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Sunday night was Bobby night for ESPN and ESPN2.
Selection Sunday? Please. Only someone with a persona as volcanic and legendary as college basketball coach Bobby Knight could render almost secondary something as big as the announcements of the 64-team fields in both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments.
Of course, it wasn’t secondary, but for six straight hours on ESPN2 and four out of five on ESPN, Bobby Knight was THE story on the nation’s biggest all-sports television network.
The focus of course, was former Indiana University and current Texas Tech men’s basketball coach Knight, who is the subject of John Feinstein’s best-selling book “A Season on the Brink.” The book, which chronicles Indiana’s entire 1985-86 season both on and off the court, was brought to the small screen as ESPN’s first foray into movie production.
The first thing to keep in mind regarding “Season” is it’s not for the squeamish or prudish, whether you watch the sanitized ESPN2 version or ESPN’s graphic, expletive-laden version. If you opt for ESPN, be prepared for a barrage of F-bombs, Biblical profanity, and other examples of adult language which might cause even George S. Patton to do a double-take.
The disclaimer, run at the very start of the movie and after every subsequent commercial break, pretty much says it all: “Due to intense, adult language, viewer discretion is strongly advised. An edited presentation of ‘A Season on the Brink’ can be seen on ESPN2.”
Even after that strong disclaimer, I still found myself a bit surprised by the sheer volume of profanity I was hearing.
It was almost more difficult to watch the ESPN2 version since their idea of editing is bleeping out every objectionable word. What’s left are several sound tracks which more closely resemble Jerry Springer Show outtakes than what you’d expect from an ESPN production.
The second thing that becomes patently obvious is this is not a movie which offers a wealth of intriguing supporting cast members. Knight, played very convincingly by Brian Dennehy – a first-rate casting job, by the way – is the story, the whole story, and nothing but this story. The rest of the cast is incidental.
You certainly won’t find examples of great basketball playing or athletic ability by any of the cast members in this movie. The actors are just that, especially on the court. Probably the most realistic basketball-related scenes come from former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps playing Digger Phelps as Notre Dame’s coach.
That’s not to say there aren’t things to like in this movie. There are several scenes which provided a chuckle, most of which involve one-liners, zingers, and witticisms proffered by the real Knight such as: “Never have so many thought they knew so much and knew so little” or “Nice is for women’s magazines, nice is for losers.”
“Season” starts with Knight staring across the water ruminating on the experience of leading men in war before switching to the 1984 Olympics and the men’s basketball gold-medal game. From there, everything from the chair-throwing incident and Knight’s subsequent ejection from that Purdue game in 1985 to his volatile relationships with players like Steve Alford, Daryl Thomas, Andre Harris, Delray Brooks and Ricky Calloway is chronicled. The end offers epilogues relating the immediate futures of key players and assistant coaches as well as Knight. It also features several clips of the real Knight at press conferences, games, and interviews. Very entertaining stuff.
Perhaps the most engaging segment wasn’t even in the movie. It was ESPN’s special “Outside the Lines” in which former assistant Kohn Smith and players such as Thomas, Calloway, and Winston Morgan are interviewed by host Bob Ley. Calloway said he knew of some players, including Thomas, who were slapped or hit by Knight while Thomas flatly denied he was ever slapped. He also disputed ESPN’s portrayal of him as a player on the verge of tears or actually crying during practices or meetings. “No, I never cried in front of my teammates,” he said.
Best line of the movie? There were many to choose from but the one that may sum Knight up the best is this one, supposedly offered by Smith to a discouraged Thomas: “When he calls you an [expletive deleted], don’t listen. When he tells you why you’re an [expletive deleted], that’s when you listen.”
Andrew Neff’s On the air column is published each Tuesday. He can be reached at 990-8205 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net.
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