[Loose Lips] Gotta say, it's tough knowing what side to come down on in the ongoing saga that is life for Rick Majerus, former (and most winning) Runnin' Utes coach. Majerus, current coach of the St. Louis University Billikens men's basketball team, has opened his big pie hole and created havoc...again. And again. (That's two St. Louis Catholic honchos, and Majerus on the far right in this St. Louis Post-Dispatch photo.) Majerus is a Wisconsin native, son of a major labor organizer, and with his salty mouth and huge girth, could pass for your basic stereotype of a Hormel meat packer. His coaching style, at least at Utah, included making points at practice by whipping out his penis to scold Michael Doleac and routinely calling his college players by that classy slang word for female genitalia.
He left the University of Utah in 2004, following a very public account in the daily newspapers of the way he singled out one of his players, hearing-impaired center Lance Allred, as a "cripple" and a "disgrace to cripples." The official U. account was that he left for medical reasons. But the truth is, big donors and lifelong fans were getting rather fed up with his inhumanity.
It took the U. far too long to address the problem of Rick Majerus, mostly because he won games. Bunches of 'em. And he took the Utes to a 1998 Final Four appearance. Glory Days. But the man was/is vulgar, loud and frequently bigoted. And a liberal iconoclast, to boot.
So now, he's on the wrong side of official Catholic-dom for speaking openly, in public, on his own time as an American citizen at a political rally, in support of abortion rights. I must say, a guy who counts "c--t" as one of his favorite insults while supporting Roe v. Wade is a study in contrasts. My feminist sensibilities are on a roller coaster ride.
What do you think? Should Majerus, who coaches at a private Catholic university, have the right to not only hold an anti-church position on abortion but to speak out about it? Does anyone in a similar position have that right? Could a coach at Salt Lake's Judge Memorial Catholic High School march in a pro-choice rally? What about BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall? Not that it would ever happen, but I'm just sayin'.
Any thoughts? (Holly Mullen)
Majerus is a foul mouth d**k. However you could walk up and say that to his face and he would agree with you. At least he knows what he is instead of a similar coach at a Texas school who dishes it out but can't take it.
ReplyDeleteI can't see anything more than a slight admonishment coming coaches way- they knew what they were getting when they hired him.
I know. And I'm no fan of Majerus, but he is a no-bullshit artist, isn't he?
ReplyDeleteI think he has every right to work for a Catholic school but speak his own political truth on his own time as a private citizen. This Catholic Archbishop Burke makes all the criticism against Mormon leaders look pale...Holly M.
SLU is an interesting school because it is neither private nor public (per your link to the St. Louis site.)
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see the response if this were Notre Dame.
Burke received national attention by saying he would deny communion to John Kerry in 2004 because of his stand on abortion. He got a taste of the limelight on this subject and now he is milking it again. Note how no one else is jumping on this and the school is dismissing it out of hand.
I'm buying in on all the Majerus-crude stuff. But when I was a professor at the U., Majerus called me personally more than once to check in on his charges and make sure they were studying. I liked his concern for students. Andre' Miller is his archetype. When Miller came to school he was on a streamliner to a small college with no future. It was Majerus who gave him confidence, playing ability, and a bachelor's degree. Complex man, eh?
ReplyDeleteComplex indeed- I still don't know how I feel about him. He is polarizing,that is for sure.
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