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As of Thursday, Feb. 12, this little blog has relocated to a new home on AJC.com. It’s the same newspaper, the same Web site and the same writer (feel free to groan) — there’s just a new URL.
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Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2009 > February > 09
Monday, February 9, 2009
Bradley’s Buzz: The Dark Knight vs. Bobby Knight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ranking the rants
Reading Entertainment Weekly’s account of Christian Bale’s infamous tirade on the set of “Terminator Salvation” — and then seeking out the tirade itself — I was struck by its similarity to another harangue, this one delivered by Bobby Knight to his Indiana players on the eve of a Purdue game. Given that Knight is campaigning, albeit indirectly, to get Georgia or Alabama or somebody to hire him, a review of his blow-ups seems warranted.
Because these, in the YouTube age, are what any school that hires Knight is going to get — embarrassment via Internet. For an edited sample of Knight’s greatest, er, hits, ESPN thoughtfully compiled a Top 10 with bleeps inserted.
For the unexpurgated versions … well, here are a few. But I must insert the STRONGEST POSSIBLE WARNING: These links contain the harshest language and are not suitable for listening in the workplace.
Here’s the pre-Purdue explosion, and here, for handy side-by-side comparison, is Bale’s diatribe against the director of photography. You’ll note that Bale’s soliloquy lasts nearly four times as long, but for sheer impassioned unhinged-ness even the latest Batman cannot stack up to the darker Knight.
If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve doubtless noticed that there are a slew of Knight “moments” on YouTube. (The chair-throw, for instance.) But for the sake of brevity I’ll link to only two more: Here’s Isiah Thomas listing all the dirty words he learned from Knight — Knight’s reaction, visible in the background, is priceless — and here’s Knight himself on his favorite word.
I’m guessing you can guess the word.
Recruiting rankings re-examined
This useful story, from Scott Kennedy of Scout.com, tracks the past four recruiting classes and how those teams actually fared on the field. You’ll note that Georgia underperformed its ranking, and that Tech outperformed, if only slightly, its. Again, we’d have guessed as much. But it’s still intriguing to see it in black and white.
A short item about hockey
Normally I don’t follow the Canadian junior leagues, but given that the Thrashers figure to be picking high in the June draft I thought I’d get a head start. So I read this rundown of prospects by Allan Muir of SI.com, and I came across this rather amazing line regarding defenseman Ryan Ellis: “His ability to share clothes with Billy Barty is the only thing keeping Ellis from battling Victor Hedman for recognition as the draft’s top blueline prospect.”
I took that to mean Ellis is short. How short is he? Er, 5-foot-10. The late Billy Barty was 3-9. So that comparison would seem a stretch. So to speak.
Not-so-hot Peppers?
Some Falcons fans are hopeful the team will make a run at defensive end Julius Peppers. Don Banks of SI.com offers a dissenting view, calling Peppers the riskiest big name among free agents. And I would whole-heartedly agree. I’ve long considered Peppers the NFL’s most overrated player. (Though I should stipulate that I liked him a lot as a basketball player.)
More NFL draft rankings
This listing comes courtesy of Mike Mayock, who’s an analyst for NFL.com and who famously championed Matt Ryan last year. Mayock has Matthew Stafford rated No. 1 among quarterbacks and Knowshon Moreno No. 2 among running backs. But he has Tech’s Michael Johnson listed as only the fifth-best defensive end available, and he has Georgia’s Dannell Ellerbee the fourth-best inside linebacker. Me, I didn’t think Ellerbe had much of a season.
Trade prospects for your Atlanta Hawks
As I tried to say the other day, the Hawks aren’t apt to do much of anything before the Feb. 19 trade deadline. But here, for purposes of independent corroboration, is Chris Mannix of SI.com suggesting the exact same thing.
And it’s worth noting that, with Phoenix apparently looking to deal Shaquille O’Neal and Amare Stoudemire, Atlanta isn’t seen as a possible destination for either. So writes Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
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