Bob Knight is on a book tour, so once again it’s time to ponder the most perplexing issue facing sports today: How can someone be so consistently misunderstood and misinterpreted by so many people?

I mean, it’s uncanny how many people have misunderstood and misinterpreted this guy. For years and years and years. If you weren’t aware of it, all you have to do is listen to him for a few minutes, or pick up his book.

And did we mention the money he donated to the university? And how he helps out many of his former players? And that his players graduate?

As for that other stuff, he never meant anybody any harm, unless they deserved it and then it’s a different story. But all those people who questioned him or criticized him? They meant every word of it, and did we mention they were misunderstanding and misinterpreting every last word of it?

As Derek Bell will tell you, to be eternally misunderstood is the plight of the truly great ones.

This Week’s List:

After the Final Four weekend, one question needs to be asked: This year, was the idea of "One Shining Moment" a wish or a dare?

In honor of Nolan Richardson, a new meaning for the phrase "40 minutes of hell": Indiana and Maryland.

One thing that needs to be said in Knight’s defense: As the great San Francisco Chronicle columnist Bruce Jenkins asks, Can we all just forget about the chair, already?

P.S. -- Any chance you could feed my dog while I’m away?: Jayson Williams sent thank-you cards to his neighbors, apologizing for the media’s intrusion in their quiet neighborhood.

Sounds like a topic for C-SPAN’s Book Notes: Has there ever been a guy who wrote a book that came back to haunt him more than Williams?

He’s through, he’s finished, he’s lost everything: And on the third day, Bonds had the gall to go homerless.

And, in other news, candlelight vigil fails to stop Mideast violence: Blue Jays manager Buck Martinez is angry at Pedro Martinez for entering his team’s clubhouse during a Wednesday rain delay, saying increased fraternization among big-league players is a bad idea.

Could be part of the reason he freaks pitchers so: Nobody’s cooler than Barry Bonds after he’s hit by a pitch.

Why Don Zimmer’s Preparation H commercials are being reclassified as public-service announcements: Braves second baseman Marcus Giles missed most of the last week of spring training to have and recover from hemorrhoid surgery.

Today’s exercise in mind control: If you close your eyes and strain your brain to its fullest, you can force yourself to remember that the Dodgers were once the classiest organization in baseball.

He simply doesn’t take any crap, and he doesn’t mind if you know it: The gloriously blusterous Hubie Brown.

Today’s seminar topic -- define pocket change for a guy whose contract calls for him to earn more than $100 million: Chris Webber’s former agent says Webber was given "pocket change" from indicted booster Ed Martin during his days in high school and college.

When the story hits home, kind of: I remember standing outside a Fresno deli with Jerry Tarkanian six years ago and hearing Tark bark into his cell phone, "Eddie Martin, my main man!"

In some circles, it’s called a cover story: Remember back when Webber was at Michigan and he portrayed himself as the conscience of college hoops, saying he couldn’t afford a tuna sandwich while everyone walked around Ann Arbor wearing his No. 4 jersey?

Uh-oh, he’s really going to be pissed now: Several media outlets are reporting that Webber and Tyra Banks are engaged.

Money like this could get lost in pockets as big as Webber’s: Mike Piazza was fined $3,000 for his altercation with Guillermo Mota.

Just because it might be the first and last time the comparison will look like this: Jason Giambi -- .182, 0 HRs, 0 RBIs; Carlos Pena -- .333, 2HRs, 4 RBIs.

Just for the heck of it: John Boccabella.

A guy wins a Super Bowl and he thinks he can save the world: Pats QB Tom Brady’s political ambitions -- Brady for President, even -- have made their way into the mainstream.

Sounds like someone has already forgotten about a man named Richard Milhous Nixon: A Democratic political consultant said of Brady, "He’d be the first hunk president of the United States. He’d get every female vote, every gay vote and every jock vote."

Because it's never a good idea to pass on the opportunity to describe a pitcher as someone who can't dent a pat of butter: Rangers pitcher Doug Davis topped the radar gun at 84 mph in beating the A’s on Thursday.

Before you get too excited down there in Tampa: Everyone knows the Rays’ first three starters have always been nails.

And you thought Ruben Rivera was going to be ostracized in a big-league clubhouse: Chuck Finley, attacked by his wife.

Everyone can hue and cry all they want about the evils of early entry, but think of it this way: When Kwame Brown can be the No. 1 pick in the entire draft, what would keep Jared Jeffries from going to the NBA?

And finally, it was not Steve Walsh, Gino Torretta or any of the school’s other former quarterbacks: "Some guy must have lost his welfare check and he’s just looking for another source of income," said U of Miami center Brett Romberg, after his team’s playbooks were stolen and posted on the Internet.

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tim.keown@espnmag.com.