Barnes and Noble, Staples, Chili's and various other establishments was filled. \nIn order to have their book signed by Knight, patrons had to get a raffle ticket from a Barnes and Noble employee. Over 1,000 tickets were given away before Knight arrived at 6 p.m.\n"We've had people here before we opened at 10 a.m.," said store manager Julie Drake. "People have been in the store all day."\nThe book, which sells for $25.95, sold out of copies around 4 p.m., Drake said. After that, customers had to request an order for a copy of Knight's biography.\nThe mass influx of fans was too much for the entire staff of Barnes and Noble to handle. A support staff of employees came in from Barnes and Noble locations statewide to help handle the crowds. About 3,000 people came out for an Indianapolis signing, 1,500 people lined up at an Avon, Ind. signing and 1,200 turned out for the Bloomington signing, according to Associated Press reports. \nEmployees were not the only ones to make a road trip in order to make it to the signing. Dave Burke, an alumnus from the class of 1973, drove from his home in Kokomo to be at the event.\nBurke follows Texas Tech basketball and hopes current coach Mike Davis will be able to produce the same brand of excellence.\n"The test for coach Davis will be when he plays with his players in the future. Hopefully he can keep up the good work," Burke said.\nBurke, like hundreds of others, waited in line for two hours before Knight arrived.\nWhen Knight finally did step up to the table to begin signing, fans broke into ear-piercing applause, complete with chants of "Bobby! Bobby!"\nEntering the room with a police escort and a large Burger King cup in his hand, Knight vigorously shook the hand of the first man in line.\nHe then began a non-stop flurry of book signing for nearly three hours.\nBarnes and Noble employees wrote the names of customers on a post-it note that was placed in each book so Knight could personalize the autographs. Other than reprimanding one employee for sloppy penmanship, Knight was in a jovial mood throughout the event.\nWhile hordes of people came to Barnes and Noble to see Knight, sophomore Cortney Elliott was not one of them. Elliott said she was doing homework.\nElliott found it strange that so many people came out to support Knight after the basketball team made it to the national championship without him.\n"Everyone was cheering for Mike Davis two days ago," Elliott said. \nElliott was also surprised that so many people showed up donning Texas Tech apparel.\n"If they want to cheer for a team because of a coach, then that's their thing," Elliott said.\nKnight's visit to Barnes and Noble was a part of a national tour to promote his book.