How about the SLU fightin' Rick Majerus's!!

[Canadian Dimes]

Big Big win tonite in their fight for an NCAA bid!

[Ari Gold]

Its pronounced Majeri

[jesmu84]

boy, xavier sure has fallen apart.

[jsglow]

Gotta love Big Rick!  I pull for SLU and am thrilled for their success.   

[Stronghold]

boy, xavier sure has fallen apart.

Fine by me because I got sick of hearing how good Tu Holloway was supposed to be.  He has been about as good as he was against MU last year 

[Goose]

Way to go Rick!!!!!!

[reinko]

Every time I see the name, I can only think of this article.

http://deadspin.com/5439875/ahole-coach-digest-special-rick-majerus-edition

"Not knowing what to expect, we sat back eagerly awaiting his next move. What happened next still haunts me to this day. Majerus took the towel, pulled his pants down, and quickly took a dump into the towel, which he was holding under his ass. After he was done he used part of the towel to wipe, wrapped it up, and HANDED IT BACK TO THE MANAGER, and told him to throw it away. The kid looked like a deer in giant Rick Majerus headlights. The whole room was silent. Rick just pulled his pants up and went back to the scout, never once mentioning it or acting like anything out of the ordinary had occurred."

[We R Final Four]

Every time I see the name, I can only think of this article.

http://deadspin.com/5439875/ahole-coach-digest-special-rick-majerus-edition

"Not knowing what to expect, we sat back eagerly awaiting his next move. What happened next still haunts me to this day. Majerus took the towel, pulled his pants down, and quickly took a dump into the towel, which he was holding under his ass. After he was done he used part of the towel to wipe, wrapped it up, and HANDED IT BACK TO THE MANAGER, and told him to throw it away. The kid looked like a deer in giant Rick Majerus headlights. The whole room was silent. Rick just pulled his pants up and went back to the scout, never once mentioning it or acting like anything out of the ordinary had occurred."

Maybe you should lead with this......"What follows are two stories. Fables. Myths. Grand urban legends of Majerus' boorishness, if you will."

I went to a big man's camp with Rick and Randy Breuer in the mid 80s at Carroll College.  He did show up the last day only.  Told some great Doc Rivers stories.  I do remember him wearing VERY tight BIKE coach shorts.  Nasty.

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

While at SLU for law school, I was able to attend a fan Q&A with Majerus. What followed was 90 minutes of pure college basketball purgatory, but Rick made the entire event memorable.

1.) He compared the decision for SLU to go to the A-10 with the decision to send troops to Vietnam. He said the administration was sold a bill of goods about the A-10 and it hasn't come true, SLU is at a competitive disadvantage due to all their additional travel, and SLU fans don't give a rat's ass about beating LaSalle or St. Bonaventure. He thought SLU should bite the bullet, go to the Missouri Valley Conference, and wait there for the Big East to break up (This was approximately 2 years ago).

2.) He then challenged the group (about 100 SLU basketball diehards) to name all 14 teams in the A-10. It took the entire group more than 5 minutes to correctly name SLU, Dayton, Xavier, Charlotte, Richmond, George Washington, Duquesne, Temple, LaSalle, St. Joseph's, Fordham, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, and UMass.

3.) Rick said the A-10 was a conference that "made no sense." It had 14 teams, 4 teams in the Midwest, including one west of the Mississippi, its conference tournament in Atlantic City (where it doesn't have a team), its league offices in Newport News, Virginia (where it doesn't have a team), and its league meetings in Florida (where it doesn't have a team).

4.) Rick showed up after the complimentary Papa John's had arrived. Rick proceeded to take three slices of pizza, stack them on top of each other, and eat them simultaneously in a "pizza sandiwch."

5.) When asked why SLU no longer plays Marquette and DePaul, Majerus implied that MU threw SLU nder the bus in the 2005 Conference realignment, and now won't offer a one-for-one or two-for-one Majerus implied Marquette was afraid to play SLU in St. Louis. I don't blame him. That arena would be one of the scariest arenas in the Big East.

[Goose]

When focused Rick is one helluva of a basketball coach. He has done some amazing things in very unlikely places.

[GGGG]

They have to be in unlikely places...his act would never survive in a "likely" place.

A friend of mine, who also knows Rick, said that he once visited him at his hotel in Salt Lake, and that there were about two dozen empty pizza boxes around the place.

[Goose]

If winning his act would work anywhere. He is a highly entertaining person and obviously is more entertaining when winning.

[lab_warrior]

Fightin' Majerusssesssss >>>>> Billikens

[ringout]

Rick might be MU head coach today. 

My theory has always been that MU handled the Majerus situation poorly.  Administration panicked when rumors of Majerus taking over at UW Madison, moved Hank to the AD office, making Rick the new HC.  In hindsight, this was a role he needed to grow into.

I think Rick would have been a good or great MU coach (look at what he accomplished at Utah).  If the admin or Hank, or whoever was in charge at the time (it was a confused mess at the time) would have taken Rick aside and said: "Rick, we love you man.  Take the HC job at Ball State, learn well, and when Hank retires, you're our guy.

[chapman]

Remember when he was announcing one of our games a few years back and he brought a dollhouse to the game to try to show how we played?

[PJDunn]

Rick might be MU head coach today. 

My theory has always been that MU handled the Majerus situation poorly.  Administration panicked when rumors of Majerus taking over at UW Madison, moved Hank to the AD office, making Rick the new HC.  In hindsight, this was a role he needed to grow into.

I think Rick would have been a good or great MU coach (look at what he accomplished at Utah).  If the admin or Hank, or whoever was in charge at the time (it was a confused mess at the time) would have taken Rick aside and said: "Rick, we love you man.  Take the HC job at Ball State, learn well, and when Hank retires, you're our guy.

I was there for the majerus years.  He needed to go.  I am glad that he found some success after MU, but our being relegated to NIT purgatory was the least of his issues.

[GGGG]

I was there for the majerus years.  He needed to go.  I am glad that he found some success after MU, but our being relegated to NIT purgatory was the least of his issues.

But I think ringout's point was that he simply wasn't ready to be a head coach at the time...especially at Marquette.

And Marquette deserves a lot of the blame.  They were acting like it was still 1977, when in fact it was 1987.  The college basketball world changed dramatically during that time...the rise of the Big East and the Metro Conferences...ESPN changing the television landscape.  And there was little ole MU acting as an independent and having no clue what was going on.

Honestly, if Cords hadn't hired Kevin O'Neill to lead us out of the wilderness, Marquette might be lucky to be SLU right now.  We might be one of the schools that Majerus was making fun of in that article.  We were playing in what is now the Horizon Conference.  If we hadn't gotten good when we did, it could be argued that we don't get the Great Midwest invite....which lead to CUSA...which lead to Big East.

[PJDunn]

I completely agree that KO saved our bacon. 

[4everwarriors]

Rick woulda been the coach of ND if he were a little smarter.

[Goose]

Sultan---Without KO we are UW Parkside

[ringout]

I was there for the majerus years.  He needed to go.  I am glad that he found some success after MU, but our being relegated to NIT purgatory was the least of his issues.

At the time he left, me and my MU friends had a party.  The theme was "Hooray, the fatman is gone. 

It is with age and wisdom that I came to my current views (and watching how well he did at Utah).

[Slim]

I was living in Texas during the "Rick Years". I convinced a group of friends to watch the big MU-Louisville game at Louisville. As the game went on he got sweatier and sweatier. his shirt was out, he was soaked. He looked horrible. My friends were laughing at him and making jokes. It was pissing me off. Finally, after Marquette won the game, Rick was interviewed and his only comment was " I'm gonna eat all the ribs in Louisville" . My friends still talk about that. I was just glad we won.

[augoman]

Man, I remember Rick doing his bull-rushes to the court whenever he didn't agree with a foul call, only to be restrained by an assistant coach, while the fans yelled 'sit down hogman!'.  Not pretty.

Sultan hit it on the head re KO and our salvation,  but it was salvation from the Dukiet era more than Majerus.

[4everwarriors]

Cat used to turn redder than a lobster. Thought he was gonna pop a gasket.

[real chili 83]

Perhaps I am full of hooey on this...wont be he first time..or last.

Has anyone noticed that when Rick talks about Al, he has a "tone" about him.  Can't put my finger on it. 

[Lennys Tap]

Perhaps I am full of hooey on this...wont be he first time..or last.

Has anyone noticed that when Rick talks about Al, he has a "tone" about him.  Can't put my finger on it. 

Can't figure out what you mean.

[cheebs09]

I am appalled that there have been a few Majerus threads lately and this hasn't been put in. This is the number one thing I think about with Majerus (granted I graduated last year, so not around when he was here at Marquette).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RXaERVhNuU

[Spotcheck Billy]

Every time I see the name, I can only think of this article.

http://deadspin.com/5439875/ahole-coach-digest-special-rick-majerus-edition

"Not knowing what to expect, we sat back eagerly awaiting his next move. What happened next still haunts me to this day. Majerus took the towel, pulled his pants down, and quickly took a dump into the towel, which he was holding under his ass. After he was done he used part of the towel to wipe, wrapped it up, and HANDED IT BACK TO THE MANAGER, and told him to throw it away. The kid looked like a deer in giant Rick Majerus headlights. The whole room was silent. Rick just pulled his pants up and went back to the scout, never once mentioning it or acting like anything out of the ordinary had occurred."

Thanks for that link - I sent it to a friend of mine, her son currently plays for St. Louis, I wonder if she'll be shocked or have more stories like those

[Hoopaloop]

When focused Rick is one helluva of a basketball coach. He has done some amazing things in very unlikely places.

Unfortunately that place wasn't Marquette as a HC.  His decision to leave as late as he did gave us Bob Dukiet and put us behind for a number of years. 

[wiscwarrior]

Unfortunately that place wasn't Marquette as a HC.  His decision to leave as late as he did gave us Bob Dukiet and put us behind for a number of years. 

Do you think being called "hogman" by MU fans might have had anything to do with his leaving? 

[Hoopaloop]

Do you think being called "hogman" by MU fans might have had anything to do with his leaving? 

He left because he was being called names?  He got into the wrong profession then.

[wiscwarrior]

He left because he was being called names?  He got into the wrong profession then.

But by your own fans... I think I might want to find a coaching gig where I was more appreciated...

[GGGG]

But by your own fans... I think I might want to find a coaching gig where I was more appreciated...

That's nice revisionist history.  Majerus is a very good coach, but he had to deal with too much in following up Al and Hank, and a program whose fan's expectations didn't match the realities of the time and the investment from the administration.

If he would have gone to the likes of Ball State in the early 80s, and then returned in the late 80s, it would have been a much better match.

[wiscwarrior]

That's nice revisionist history.  Majerus is a very good coach, but he had to deal with too much in following up Al and Hank, and a program whose fan's expectations didn't match the realities of the time and the investment from the administration.

If he would have gone to the likes of Ball State in the early 80s, and then returned in the late 80s, it would have been a much better match.

Probably true, still rather uncomfortable for a coach to stay where he's treated like this... he may not have been the right coach at the right time, but this treatment is not something MU fans should be proud of (if it did occur)

[GGGG]

I wouldn't be surprised if it did, although I dont know of specific instances.  I have stated it earlier in this thread, but MU and its supporters didn't realize how much college basketball had changed since Al left.

[Hoopaloop]

But by your own fans... I think I might want to find a coaching gig where I was more appreciated...

It seems MU fans have driven a few coaches out over the years.  KO was not thrilled with some of the boosters.  Deane was not, nor Crean.  Majerus had much heat on him. 

This is not exclusive to Marquette as fans get out of whack all the time. 

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It seems MU fans have driven a few coaches out over the years.  KO was not thrilled with some of the boosters.  Deane was not, nor Crean.  Majerus had much heat on him. 

This is not exclusive to Marquette as fans get out of whack all the time. 

Eerie! You seem to have all the same historical perspectives/experience as Chicos!

[The Process]

He has done some amazing things in very unlikely places.

Such as in a towel! *rim shot*

That story seriously made me throw up a little in my mouth.  Almost as bad was the whole "sitting" episode in that article.  All the more reason why I'm thankful we have Buzz.  He doesn't seem to be the type to sit on his players... right...?

[Hoopaloop]

Eerie! You seem to have all the same historical perspectives/experience as Chicos!

 

So do other fans here, they must all be him, too. 

Anyone that has been associated with the program since the 1970's and 1980's understands full well how much O'Neill did not care for the boosters at Marquette.  He felt they were groveling, pain in the ass and they complained to much.  He had the same issues at Arizona and USC, including a public fight with a booster at USC a few years ago that made the news. 

http://www.pointguardu.com/content/kevin-o-neill-drunken-altercation-arizona-fans-659/

More than one person around here has been around long enough to see it first hand or know the stories, read articles, hear it from other boosters.  If you feel the need to label anyone else that has similar knowledge or opinions as another poster, you do so knowing you are wrong but no one here is going to restrain you apparently.

I see Rick's team lost to UMASS yesterday.  Will someone start a thread? 

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I see Rick's team lost to UMASS yesterday.  Will someone start a thread? 

Probably not...because Majerus isn't an a55hole!! Why don't you understand that people don't like Crean because he's a dick? You can argue until you're blue in the face! And by the way, posters like you with repetitious pleading defenses of the guy actually do more harm than good to the guys reputation on the board.

[ringout]

Eerie! You seem to have all the same historical perspectives/experience as Chicos!

Twin brothers from different mothers.  

[Hoopaloop]

Probably not...because Majerus isn't an a55hole!! Why don't you understand that people don't like Crean because he's a dick? You can argue until you're blue in the face! And by the way, posters like you with repetitious pleading defenses of the guy actually do more harm than good to the guys reputation on the board.

Because as a grown man I have moved on and it is remarkable to see age 50 and 60 somethings act so immature.  KO was a dick.  A huge dick.  It is equally strange, dick or not, to see these 50 and 60 somethings unable to recognize the good someone did for a program.  KO was a dick, he did good things for MU.  TC was a dick, he did really good things for this program.  A mature person can get there quite easily.

Ringout talks of brothers from another mother, the same thing can be said about you guys that have this immature quality down pat. 

Dick or not, I happen to be a fan of D Wade, a Final Four, the Big East, Novak, Diener and a number of other things.  Dick or not, I happen to be a fan of KO's team knocking off Kentucky in the Sweet 16.  Yet the two dicks are treated differently.  You obviously have dick envy for one and not the other.  

[Lennys Tap]

Because as a grown man I have moved on and it is remarkable to see age 50 and 60 somethings act so immature.  A mature person can get there quite easily.

Ringout talks of brothers from another mother, the same thing can be said about you guys that have this immature quality down pat. 

Congratulations on being selected as the adult in the room. Picking yourself (or maybe your kid) for this (or any) award would make your idol proud, not to mention serve as exhibit A for both your own immaturity and "dickiness". 

[tower912]

I had taken hoopaloop off of ignore, since I had added erick and godzilla.    Dumb mistake.    click.

[jsglow]

Back in the day, Rick was simply ill prepared to be the head coach at Marquette.  It made sense that he moved on.  That said, I think we were all pleased when he had success at Ball State and translated that into a great career at Utah and beyond.  To the extent that athletic boosters treated him with a lack of respect during his tenure, I ask all to look at the coaching bench photograph as the 1977 championship game ended.  Three greats in Marquette history.  Two now have banners in the Bradley; the third an important part of our history. 

[tower912]

It was pretty accepted by those of us who were students at the time that the sweater vests had driven Rick out, even though he had officially quit.    Rick was one good recruit (Joe Wolf) and one program defining game (86 UNC) away from rallying the program.   When he lost both, I think it broke his will and shattered whatever support he had among the sweater vests. 

[4everwarriors]

As we all know, Rick is crude. But, one of his best lines was in reference to the UW AD. "He thinks a pick and roll is something you do with your nose and your fingers."

[Knight Commission]

As we all know, Rick is crude. But, one of his best lines was in reference to the UW AD. "He thinks a pick and roll is something you do with your nose and your fingers."

Rick graduated from MU and coached at MU. He is one of us. We should be happy for his success. Anyone who followed Dukiet, would have had sucess, KO, Huggins (who was candidate), Tony Barone, etc. because of the conference affiliation.

Majerus embodies our school. His dad's burial mass was at Gesu, I assume his mom's as well. We need to extend an olive branch to him. if we haven't.

[Hoopaloop]

While at SLU for law school, I was able to attend a fan Q&A with Majerus. What followed was 90 minutes of pure college basketball purgatory, but Rick made the entire event memorable.


5.) When asked why SLU no longer plays Marquette and DePaul, Majerus implied that MU threw SLU nder the bus in the 2005 Conference realignment, and now won't offer a one-for-one or two-for-one Majerus implied Marquette was afraid to play SLU in St. Louis. I don't blame him. That arena would be one of the scariest arenas in the Big East.

Maybe this explains Rick's public comments that we weren't going to do well in the Big East.  On several occasions when he was the color man on our broadcasts he implied we were going to get thumped in the conference.  He could not have been more wrong.