Bobby Knight, Bill Parcells And Tony La Russa On ESPN "Sunday Conversation," Followed By Apocalypse

Ryan Berenz

16 years ago

Posted by Cubicle QB

If this photo doesn’t frighten the bejesus out of you, then you may just have enough huevos to tune in to ESPN’s SportsCenter on Sunday at 10:30am and 11pm ET for the “Sunday Conversation” featuring three weird, crotchety old coaches who all happen to be buddies — Bobby Knight, Bill Parcells and Tony La Russa. The three will discuss a variety of topics including their friendships, coaching philosophies and how players have changed over the years — and occasionally yell obscenities at host Rece Davis, who we’re pretty sure cries at some point during the session. Even in this photo, Knight looks like he’s getting ready to throw a brick at the paperboy or something.

Here are a few excerpts from the conversation:

“If you had two managers, and one had great knowledge of the game, X’s and O’s kind of guy, and the other guy had a better personality that was trusting and caring, this guy (the latter) wins all the time. That guy (the former), nobody follows where he goes.” – La Russa, on developing relationships with his players

“We (Parcells and I) used to, every Sunday afternoon in our basement, we’d basically watch the Packers play, because they were on television every Sunday. We’d talk about what coaches did, and there’s nobody that I’ve known in my background in coaching that I saw become a better coach.” — Knight, on Parcells

“It’s the peripheral people that are around him (today’s player) now. Basically, (it was) the player and his family when we first started, now its advisors and agents and consultants, and all these other peripheral people that have an influence on the player. And no matter what you try to get across to the player, there are contrary opinions being given to the player from other people.” — Parcells, on the difference between players now, and when he started coaching

“Now, you have a lot of players who are distracted by what their family, their friends, their agents are telling them: ‘Get your numbers, get your money.’ And the coach stands up and talks about team.” — La Russa, on today’s players

“He was an impossible adversary. He was tough to defeat mentally. We fought it out quite a bit, but enjoyed doing it.” — Parcells, on playing against Knight in pick-up basketball games at West Point

“I’ve thrown away Giants clothes. I’ve thrown away Jets clothes. I’ve thrown away Patriots clothes. And now I wonder where the hell my Dolphins clothes are?” — Knight, on his long friendship with Parcells

“I want to retain his friendship, so I will never admit that he’s a member of the media.” — La Russa, on Knight at ESPN becoming a member of the media