Indiana players called president Myles Brand a 'coward' for firing Knight.(AP)

It's the same outrage that secretary Jeanette Hargraves felt when Knight allegedly hurled the plant in her direction and called her a word that rhymes with snitch. It's the outrage former player Neil Reed felt when Knight came at his neck with who knows what kind of dark intentions.

It's the outrage that a poor press conference moderator in Boise, Idaho, felt when Knight berated him at an NCAA Tournament in 1995. It's the outrage that women everywhere felt when Knight told Connie Chung that "...if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it."

It's the outrage felt in Puerto Rico when Knight allegedly hit a policeman and was convicted in absentia having never uttered so much as an apology. You want outrage? Puerto Rico continued to try to extradite Knight until 1987.

Need we go on? Thankfully, no. It's over. Maybe not forever but at least at Indiana where Knight will never have a more prominent stage from which to wield his power. The man is Division III meat now, a coaching pariah who has enough victories to spend the rest of his life asking some school, somewhere for just one more chance.

Just not at Indiana. Not anymore.

His teams no longer matter. Indiana hasn't been to the Sweet 16 since 1994. Players say there will be mass transfers if some of the staff isn't retained. Go ahead and go. Bill Carmody at Northwestern probably needs some backup point guards.

Outside the Indiana petri dish that bred blind loyalty in a dark light all these years, a nation applauded. This whole sick thing should have ended long ago. Brand acknowledged Sunday that Harvey and his two brothers have received threatening e-mails. Campus police, he said, are looking into it.

How's that for outrage?

Players still didn't get it Sunday. Redshirt freshman George Leach went into detail about how his roommate saw Knight harmlessly interact with Kent Harvey on Thursday.

"The story was blown out of proportion by a little kid," Leach said, "a 19-year old freshman."

Taken as an isolated incident, The Hand on Kent Harvey might not have been a firing offense. Three decades of pattern behavior, including specific violations of Brand's zero tolerance policy in recent months, made it so.

Ask Arizona State's Bill Frieder who used to coach against Knight in the Big Ten.

"If I'm on zero tolerance, I don't put my hands on anybody," Frieder said.

Brand and the board of trustees should be seen as heroes, even if they are flawed by their tardiness. It only took three decades for Indiana to take back its university. Even in this case, it was by force.

Brand did the decent thing asking Knight if he wanted to save face by resigning. Nixon took the hint, Knight thumbed his nose. He ignored Brand Sunday, took his favorite rod and cast his fortunes into a Canadian stream somewhere.

Brand pulled the trap door making workplace role models out of the likes of Reed and Hargraves. Because they stood up and spoke up, this whole thing got started. They were discredited by the Knight spin machine and survived.

Winning suddenly doesn't matter as much as integrity. If that singes the ears of Hoosier fans then get used to it. It matters now that the next coach use some decorum instead of arguing about twisting someone's arm.

Knight is unemployed and looks unemployable. Brand looked perplexed Sunday when asked if he would recommend his former coach if another employer called.

"Bob Knight has a lot of positive attributes," Brand said. "If he has another coaching job, that person will have to make a decision whether his conduct will change. I would tell that person everything I'm saying publicly now."

In other words, who would hire this man? The sad answer is that someone will. It seems inevitable that Knight will emerge as some sort of Mike Ditkaesque TV analyst du jour.

He's outspoken! He's loud! He's between jobs!

Just make sure the director has a mute button.