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RIP Rick Majerus


slufan13

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The column from the LA Times says it all ... something like awaiting a heart transplant but never got healthy enough to move to the top of the list. I think we all knew he was done but we all hoped for that one shining moment when he walked back out into the Fetz for a well-deserved adulation of appreciation. But the Hollywood moment is extremely rare in real life circumstances. The circumstances of today's politically-correct world will never allow another of his ilk to surface. That breed ofdinosauer just went extinct. He was a rare genius notonyl to watch but watch in person for our program.

I'll offer a prayer for his eternal peace and echo the thanks expressed on here before me.

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I just noticed this line in his Wikipedia page:

Majerus was a fan favorite and cult figure around college basketball, known for his portly, rotund figure and his quirky, jovial personality. He enjoyed bratwursts, a sausage popular in his native Wisconsin.

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Man. I had been out drinking from about 1pm till 9 or so yesterday (for charity, whether you believe that or not) when a friend texted that Majerus had died. Legitimately took the wind out of my sails. Some of my friends couldn't understand how the passing of a basketball coach was causing this elegiac mood. I just told them that he was truly more than a basketball coach, that he made me actually care about my university again. His diatribes about education, personal responsibility, being a MAN, etc. were more than just lip service.

I really thought he would make it through this, and live on well into his 70s. Was just not prepared for him to pass. I just sat in a booth at the pub reading all the stories, the posts here about RM for probably 20 minutes last night. He touched a lot of lives and I was always proud to say he was our coach. You never thought for one second that his team was anything but 100% under his control. They listened because they knew he actually gave a sh!t about them. I hope the university does something great to honor him, both short and long-term. I could care less if the team wins another game this season. I hope that they just play their hardest and band together as he'd have wanted them to.

I just heard Andy Katz recount how you told him he had to get down to IUPUI during the Final Four so that you could play a two-on-two game with Kevin Costner and that Urkel kid. And then you did. Just kills me. Who else has that story? Thanks, coach, you were a good man. RIP.

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Billiken fans, players and the world lost a good one last night. As a few people already mentioned, he made us better basketball fans. His teams played basketball the right way and once he got his team, the sky was the limit. I really thought he was going to pull through this and sit courtside next to Chaifetz by the end of the season. RIP Rick, you will be missed more than you ever thought.

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As fanbases, the Salukis and Billikens have a lot of fun at each others expense. That said, Saluki fans had nothing but respect for Coach Majerus and what he did with the SLU program. He did it with passion and did it the right way. Based on the thread concerning coach's passing on Salukitalk, I feel that I can truly speak for an entire fan base when I say that the Billiken family and the Majerus family are in the thoughts of the Saluki nation. The world lost more than just an excellent coach yesterday, it lost a good man.

RIP Coach and take solace Billiken fans that RM finally built a solid foundation for the Billiken program to continue growing on.

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just watched that last presser in its entirety. required reading, to be sure. i always had an inkling, but i was able to confirm, and got a kick out of it: coach always called free throws, "three throws". hahahahaha

i'm gonna change my expectations for the season. i still don't care about our final record, but i want us to play airtight defense and take care of the ball from here on out. the rest will take care of itself. those were the two things that RM always demanded. our lack of both thus far this year is genuinely indicative of what we're missing w/out RM, and that's only from the basketball side of things.

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just watched that last presser in its entirety. required reading, to be sure. i always had an inkling, but i was able to confirm, and got a kick out of it: coach always called free throws, "three throws". hahahahaha

i'm gonna change my expectations for the season. i still don't care about our final record, but i want us to play airtight defense and take care of the ball from here on out. the rest will take care of itself. those were the two things that RM always demanded. our lack of both thus far this year is genuinely indicative of what we're missing w/out RM, and that's only from the basketball side of things.

Coach Majerus demanded that basketball be played the right way. I think that's exactly what he's going to be seeing from his seat above.

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This is a great piece by Gary Parrish:

http://www.cbssports...fect-everything

This one is from Gene W. at ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/m...lege-basketball

This one from Bill Dwyre of the L.A. Times:

http://www.jsonline....091.html?ipad=y

Here is one from Andy Glockner of SI:

http://sportsillustr...lure/index.html

Derrick Neuner of SLU's UNews wrote this three days before Majerus died:

http://unewsonline.c...ach-and-friend/

Wow...college hoops lost someone very special. Thanks for the links. I followed the career of Mr. Majerus very closely. Unfortunately I have to admit it is not until he is gone that I fully appreciate him. These links are pretty powerful.

Damn...

I am really rooting for you guys this year. Good luck.

A Friend from UConn country

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In USA Today's headline they refer to RM as a basketball coaching tactician. I think this was a better way to refer to him then just a coach. It gives that feeling that he lived and breathed basketball. He not only was great at X's & O's but was great at finding talent that others missed and developing that talent. We were lucky to have him. He will be missed. RIP

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Last season, my roommate and I went to the game @ St. Josephs. Needless to say, we were the only blue in a sea of red. After the game, which we had won after Cody went nuts, we pushed through the crowd to get as close as possible to where our team went into the locker room. Since we were screaming the entire game, most of the players came over and acknowledged our vigor. Majerus, probably still deep in thought about the game, was obliviously power walking towards the locker room...until he saw us cheering. He immediately changed course and bee-lined over to genuinely and graciously thank us for our support and commitment. In the grand scheme of things, how important are two fans to any given program? BUT, to Majerus, EVERY fan was important....that's what truly made him great. RIP Coach...

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It's been a long time since I've been on here. I didn't get to see a single SLU basketball game after Brett left until Kyle and Brian's senior night against Xavier. I was so proud of those two guys. Then I found out yesterday that coach Majerus had died. I hadn't paid attention to slu this year so I didn't even know he was sick. I was devistated. I had only met the man 3 or 4 times, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second. I enjoyed every post game interview he gave. He was a joy. He may have been crass in the way he handled trying to motivate kids, but he truly cared. He wil be missed.

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It's a sad day in not only Billiken Land but in the world of college basketball. I was at a mouse race fundraiser for our basketball organization, like Jimbo drinking and having a good time. My brother text me with the news and it brought a tear to my eye and just changed the entire night for me. My sincerest codolences to The big guy's family and girlfriend. I will miss Rick

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We had someone very special here at SLU and for that we should always be grateful. I only got to see him coach SLU in 3 games; one at the Fetz and two in Columbus, but from those 3 games I knew, finally, SLU had got it right. We had ourselves a coach.

It was in Columbus, when I saw Billiken fans line up on a wall to cheer on our team bus as it headed to the game against MSU, how much this man meant to SLU. Somehow Rick Majerus had given us hope, great hope, that we could beat them and every one would know there was a Saint Louis University. We lost that game, but in a way we won. When BC talked about RM and what he'd meant not only to his game but his life, SLU won, because when all is said and done it's not about the wins, it's about the character of the people your school graduates.

We'll never replace him, just like UCLA can't replace a Wooden, or GreenBay a Lombardi, but we were damn lucky to have Rick Majerus coach at SLU for five years.

Rick, we hardly knew ye, but you'll never be forgotten.

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I was at the Big Ten football game to cheer on Nebraska when my friend texted me the news. It made enduring that butt kicking not even matter and put life in perspective. My wife and I managed to have a great night out in Indy, celebrating everything Rick did for SLU. Thanks big guy!

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I did not realize that Majerus gave Doc Rivers his name:

While attending a basketball camp as a youth with Majerus as one of the camp counselors, Rivers was wearing a Dr. J (Julius Erving) t-shirt. Majerus started calling him ‘Doc,’ and the rest as they say, is history.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/02/nba-coaches-share-memories-in-wake-of-rick-majerus-death/

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I have read virtually every article about Rick since his passing, thanks to google news search, and many of which give the same info. But, the following article actually had some new info on it. Everything Rick did, he did to the extreme...he certainly lived life to its fullest.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8700759/rick-majerus-gave-heart-help-college-basketball

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I have read virtually every article about Rick since his passing, thanks to google news search, and many of which give the same info. But, the following article actually had some new info on it. Everything Rick did, he did to the extreme...he certainly lived life to its fullest.

http://espn.go.com/m...lege-basketball

Thanks for sharing that one. I'm smiling thinking of Rick wearing a little T-bird.

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-i caught part of an interview with bernie and Gene Wojceichowsi from espn who co-wrote Rick's book and was born in salina, ks, was a good listen

-sounds like bernie doing a Rick tribute most of today, luckily 101.1 has a podcast feature, unlike 590

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-i caught part of an interview with bernie and Gene Wojceichowsi from espn who co-wrote Rick's book and was born in salina, ks, was a good listen

-sounds like bernie doing a Rick tribute most of today, luckily 101.1 has a podcast feature, unlike 590

Today's Bernie show should be required listening for Billiken fans. Plenty of personal details about Rick (and Bernie) that we hadn't heard before. Very interesting.
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