Knight should learn from other generals

Dear Mr. Knight,\nWell, you're back. Hi.\nIt seems only last year that you were fired for repeated physical violations and ethical misconduct. What was it you said about how women might as well enjoy it if they're being raped? Right.\nBut wait! It was indeed just last year that you were fired. Yes, now I remember. It had something to do with your not being able to stick to a simple agreement with the University.\nTo tell you the truth, Mr. Knight, I thought you would handle this with a modicum of dignity. After that embarrassing "riot" and your embarrassing farewell speech, I thought you might slip gracefully into your twilight. Then, secure with your many laurels, you would sneak off to Canada and hunt ducks. You know, live out those golden years with your wife and tackle box.\nBoy, was I wrong.\nHere you are, back in the news again. I read last week that your lawyer alerted IU President Myles Brand that you might sue him, the trustees and, by logical extension, the University. \nCoach Knight is with us once again!\nThis is your plan for your big comeback? Just like Norma Desmond climbing out of her decrepit house on Sunset Boulevard, you're ready for your return. I suppose you've come to the conclusion that if you can't pal around with the basketball team on the court, you can at least pal around with the trustees in court. This lawsuit, which I'm sure we can both agree is ridiculous, is just your way of coming back home to IU. And your way seeing your picture in this very paper. Just telling the students and faculty, "Hey, I'm still relevant."\nRight.\nI won't preach to you, Mr. Knight. I'm not going remind you about grace and good manners. But I will give you a history lesson. \nDo you remember what we used to call you? That's right. "The General." How much do you know about real generals? You know, the ones in the Army?\nHave you read about Gen. Douglas MacArthur? After winning fame and glory in World War II, he was appointed to lead the U.N. forces in Korea. The ostentatious leader, who never went anywhere without strapping a couple of pistols to his hips, drove the North Korean forces behind enemy lines and then pushed north towards China. When the Chinese fought back and threw U.S. troops into disarray, President Harry S. Truman, realizing that America didn't need a war with Communist China, denied MacArthur's request to bomb Chinese bases.\nInstead of following orders, MacArthur made the dispute public, embarrassed the president and was relieved from duty. When he came back to the United States, he rode the wave of his World War II fame and continued to behave with embarrassing pomposity.\nSound familiar?\nOr what about Gen. George S. Patton? They called him "Blood and Guts" Patton. His furious assault on Nazi Germany won the war in the European theater, but when it came to peacetime, he was a disaster. His tendency to make outrageous remarks that offended the Germans, the Europeans at large and the Russians, led to the denial of his request to fight the war in Asia.\n(A good thing, too, since he would have served wit MacArthur.)\nYou see, Mr. Knight, you're not the first general to buy into your own immortality. But the same vitality that fuels a general in war doesn't always serve his country. The same brazenness that empowers him on the court doesn't always serve his University.\nMr. Knight, I know you love this school. Why else would you raise thousands of dollars for what will some day be called the Herman B Wells Library?\nBut despite your love, you've let your wounded pride embarrass us again and again since your long overdue departure. Whether it's an interview on ESPN or this silly little suit, you haven't passed up an opportunity to throw sand in our eyes. You've led the rest of the country to believe that IU means basketball, not books. You've encouraged the impression that we're just a bunch of cornhuskers who come to college to watch you throw tantrums and chairs. Thanks, but Indiana just doesn't need that kind of help.\nSo, before you decide to go ahead and sue the University, take a look at the last days of real generals like MacArthur and Patton. Can you manage a more graceful exit, Mr. Knight?