| | BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Hundreds of Bob Knight's backers
gathered Sunday on the steps of Assembly Hall to voice their
support for the embattled Indiana University basketball coach.
Knight, who did not attend the rally, is under investigation by
the university following charges by former Indiana player Neil Reed
that the coach grabbed him by the throat.
Also, former player Ricky Calloway said Knight punched Steve
Alford and slapped Darryl Thomas. Alford and Thomas say that never
happened.
"(Knight) was like my father away from my real parents," said
Landon Turner, a member of the Hoosiers' 1981 NCAA championship
team who was later paralyzed.
Turner, who spoke to the crowd from his wheelchair, said he was
often "in the coach's doghouse" for not working hard enough. But
like other speakers, he told the crowd of students and fans that
Knight deserves their support.
"As long as he's coach of Indiana basketball, we know our
basketball program will be in great hands," Jerod Morris, another
Knight supporter, told the crowd.
The rally was organized by a Columbus man, Mike Pegram, who
operates a Web site devoted to Indiana University sports. Although
organizers estimated 800-1,000 people showed up, police put the
crowd size at about 500.
"Coach Knight is not an easy person to play for," former
Indiana player Damon Bailey said. "He demands a lot out of you as
an individual, and he demands a lot out of you as a team.
"Some guys can't handle that ... it's awful easy to point
fingers at someone else instead of yourself," he said to the
crowd's cheers.
A recent message in a discussion forum on the site spawned a
group called Fans and Friends in Support of Coach Knight.
The group has run half-page advertisements backing Knight in The
(Bloomington) Herald-Times, the Evansville Courier & Press and The
Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky.
The ads criticize the media as being unfair in the reporting of
the accusations against Knight.
Speakers on Sunday struck a common theme of media bias, charging
that newspapers and television stations paint one-sided, negative
pictures of the man who has led Indiana to three national titles in
29 years at the school.
Many also were critical of Knight's detractors, calling them
"crybabies" who had failed to achieve athletic success.
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