Day 4

Winnipeg, Manitoba - Today, we returned to the Indiana Hoosiers locker room for more of the behind-the-scenes activity from the 1985-86 IU "season on the brink."

Yesterday, I wrote about the Knight rage - his insatiable need to win and win on his own terms. We had played a scene where he berated Daryl Thomas. This was one side of Knight. We also dramatized a scene that showed his other side. While we've all seen the angry, fly-off-the-handle, profane Bobby Knight, there is another side.

In a scene we played Wednesday, Knight is lecturing the Hoosiers about covering the weak side, when a noise interrupts him. Angered by the disruption he turns to the doorway to see a man in a wheelchair enter the locker room. It's Landon Turner. For those outside of Indiana, Turner had been a star on a Knight-coached Hoosiers team a few years earlier.

Tragically, before the NBA draft, Turner was in a terrible car accident, which left him paralyzed. Without any fanfare, Knight went about creating a fund to get Turner a specially-equipped van, an apartment in Bloomington and more. Their is also a story that Knight got a friend with the Boston Celtics to draft Turner and keep him on the injured reserve roster for a whole season, enabling Turner to qualify for an NBA pension and healthcare. They also sent him a jersey with this name and number on it.

This is the other side of Bobby Knight. The Knight that does so much good for the local community. The Knight that goes the extra mile for charity and is fiercely loyal to his friends and former players. While we have all seen his public persona, this is the Knight we don't see. This is the Dr. Jekyll that goes with the chair-throwing, telephone-smashing, public Mr. Hyde we've all witnessed.

What makes the John Feinstein book and David Rintels' script so engrossing is that we paint a vivid portrait showing both sides. The Bobby Knight in "A Season on the Brink" is far from black and white. The Knight in this film is, like his sweaters, sometimes black or white or blue or red.

More tomorrow.

Past Diaries

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3