Just a quitter

Did anybody really expect him to just quietly fade away?

Resigned, not retired. Resigned, not retired.

Bob Knight quit -- the correct word -- as the Texas Tech basketball coach last week. There's no reason to pass the hat to get the man a gold watch or a pair of Indiana University candy-cane warm-up pants. The guy who made a career of snarling at microphones was Mr. Sunshine with the media last week, appearing on every show but "Pimp My Ride."

Which makes me suspect that when Knight says he is tired, he actually means he is tired of losing at a place like Texas Tech.

Which makes me believe that Knight pushed the resigned-not-retired spin into the news cycle quickly -- so any school dreaming about hiring a coach with 902 victories, three NCAA titles and no reluctance to go for the throat knows where to find one.

Which makes me realize that "Where's Bobby (Going)?" will serve as the game's most fascinating debate until every job is filled this spring.

One of the places being mentioned as a possibility is Illinois, where fans are said to be getting tired of the current coach. Wouldn't that be fascinating? Of course, it would require a change in culture there. School officials recently felt compelled to apologize to Indiana University because Illinois fans booed Eric Gordon during IU's double-overtime win. If Bobby were coach, they'd spend so much time apologizing to other teams that it would quickly lose its appeal.