Dear Editor:

It's been a while since the Wing General has written, as he has been busy working through a...situation with The General here in Bloomington, Indiana. As most of you know, there has been some significant negative publicity about The General over the last few months...so much so that The Wing General decided that enough was enough. The Wing General has decided to publish his own interview with The General, which took place right after the University's decision to retain him as head coach, but with stipulations. Here's how the interview went:

WG: Coach Knight, thank you for your time today to answer questions from the Wing General.

CK: No problem Wing General. Finally, there is someone who will make sure the truth to this whole...mess gets out.

WG: Let's talk about some of the negative publicity that you have received. What are your thoughts about the criticisms in general that have been publicized over the past few months?

CK: Well, Wing General, there are always going to be those who put you down due to their own insecurities. This is what has been going on with the media over the last few months. Their insecurities all stem back to years ago when I first began coaching at Indiana. I was immediately successful in my coaching debut.

WG: What caused these insecurities? You know, it has been said that you were the cause of these.

CK: In fact, I was just a bit arrogant after the first few seasons. After our victories, the press just kept asking really stupid questions. It was like being back in third grade. I just got impatient with them. I tried to be calm, but several of the media know-it-alls pushed me too far one day when they said I was arrogant and I was trying to intimidate them with my crude sense of humor. I called them a bunch of wimps.

WG: What happened next?

CK: Well, what I said didn't go over too well with the press members, so the next day, several of them made up some things about me and my coaching style. This went on for several years. We kept winning and winning, and the media could not do anything about it. Oh sure, they tried to start things by printing headlines like "The General screams at the fans!!" the time that I picked up the microphone and politely asked the fans to become more vocal. Then, there was the time when the press printed the now infamous story of "The Chair" with a picture depicting me throwing a chair across the floor during a game with Purdue. What the press didn't bother to tell you is that the Purdue coach (I won't mention his name) got angry and stomped on one of the chairs in a fit of tirade. I saw this happen and didn't want the coach to have to stand up the rest of the game, so I picked up an extra chair from our bench and slid it across the floor to the other side so he would have a place to sit down. That's all there was to it.

WG: What about the incident in Puerto Rico?

CK: Just another innocent occurrence that the media blew out of proportion. It was reported that I punched out a policeman. That is just simply not true. The policeman was just asking me for my autograph and when I turned around to honor his request, he was too close and I accidentally brushed him with my arm. Again, the media goes crazy and the next thing you know, I'm wanted for striking a police officer and am banned from going back to Puerto Rico. You know that's too bad, because I'm a Ricky Martin fan and I can't take him up on his offer to show me the sights of his homeland.

WG: Whoa!! You mean to tell me that you are a Ricky Martin fan??

CK: That's right...and I'll tell you something else. There's a bit of Slim Shady in all of us. However, don't let anyone tell you that I spit in someone's onion rings when I worked at the local burger place when I was a teenager.

WG: Wow, Coach. You are hip with today's times and music.

CK: Wing General, some call me a dinosaur...while others say time has passed me by, but don't let them kid you. My knowledge of music is as good as my knowledge of basketball.

WG: Let's talk about the Reed situation.

CK: I'm glad you asked me that. That was just another issue that got blown totally out of proportion. As most of you have seen the tape, it appears to show that I put my hand around Neil's neck. Well, let me tell you what happened just prior to that. Reed was coming up the floor trash talking some of the other players about his high tolerance for pain. I told him to play ball and quit running his mouth. He looked me and said that I only eat wimp wings when I visited BW3 in downtown Bloomington. Well, I could not let that go without reply. Reed was attacking my manliness with that comment. So, I casually strolled up to Neil and told him that was a bunch of "chicken strips", and that a real man wouldn't be able to have a grip like this if he ate wimp wings!! I then let go of him and casually walked away. What the tape didn't show you was all the other players were on the floor laughing. Even Reed cracked a smile as he proceeded to dribble up the floor.

WG: Well, Coach... you sure are giving us a different perspective than what has been painted in the media.

CK: It's the truth, Wing General. Only you and your Wingazette® Magazine buddies and loyal wing eaters would know what I am talking about. I'm hoping that they will print this, so the truth will be known to all.

WG: That's why we're here, Coach. I want you to know that wing eaters all over the world are rallying behind you. It could have been any of us in your shoes when those dastardly things were said to your face challenging your wing eating abilities.

CK: Thanks, Wing General. Thanks to Wingazette® Magazine for giving me the chance to speak out. I know the evil anti-wing crusade will not stop here. There will be other accusations, other challenges that will arise. That's OK, because the real wing eaters and IU basketball fans know that I am strong enough...I'm good enough... and dog gone it...people like me!!

WG: There you have it...the truth straight from the General's mouth. The Wing General will stay on top of this ongoing saga and will bring you the latest as it occurs!!

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