Must Read for Every Marquette Fan

[keefe]

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-01-27/sports/0101270242_1_al-mcguire-lake-wobegon-marquette

[tower912]

A warrior, a leader, a champion of the little man, a champion for every man.   I smile sometimes when I think of Al and then think of the self righteousness of some scoopers and chuckle at the thought of this board during that time and how the discussions would have gone.   Shoot, we had an AD who would have tried to stop the guy from yelling 'Give 'em hell, Al!'

[GooooMarquette]

I had Dr. Barrett for first-year Biology.

One of my most-prized pieces of Marquette memorabilia is my "Give 'em hell, Al" t-shirt.

[swoopem]

Was the "Give em Hell Al" guy's identity ever revealed? Al's days were way before my time so I'm wondering if this guy was a student and legend around campus, a passionate alum, or just another Milwaukee drunk? Seems like the dude was pretty big deal.

[Goose]

Goosebumps everytime I read that piece. A one of a kind man in all aspects of his life.

[Goose]

I always loved that the band actually developed a piece to allow that legendary to be used as a chant . I can still hear it ringing in my head. 4ever and his bandmates delivered the goods.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Not like there was scoop or really any online sports forums back in 2001 but I gotta imagine it was a pretty somber time for the University and Marquette fans at the time of Al's passing.

[Goose]

Al's passing was a very big deal in my life. Have said on here many times that no one person provided more entertainment and fun to my whole family than Al. He brought together our family for pregame dinners at the Time Out, Goolsby's and the Hyatt for a decade. Can still my Dad smoking in his seats at the arena in aisle 12. I have been blessed in many ways regarding MU ball and Al was the biggest part of it. Nearly 15 years after his death and seldom will a few weeks go by without an Al reference or story being told. My oldest son is 28 and has probably used 90% of Al's lines to me in 2015, thanks to the reruns of the Al McGuire Tapes on TV.

Will add that Rick Majerus comes in a distant second around place. He was a unique and special man in many ways as well.

[naginiF]

I was 12 years removed from campus and got sympathy cards from non Marquette friends because they knew how much he embodied/shaped the universities presence and impact on students.  It was a perfect fit of coach and institution

[Sir Lawrence]

I'll never forget the headline of Al's obituary in the New York Times:

Al McGuire, 72, Coach, TV Analyst and Character, Dies

Yes, he certainly was a "character."

[Lennys Tap]

Not like there was scoop or really any online sports forums back in 2001 but I gotta imagine it was a pretty somber time for the University and Marquette fans at the time of Al's passing.

I drove up for the services at Gesu. Met my oldest daughter who had graduated from MU the previous May and was working in Milwaukee. Afterwards there was a reception at the Union. With the TVs showing the wins against UNCC and North Carolina as background, we caught up with Jackie Burke (who had flown in from New Jersey). Lots of other former players trickled in, the last being Rick Majerus. I can honestly say the group was anything but somber. There was a reverence, yes, but the stories they shared that night mirrored the man - funny, touching, outrageous and larger than life. Each one of them was so grateful for their Marquette experience - and Al, of course, was the heart and soul of it.

Marquette's campus is so much nicer now. No more condemned, soon to be torn down buildings. No more bum bars. Decent apartments, lower crime rates and a more accomplished student body. That's progress, and it's all good. But for 13 years we were an "it" school because the most "it" guy in college coaching was our face, our leader. It was really fun.

[Goose]

Lenny

You said it best, we were "it". Times are different and could never be repeated. There are not many really cool people and he was the coolest of them all.

[Dawson Rental]

Was the "Give em Hell Al" guy's identity ever revealed? Al's days were way before my time so I'm wondering if this guy was a student and legend around campus, a passionate alum, or just another Milwaukee drunk? Seems like the dude was pretty big deal.

This wasn't like jump around guy.  It wasn't "a" guy.  20% of the crowd would shout "Give em Hell Al" during those times during the game when Al would make his case with the officials.  Any one of us could have been the first to get things going on a particular night.

[Lennys Tap]

Lenny

You said it best, we were "it". Times are different and could never be repeated. There are not many really cool people and he was the coolest of them all.

Amen, Goose.

[omni77]

With all due respect Lenny's Tap, I hope you are not thinking of the 'Lanche or Jim Hegarty's or your Scoop name when you say 'bum bars'. These were 'fine' institutions back in the day that I thought fit in very well with the whole 'Al' mystique. One could learn things about life if you went to the 'Lanche at 10:00 am after bombing a chemistry final. Sort of like the 'spend 6 months as a bartender and 6 months as a cab driver to be really educated' quote. I too have a 'give 'em hell Al' t-shirt, the 'official' final 4 shirt sold at the Omni and the famous banana yellow band hat. I tried putting on the final 4 shirt to watch the 2003 F4 but couldn't get it past my chin. Fortunately the band hat still fits, although it's a bit tight. Can't believe my head got bigger - if anything I'm feeling much more humble these days. 

[Goose]

LittleWade

You are partially correct. I think Rick's piece highlighted a specific event that turned into a chorus of yells. I was young at the time but do remember there was one voice that started it all. It was one voice on a one night that started it all.

[JakeBarnes]

I really don't want to further sully the beauty of the article with drivel of my own, so I will leave it at this: it's an amazingly written piece about an amazing piece of work.

[keefe]

LittleWade

You are partially correct. I think Rick's piece highlighted a specific event that turned into a chorus of yells. I was young at the time but do remember there was one voice that started it all. It was one voice on a one night that started it all.

Murray is right in that it was a community thing. It was likely going strong for years by the time i showed up at the Arena but there was one guy who would always throw out the first, "Give 'em hell, Al!" of every game towards the end of the National Anthem. He sat up in the top corner of the student section (we had assigned seats but that was more of a suggestion.)

After that first A-Bomb was dropped, the crowd was free to yell it during the game whenever Al got fired up, which was often. It really was  a defining characteristic of Marquette basketball which epitomized hip in a changing America.

[Earl Tatum]

Great piece on Al: Attended 2 athletic banquets in our city of which Al was the main speaker. It was hilarious on the story he
told about Ric Cobb scoring 25 pts a game in JC but was a pick-man at MU. We got taken out in Madison by Purdue and Rick
Mount, (he shot some 30 times, bound to make a few) but we beat a very good Kentucky team in a hot contested game.
Thompson and Meminger were outstanding. Met him, got his autograph, even quizzed me on his speech. Even talked about
the great greasey NY  on the street hamburgers. Still is the main reason I root for MU today.

[willie warrior]

I'll never forget the headline of Al's obituary in the New York Times:

Al McGuire, 72, Coach, TV Analyst and Character, Dies

Yes, he certainly was a "character."

The guy put MU on the map. He had color, guts, personality, was straightforward, genuine. He was and is a legend.

[rocky_warrior]

Not like there was scoop or really any online sports forums back in 2001

Bull!

See here....
http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/marquette_internet_forum_history

and here
https://web.archive.org/web/20010507151531/http://www.sportsonly.com/a/6025/

and here
https://web.archive.org/web/20000619173050/http://boards.rivals.com/default.asp?sid=318&p=16&forumid=910

But I don't see any Al passing discussion (hard to navigate the forum from the archive)

[Dawson Rental]

LittleWade

You are partially correct. I think Rick's piece highlighted a specific event that turned into a chorus of yells. I was young at the time but do remember there was one voice that started it all. It was one voice on a one night that started it all.

Most likely before my time.  Unfortunately, I only caught the last two years of the McGuire show.  Still, beyond the genesis of this great cheer(?) which you describe, I don't believe anyone became known as the "Give 'em Hell, Al" guy.  Correct me If I'm wrong.

Edit: Based on keefe's recollection, I guess for four years or so (since it came from the student section), there was a guy who got it going every game.  An unsung hero who never sought out the spotlight as far as I know.

[4everwarriors]

Al McGuire---best mouth I've ever heard.

[4everwarriors]

I always loved that the band actually developed a piece to allow that legendary to be used as a chant . I can still hear it ringing in my head. 4ever and his bandmates delivered the goods.

Drums rollin' into it, hey goose? For you, me, keefe, Lenny Man, Eric,  and some others here, it was a once in a lifetime experience. Maybe it was the times in which we lived, maybe just the uniqueness of a medium-sized Jesuit university in fookin' Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that, save UCLA, had the best winnin' percentage in the entire country, or maybe it simply was just Al? Regardless, we had it all goin' on.

[Lennys Tap]

With all due respect Lenny's Tap, I hope you are not thinking of the 'Lanche or Jim Hegarty's or your Scoop name when you say 'bum bars'. These were 'fine' institutions back in the day that I thought fit in very well with the whole 'Al' mystique. One could learn things about life if you went to the 'Lanche at 10:00 am after bombing a chemistry final. Sort of like the 'spend 6 months as a bartender and 6 months as a cab driver to be really educated' quote. I too have a 'give 'em hell Al' t-shirt, the 'official' final 4 shirt sold at the Omni and the famous banana yellow band hat. I tried putting on the final 4 shirt to watch the 2003 F4 but couldn't get it past my chin. Fortunately the band hat still fits, although it's a bit tight. Can't believe my head got bigger - if anything I'm feeling much more humble these days. 

Omni - I spent WAY more time in Lenny's than I did in the classroom my junior and senior years and I consider it time well spent. Lenny himself was a wonderful mentor and friend. And my brother owned the Lanche from 74 -79. I have nothing but affection for both places and their regulars. And you're right - they were an integral part of what made MU special back in our day. Things are a bit too sanitized for my tastes today, but that's what the administration wants.