Lights out on Knight

It's been more than three years since former men's basketball coach Bob Knight was fired filed his lawsuit against IU. Most of the students here during Knight's reign have since graduated -- and we're just now finding out the results of the case.\nKnight sued for wrongful termination, claiming he lost more than $2 million in media, shoe contracts and endorsements. On Oct. 6, Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Todd dismissed the case without a full trial.\nIt's been a long journey, but thankfully Todd made the right call and decided not to award any more money to Knight.\n The point of contention was whether Knight was fired for "due cause" or "no cause," according to his contract.\n Paragraph nine of Knight's original contract, signed in 1982, stated IU could dismiss him for any reason but would be required to pay him the remainder of his contract. In this situation, he would be fired for "no cause."\nThe alternative would be firing Knight for "due cause," meaning there would need to be a recommendation by the athletic director and Knight would be afforded a hearing to defend himself. Under this situation, he would receive no money. Former IU President Myles Brand fired Knight for "no cause," and therefore paid him the rest of his salary.\nThis should have been the end of the story -- but no. Knight wanted more money.\nRussell Yates, Knight's attorney, claims he was fired for "due cause," and feels he was unjustly denied a hearing.\n"The University's position is completely bogus," Yates told the IDS. "Our position is that he was fired for cause. Myles Brand, the (former) president of the University goes on TV and said he fired Knight because of all these reasons, which proves he was fired for cause."\nThere seems to be some confusion over the definition of "no cause." It doesn't mean Brand didn't have reason to fire Knight.\nIf Yates wanted to fight that Knight was fired for "no cause," he should have advised his client not to accept the remainder of his salary which comes with being fired for "no cause." By accepting his money, Knight essentially told IU that he agreed with his termination.\nKnight needs to quit whining. He received his annual $170,000 salary until the end of his contract in June 2002, and a deferred compensation fund of more than $4 million will be paid to him over seven more years. And he needs another $2 million? His new salary at Texas Tech is worth nearly $900,000 each year. When you turn on the TV, you can see him in a Gladlock commercial, wrestling with a piece of Tupperware. This man is clearly not starving.\nIf any other IU employees physically harmed a student, the public wouldn't hold rallies and burn the president in effigy. There would be no lawsuits for additional money, and IU probably wouldn't pay them the remainder of their salaries. There seems to be a disparity when students call for the firing of Eric Rasmusen for stating his opinion on a Web site, but we don't want to fire someone for grabbing a student?\nIU has wasted too much time and money -- $54,239 for just this one lawsuit with an additional $10,000 in legal fees before it was filed. It's time for both Knight and IU to finally move on.