Church can't deny Majerus his right to speak out on issues
Rick Majerus must have missed it when he signed his contract at Saint Louis.
Maybe the big guy should invest in a pair of glasses.
How could a veteran college basketball coach like Majerus not see the no-political-opinions clause?
You know, it's right below the passage about never leaving your house -- or hotel room, in Majerus' case -- without wearing officially licensed apparel, or using a minimum of three sports clichés per sentence during public appearances.
It's funny how, in exchange for a CEO's salary, a courtesy car and a corner office, coaches are supposed to give up their constitutional right to speak freely about pertinent social issues in an election year. The only opinions they're expected to offer involve lineups, strategy and, at the risk of financial loss, the referees.
Majerus didn't conform to the code, telling a television reporter last Saturday than he backed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and advocated abortion rights and stem cell research. The Billikens' coach now finds himself posting up St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, who wants the Jesuit school to discipline Majerus.
"I'm concerned that a leader at a Catholic university made these comments," Burke said. "It's of the essence for people to understand as a Catholic you just cannot hold these beliefs."
Majerus told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he spent Wednesday morning trying to calm his elderly mother, who feared that her son, a Catholic, would be excommunicated from the church and denied Holy Communion at Mass. Burke, after all, threatened to deny Communion for John Kerry because of the former presidential candidate's pro-choice views.
"I do not speak for the university or the Catholic Church," Majerus told the Post-Dispatch. "These are my personal views. And I'm not letting (Burke) change my mind."
Nor should he.
College campuses are supposed to be havens for opinion, places that welcome the exchange of ideas. As a member of the supposedly enlightened higher education community, Majerus has the right to share his beliefs with those who agree and, more important, with those who don't.
The problem lies in the demand to represent the school in a certain way at all times. It's dehumanizing. It's un-American.
We're not talking about breaking laws or cussing out the booster club.
Majerus simply stated his beliefs, ones shaped by years of political interest and activism.
We have it backward with our sports figures.
Tiger Woods gets branded as savvy for saying nothing about Kelly Tilghman's lynching comment, yet Majerus is ripped for being candid, for being real. Dullness triumphs over candor.
Think about that the next time you fall asleep listening to a Lovie Smith news conference.
I'll take straight talk over spin any day, especially from college coaches, the frontmen for their sports.
"These beliefs are ingrained in me," Majerus told the Post-Dispatch. "And my First Amendment right to free speech supersedes anything that the archbishop would order me to do."
The last word
No need for a long goodbye, but this is my final column at the Daily Herald. After 4½ years here, I've accepted a position at ESPN.com, blogging on college football and college basketball.
I'd like to thank sports editor Tom Quinlan, night sports editor Don Friske, college sports bigfoot Lindsey Willhite and all of the other fine journalists who made my time here memorable. Thanks also to the players, coaches and administrators, as well as the readers who always kept me on my game.