The legacy of Rick Majerus

[Sir Lawrence]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/in-rick-majerus-memory-real-chili-served-at-community-meal-b99207608z1-245861381.html

[keefe]

I think he would approve.

[Tugg Speedman]

Tell the manager to get me a towel

For those that don't get the reference ...

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

"Rick was always a jerk to the managers. Every season he went out of his ways to never learn their names. They were only referred to as ‘manager'. One day, Rick was drawing up a scout in our team room about 2 hours before tipoff. Things were going well, considering he was fully dressed and we hadn't been referred to as aunts yet. From the white board he started yelling 'manager, manager, bring a towel over here!'.

"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."

This may seem shocking, impossible, or something made up. I have now heard multiple confirmations of this story as it apparently is openly passed down from generation to generation of Majerus players. Imagine what else he's capable of having done over the past 20 years!

[keefe]

Tell the manager to get me a towel

For those that don't get the reference ...

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

What is "Cockblocked by Skidmarks" about?

[Sir Lawrence]

Rick was an odd duck, but I don't think there is any denying two things:

1.  He was a very good basketball coach.

http://msn.foxsports.com/midwest/story/the-late-rick-majerus-saw-it-coming-slu-is-in-the-top-10-021714

"We'll be a Top 10 team in about three years," Majerus told the columnist. "I did it at Ball State, did it at Utah, and we're going to do it here."

The Billikens (23-2), who hadn't been in the Top 10 of the AP poll since the 1964-65 season, accomplished that Monday.

2.  He was a very generous man.  For example, when he found out that his friend Rich Panella (womens bb coach at Cardinal Stritch) was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago, he flew the entire Panella family to Hawaii, party of about twenty, all expenses paid, so Panella could experience that with his family before the disease immobilized him. 

[only a warrior]

"We'll be a Top 10 team in about three years," Majerus told the columnist. "I did it at Ball State, did it at Utah, and we're going to do it here."

But he never did it at MU.  Really started the downhill slide for us.  Glad he was able to get other programs over the hump down the road - just wish it was with us given his history with the program

[ChicosBailBonds]

But he never did it at MU.  Really started the downhill slide for us.  Glad he was able to get other programs over the hump down the road - just wish it was with us given his history with the program

I think the downhill slide was really with Hank.  I don't mean that in a disparaging way.  Tough to follow a legend.  Losing to Miami(OH) in 1978 in the first round was a killer.  Win that game, make a little mini-run it helps to legitimize Hank a bit.  Instead, it just cemented that "he wasn't Al".  That is unfortunate as heck because Hank was a good man and a very good coach, but those are the perceptions that get out there IMO.

[The Lens]

Al gave a quote at the time: "My only regret is Hank isn't coming with me".  Al knew Hank was not the answer.

I got to know Rick on a professional level.  The players I met would run through walls for him.  So would many, many support staff.  Towards the end, he was still thinking long for his players when short for him would have been understandable.  You can joke about that deadspin link, I've seen another side.

You can also joke about his weight but look, the dude was born that way.  Ever seen his Dad?  He swam more than Diana Nyad.  I probably had 25 lunches with him.  He always made much more healthy orders than I did.  He did like to eat.  He would indulge (borrow your app, etc) but I know he tried, probably harder than most.

He was great man.  To see SLU succeed is special.

[4everwarriors]

I, too, saw the other side of Rick. Worked side by side him in a factory in the summer of 1969.
Became friendly to the point that he invited me to his camps at DeSales to watch his counselors play pick up games at night. That's where I first caught a glimpse of Doc and of Walter.
Yeah, he was constantly eating and yes, he could be incredibly crude, but, if you were a friend, man, he was your friend for life. Called on him several times for tix when I needed them. He also arranged to have Kevin Byrne get me '77 team photos which I blew up and proudly displayed on the walls of my office. Of course, when he and Wayne Embry were raising $ for charity in a weight loss contest, he knew I'd be there with check in hand in support. Rick never forgot a name or a face and always took the time to talk to a friend.

[LloydMooresLegs]

Never knew him, though I was at MU for his first years as head coach.  Point of this post, however, is to say that his legacy lives on in St. Louis.  Went to SLU game Saturday, and that team is strong as is the Majerus love.  I talked with some big doners at halftime, and they could not say enough about what he did for the program.  I think his legacy at Utah and SLU (not sure about Ball State) far and away exceeds his legacy (meaning how he is thought of in the context of the history of the program) at MU.