`KNIGHT SCHOOL' IS NOW IN SESSION.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH The Media

The reality is, Bob Knight would probably rather spend a night on the town buying drinks for a bunch of sportswriters than cozying up to a reality TV series.

``I've not watched much reality show television to begin with,'' the Texas Tech basketball coach admitted on a conference call the other day.

``In many cases, with all of the hyped things and what seems to be to be staged arguments and conflicts and so forth, I'm not sure those shows couldn't be referred to as `un-reality shows.' ''

The implication is that he, like most of America, would be equally as underwhelmed about investing time in a six-episode series called ``Knight School,'' which begins Sunday on ESPN at 8 p.m. unless he wasn't involved. Here, the boorish yet successful educator subjects himself to 16 full-time Tech students and eventually picks out one who, after joining the team for practice in the upcoming summer and fall, might be invited to sit on the Red Raiders' bench for the 2006-07 season. That still is to be determined.

If only there were some guarantee of a bullying Knight throwing a typical tantrum, cursing out his assistant or heaving a chair across the room - something that'll provoke viewer reaction and draw some buzz.

``Some words ultimately will be bleeped, but honestly, it's completely a non-factor,'' said Rob Lundgren, another executive producer whose company, RIVR Media, decided to take on the project after it was pitched to them by a friend of Knight's.

After saying he was innocent of any sort of predictable outbursts that might offend anyone watching, Knight added: ``Here's one thing keep in mind: If you're worried about cameras, you shouldn't coach. Any time we play, it's on TV everywhere. If I pay attention to cameras, there's no sense in coaching.''

Already taped over a two-week period last September, the first episode shows how a field of 33 contenders were slashed to 16, then forced to live together in a ``Big Brother'' type house. After a scrimmage, four more are cut in Episode One. Although only the first episode was distributed to TV critics for review, the ESPN-provided notes for each episode say that in the Episode Six, a ``visibly frustrated'' Knight eventually tabs the winner.

More than 2,600 minutes of footage was edited down to 300, and Knight claims he had no editorial input into what was left in or cut out.

The first episode shows both a sarcastic and sensitive side of Knight. But whether he's able to improve his public image through this exercise, he reverted to form earlier this week during what he thought was a promotional interview with ESPN ``Cold Pizza'' co-host Dana Jacobson. She asked him to comment about the current situation with Indiana coach Mike Davis. Knight, via satellite, declined twice, then took out his earpiece and walked off.

ESPN, which once slapped a red sweater on actor Brian Dennehy for its movie adaptation of the John Feinstein book on Knight called ``Season On The Brink,'' must still consider Knight as a compelling sports figure these days. Apparently, there's enough interest in Knight for authors Steve Delsohn and Mark Heisler to come out with a book this week, ``Bob Knight: The Unauthorized Biography'' ($25, Simon & Schuster), the title a reflection of the fact Knight refused to be interviewed for it.

``Even on our air, (Knight) has been celebrated and controversial, but we really give viewers (here) a view of a man who loves and respects the game of basketball,'' said Joan Lynch, ESPN's coordinating producer of the series. ``I think it's going to answer the question that a lot of people have, which is: What is it really like to be coached by this man?''

Or the viewers will be left questioning themselves as to why they even care about him anymore.

SOUND BYTES

WHAT SMOKES

-- Plenty of reaction posted to date on HBO's online forum to comments made by ``Real Sports'' ethnocentric host Bryant Gumbel about how he views - or doesn't view - the Winter Olympics. Gumbel, in a commentary for the episode that debuted Feb. 7, said in part: ``Laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention ... so if only to hasten the arrival of the day they're done and we can move on to March Madness, for God's sake, let the Games begin.'' Those who responded on HBO's online bulletin board (http://boards.hbo.com) immediately questioned why Gumbel, who is black, had played the race card. ``I previously believed that `Real Sports' provided an insightful perspective ... ,'' read one astute posting. ``The racial and political overtone in his commentary displayed a complete lack of insight and understanding of what truly constitutes `real sport.' Without a sincere retraction and apology from its host on the next episode, HBO's `Real Sports' will have lost any remaining credibility it has to report on real sports and real athletes.'' HBO spokesman Ray Stallone said that ``absolutely nothing has changed, Bryant said what he wanted to say,'' and he has no intention of apologizing.

-- Todd Blackledge, the top college football analyst at CBS the past seven years, has been hired by ESPN to team up with Mike Patrick on the prime-time Saturday college football telecast. Blackledge, the former Penn State star, started as an analyst on ABC (1994-98) and ESPN ('97-98) before moving to CBS.

WHAT CHOKES

-- Definition of a buzz kill: Flipping open the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue to pages 48-49 only to find staring back at you KTLA Channel 5 newscaster Hal Fishman, KNBC Channel 4 weatherman Fritz Coleman, KABC Channel 7 entertainment reporter George Pennachio, former ``Best Damn Sports Show'' host Tom Arnold, Ryan Seacrest, Dr. Phil and Cardinal Roger Mahony. What they all have in common are framed, autographed pictures on the wall inside Pink's Famous Hot Dog stand in Hollywood, and each is clearly visible in the background where swimsuit model Yesica Toscanini has decided to spread out on one of the glass-top tables wearing a $398 bikini. It's part of the ``Swimsuit 2006 Goes Hollywood'' section of the magazine where the ladies pose in and around famous Tinsletown landmarks. Later, on page 66, writer Richard Deitsch describes the photo shoot behind the scenes, and there's another photo of Toscanini getting her toes cleaned off, for those who relish in a foot-long fetish.

--Far more of an international event than local, the NBA reports that more than 215 countries will carry Sunday's All-Star Game in 44 languages by 103 telecasters. There are 302 international media members from 38 countries and territories scheduled to be at the game in Houston. China sends seven separate electronic media outlets to focus on Rockets center Yao Ming, and for the first time, the NBA and China's CCTV will do a customized feed with a camera isolated on Ming continuously during the exhibition. TNT airs the game in the States at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

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BY TOM HOFFARTH