Drew, funny how sports loyalties turn fans into biased observers. Knight breaks Dean Smith’s record and Smithies take it as a personal insult — even though Knight has gone out of his way to praise Smith, not to mention the kind words he’s had for Red Auerbach, Fred Taylor, Hank Iba, Claire Bee and of course Pete Newell, among other coaching greats. Knight has never been very good at polishing his image; not like Smith, who in his day became a liberal darling for supporting such causes as the Equal Rights Amendment and a nuclear freeze. He’s even given money to Howard Dean, John Edwards and Erskine Bowles. Michael Ledeen pretty much captured Knight’s essential Americanness in a recent NRO tribute.The only thing he got wrong is the bit about Knight’s chair-throw, which did go exactly where aimed.
