A basketball mind, but not the body...

 

Last updated 12/13/2012 at Noon



I’m sure that you’ve listened to someone speak, and the person really had you in their grasp. It doesn’t matter if that person was a clergyman, a politician, an inspirational speaker or a coach if they said something that made a lot of sense and it probably woke you up so to speak, then typically you tried to get as much out of that talk as possible.

I’ve also heard a few speakers who spent a lot of time complaining about their situation and trying to get the listener on board with their plight. I would say that if I brought up the subject, then they might have a reason to comment, but when that becomes the main topic for a presentation, the speaker shouldn’t be surprised if the audience tunes them out.

Back in the early 1990’s, I attended several Gonzaga University coach’s clinics. The head coach back then was Dan Fitzgerald. Off to the side were three young assistants named Dan Monson, Mark Few and Billy Grier. If I only knew then about those three, what I know now.

Fitz would regularly get coaches from schools around the country to conduct certain segments of the clinic. One year he had a guy who was fired from a Pac-10 school, and this guy had a real bone to pick with that school, but any sympathy I had with this coach was gone after about ten minutes of his diatribe. I don’t remember much of what he said after that.

Another year he brought in a guy who had assisted at Marquette University, and would become their head coach. He then went to Ball State, and at the time that he spoke at GU, he was the University of Utah head coach. The guy was Rick Majerus.

If you saw Majerus, you would wonder how the guy knew so much about basketball, but he sure did. His presentation was about post play, and he had the attention of the players, as well as all of the coaches in attendance. Honestly, Majerus looked more like a cartoon character than a coach, but what he related that day would improve the play of the GU post men, and most likely the coaches who took this message back to their players.

Majerus could have been a lot of things in life besides a coach. As an ESPN analyst, he could break down a game, a team, a player and let the viewer know how to correct any problems at halftime. I really enjoyed listening to him talk because I knew he had a sharp mind for basketball.

Majerus could have been a comedian as well. He related a story about going to New York and staying at the same hotel that also housed Paul McCartney. McCartney was doing a concert and many of his fans were outside the hotel.

Majerus had weight issues so he tried to jog while he was doing speaking engagements, as much as possible. When he left the hotel walking through the crowd someone yelled, “Who is it?” One guy yelled out, “It’s one of the Stooges.” While another guy said, “It’s Uncle Fester from the Addams Family.” For those of you who have seen the old Addams Family TV program, you remember the bald as a cue ball and portly Uncle.

Majerus said that he had never seen the Addams Family, but once he heard the comparison to Uncle Fester he stopped and went back to his room. He said, “I never watched the Addams Family so wanted to know who this Uncle Fester was. I spent two hours channel surfing until a rerun of the Addams Family was on my TV.

“When I saw Uncle Fester I was p______! By the time I got back downstairs the crowd was gone so I decided to jog and forget.”

Majerus passed away last week, at the age of 64. His heart finally gave out on him. It’s a shame because he touched a lot of lives during his coaching career. There are a lot of coaches who would love to have the record that he had as a college coach.

Rick Majerus knew how to get through to his players about how the game should be played. I’m happy I went to the GU clinic that late October Saturday, almost 20 years ago. I learned a lot about the game of basketball from a guy who wasn’t afraid to joke about himself, even though he did look a little like one of the Three Stooges and Uncle Fester from the Addams Family.

Majerus was a fun personality, and he had a great basketball mind, two things I will definitely miss.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Our Family of Publications Includes:

Cheney Free Press
Ritzville Adams County Journal
Whitman County Gazette
Odessa Record
Franklin Connection
Davenport Times
Spokane Valley News Herald
Colfax Daily Bulletin

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024