ON THE AIR
'Season on the Brink' fouls out of movie game'
"Season on the Brink" could have been subtitled "The Edge of Knight" as ESPN's first motion picture portrays former Indiana coach Bobby Knight as a cross between John Wooden and Ike Turner.

By LAURA NACHMAN
Courier Times
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"Season on the Brink" could have been subtitled "The Edge of Knight" as ESPN's first motion picture portrays former Indiana coach Bobby Knight as a cross between John Wooden and Ike Turner. Throughout the movie, Knight abuses college professors, the press, the players, referees, and, of course, chairs, but since he won lots of games, that made it OK. While watching the movie one was left to wonder if the "I" on the Indiana uniforms stood for "idiot" as it was difficult to imagine why anyone would play for this bully. The movie takes us through the 1985-86 season - all punctuated by four-letter word tirades by Knight played by Brian Dennehy. The actors who portray players Steve Alford, Delray Brooks, Daryl Thomas, Ricky Calloway and the others are unknowns, whose best acting is on the court. They do their own basketball sequences, with real announcers such as Harry Kalas and Brent Musburger recruited to call the games. Midway through the movie, it gets stuck in a practice, game, practice rut leaving one to wonder if every game will be re-enacted, but thankfully most of the season gets summarized. To make Knight seem like he isn't completely the devil with a red sweater on, there are scenes showing him making dinner for his son (since evidently his wife was out of the picture), being kind to a former player who was in a wheelchair, and explaining to the assistant coaches the reason why he was so mean was because he cared about his players. That excuse is weak, and so is the movie. "Season on the Brink" fouls out. "Season on the Brink" airs Sunday at 8 on ESPN followed by a special "Outside The Lines - Bob Knight Beyond the Brink" at 10.

With Brian Dennehy playing Bobby Knight in "Season on the Brink," here's who could play some other coaches and managers.

John Chaney -  Bill Cosby
Larry Bowa -  Joe Pesci
Larry Brown -  Eeyore from "Winnie the Pooh"
Jon Gruden -  Chucky from the "Child's Play" movies or Macauley Culkin
Pat Riley -  Mel Gibson
Pat Summitt -  Joan Allen
Fran Dunphy -  Dennis Franz
Rick Pitino -  A young Al Pacino
Andy Reid -  The "Brawny" paper towel guy
Phil Martelli -   Peter Boyle - Frank from "Everybody Loves Raymond."
John Calipari -  Ray Romano
Lute Olsen -  Dick Van Dyke
Isiah Thomas -  Emmanuel Lewis
Jay Wright -  George Clooney
Rollie Massimino -  Danny DeVito
Bill Barber -  Michael Douglas
Dawn Staley -  Brandy

Seen but not heard