Bobby Knight or Dean Smith – Who’s The Best Coach Of All Time?

While this is a deviation from my normal entries – the unexpected resignation of Bob Knight from Texas Tech caused me to think about the legacy that one leaves after a career of choices and consequences. Bob Knight is known for two things: (1) his basketball brilliance; and (2) his fiery temper. As the winningest men’s coach in major college basketball, Bob Knight just walked away from his team leaving his son, Pat Knight, in charge.

“There’s a transition that’s going to take place here from me to Pat and I’ve dwelt on this all year long … how it would be best for him and for the team and for what we can do in the long run to make this the best thing for Texas Tech,” Knight told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

According to an Associated Press report:

“He’s ready,” Pat Knight said during his weekly radio show. “He’s tired.”

Hance said: “I think Bob is through with coaching. I think he got to the point where it wasn’t fun for him.

“He thought about it Sunday all day and talked to his wife and decided ’This is something I want to do.”’

Knight told the news paper he informed the team before practice Monday.

There is no question that Bob Knight has had an outstanding career in men’s college basketball wins. But, what is his legacy? It has been said that Bob Knight is the best coach of all time; however, an equally stellar career in men’s college basketball was the career of Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Smith had a great career and a dramatically different style than that of Bob Knight.

According, again, to the AP report: “I guess you can never be surprised at some of the things Bob does,” former UCLA coach John Wooden told the AP. “I don’t think there’s ever been a better teacher of the game of basketball than Bob. I don’t always approve of his methods, but his players for the most part are very loyal to him. I would say that no player that ever played for him would not say he did not come out a stronger person.”

“I didn’t know, I’ve never really known when I was going to step down from this job. As I thought about it, my first thought was at the end of this season,” Knight told the Lubbock paper. “My thinking was .. the best thing for the long run for this team would be for Pat and his staff to coach these remaining 10 games.”

Unorthodox – perhaps – but you can’t deny the results of his coaching. But for those who follow college basketball – of the two, who do you think is the best coach of all time? Would Bob Knight be at the top of the list or would you vote for Dean Smith – who had a professional stature about him that earned him respect nationwide?

What are your thoughts?

For now Motivational Speaker – Chuck Gallagher – signing off…

Michael Vick – Keep The $20 Million Says The Judge!

Michael Vick must be sleeping a bit better now that a federal judge ruled that Vick can keep the nearly $20 million bonus he received from the Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons sought to recover the bonuses after Vick pleaded guilty to federal charges in a dogfighting operation. The bonuses were paid from 2004 to 2007.

A special master ruled in October that the Falcons were entitled to recover the bonuses. The Falcons argued that Vick used proceeds from a contract he signed in 2004 to finance his illicit activities. But U.S. District Judge David Doty of Minneapolis ruled that the Falcons’ recovering the bonus money would violate the NFL collective bargaining agreement. The agreement does not allow signing bonuses to be forfeited for years a player has already performed.

Sentenced to 23 months in federal prison, Vick entered a minimum-security prison in Leavenworth, Kansas this past month.

Considering that Every Choice Has A Consequence, Vick is beginning to see the opposite side of that comment. Consequences are not necessarily bad – the are just consequences. Vick is suffering today as a result of the choices he made. However, he has the capacity to turn his life lessons into good for the people who would look up to him – perhaps that is beginning now as he sees a positive event or decision fall his way.

As a teen ethics speaker (www.chuckgallagher.com) and founder of the Choices Foundation, I hope that Vick learns from his incarceration and leaves prison a changed man.

Project Safe Childhood – Protecting Children for Sexual Predators – Comments by Teen Ethics Speaker Chuck Gallagher

A program in North Carolina is active in protecting children from sexual predators. Robert Martin Kutzer, age 32 from Leicester, North Carolina, was convicted of online enticement of a minor to engage in an unlawful sex act.

The jury found that Kutzer engaged in several online chat conversations with an undercover detective from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in a Yahoo! chat room. Evidence also showed that the defendant believed the detective to be a 14-year-old girl from Buncombe County. The jury heard evidence that Kutzer steered the online conversation to the topic of sex and that the defendant was responsible for injecting explicit and sexually graphic content into the online chat and that the defendant then arranged to meet this person whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. Robert Martin Kutzer was taken into custody by United States Marshals following the pronouncement of the verdict on Friday, January 25, 2007.

This federal prosecution was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.

The online enticement charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison. In July of 2006 the mandatory minimum penalty for this crime was increased from five to ten years via The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. There is no possibility of parole in the federal system.

There are many concerns in our environment today about social networking – something that adults don’t feel comfortable with in general. Sites such as MySpace and Facebook make it easy for teens to post and share personal information, pictures, and video, which change the environment for the predators to function.

Years back, for most adults with teenage children, we advised our kids to avoid talking to strangers. Frankly, the place(s) where predators sought their prey was limited to physical gathering spots for children and teens. Today, however, the pond is much different. Today, the predator is not limited to the physical location of the kids, they, instead, prey in the much larger pond of the internet. Unfortunately, adults don’t know how to monitor that environment and the kids feel safe at home with their social networking sites – assuming that most people are honest. Reality is that most kids are unsuspecting and vulnerable. Teenage girls are particularly at risk of online sexual exploitation. A recent study by University of New Hampshire researchers for National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found that of the approximately one in seven youth who received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet, 70 percent were girls.

As a teen ethics speaker (www.chuckgallagher.com) I address teens and young adults about the effects of the choices that they make. Every choice has a consequence. More importantly, however, I have recently begun a series of programs aimed at educating parents about social networking, the internet and how to help keep kids safe. For information contact me at www.chuckgallagher.com.

Project Safe Childhood Press Releases for January 2008:

• Missouri Man Sentenced to 30 Years on Federal Child Porn Charges
• Arizona Man Charged with Receiving Child Porn Through The Mail
• Connecticut Resident Enters Guilty Plea to Enticement of a Minor
• Dallas, TX Couple Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Term for Producing Child Porn
• Montana Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Porn
• Frisco, TX Teacher Sentenced to 10 Years for Child Porn
• Former Boy Scout Leader Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Related Activity

Comments or questions are welcome!