Knight's record not applauded by writer

He calls him the last of the coaching cavemen who bullied his way to the mark.
By BRIAN SCHMITZ
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
Saturday marked the dawn of a dark day for college basketball. So dark that the shine off Dick Vitale's head can't brighten the sport's most unsavory development.
Bobby Knight became the game's all-time winningest coach.
Excuse me if I hold my nose -- and applause.
Our sports year thus ends with a historic salute to Knight, as if we needed another notorious dolt to fill in for Barry Bonds until Bonds returns to chase the home-run holy grail. Knight will just get there first in the bad-guy derby.
This is truly an incredible achievement for Knight, the last of the coaching cavemen. Especially when you consider the players, administrators, refs, secretaries, sports writers and Puerto Rican policemen he had to bully his way past to reach the record, not to mention the unsuspecting chairs and potted plants harmed in the making of this sorry story.
Smith had it easy by comparison, paving his way to all those wins with common decency and class. John Wooden? Please. Always staying in the straight-and-narrow lane, The Wizard never needed to prove he could rise above his own distractions like Knight.
Has revived Tech's program
Texas Tech gave him a job out of desperation five years ago. Not surprisingly, Knight has revived the dead-end program, and without a single incident. Unless you count Knight's shouting match with the chancellor at a grocery store and his tapping the jaw of Tech forward Michael Prince recently.
Knight says he doesn't care about records or talking about his legacy. On a conference call that Knight was asked if he'd be remembered more for his antics than revered for his three national titles and coaching acumen. He deflected it with his usual arrogance.
"What you might think doesn't bother me in the slightest," he said. "How's that for an answer?"
Perfect. He then hung up.
You can go ahead and root for Bobby Knight. I'm rooting, too.
Go Mike Krzyzewski.