Sports World Christmas Wish #2

I wish: for Bob Knight to take Dick Vitale's job

Yup, that's right.

Bob Knight was a polarizing figure throughout his coaching career, and rightfully so. The man was a brilliant and successful coach, whose teams were disciplined and whose players graduated. And yet, his own temper and lack of self-discipline at times led to a series of highly regretable actions. Love him, hate him, pity him - everyone has an opinion on Bob Knight the coach.

Now, with his coaching career at least on hold, and perhaps over, Coach Knight has moved to the broadcast booth, as a studio and game analyst for ESPN. The sheer irony of Knight becoming a member of the media, after his career long run of contempt for it, is awesome enough - but that's not the most important item in play here - Coach Knight is an absolutely brilliant game analyst. I knew this to be true when, in the first game I ever heard him call, I was very aware of his analysis, and it was because of how good it was. That's a very rare thing - I usually judge an analyst by how little I notice him, because when I'm noticing the analyst, it's almost invariably for what they are doing wrong. Coach Knight, however, is putting the brilliant basketball mind that made him the winningest coach in NCAA history on full display. He'll break down what just happened in such a simple and profound way that you'll wonder how you never noticed that before. I feel like I would understand basketball much better than I ever have if I watched games that he called on a regular basis. And, unlike a number of other former coaches in the booth, Coach Knight has enough personality to be interesting, without being so over the top as to completely overpower the game.

Unlike Mr. Vitale. Now, I used to hate Dick Vitale, but I'm long past that. Dickie V is what he is - an excitable, passionate man full of genuine enthusiasm for college basketball. I've read a lot about college hoops in the last year or so, and everything I read about Dick Vitale the guy comes back the same way - that's just who he is. I get that, I appreciate it, and it's made watching games he calls more bearable - which is good, because he calls virtually every Duke game of note. But here's the thing about Vitale - he just doesn't enhance the game. He gets so excited and enthused about everything that his analysis (and I really think he knows the game very well) gets buried in his gushing. He doesn't provide me with real insight into what is going on out there. He can be entertaining, but he doesn't tell me anything I don't already know.

Dick Vitale is a great personality, and he belongs around college hoops, but not as a lead analyst for the dominant sports network, despite his seniority. The man who was made for that chair now works for ESPN, and if this Christmas wish comes true, he'll be in it in short order, as opposed to buried with Brent Musberger (ugh) on one Thursday night game a week.