Bonehead Comment of the Week: St. Louis basketball coach Rick Majerus

Apparently, working for a Catholic University precludes you from expounding on your pro-choice take on abortion: who knew?

However, Rick Majerus (not to be confused with Mark Mangino, who is pictured to the right — both men challenge for the most overweight coach in his respective NCAA Division I sport) has done just that.


While speaking to a local St. Louis television station at a pro-choice rally, Majerus publicly supported stem cell research and the pro-choice position on abortion.

"It's not possible to be a Catholic and hold those positions," [St. Louis Archbiship Raymond] Burke said. "When you take a position in a Catholic university, you don't have to embrace everything the Catholic church teaches. But you can't make statements which call into question the identity and mission of the Catholic church."

Ok. A couple things — first, I disagree with the first statement Burke makes, but that's neither here nor there; the Church can call whomever it wants "Catholic" or "not Catholic," and individuals can call themselves whatever they want; I'm pretty sure Catholics can be pro-choice and support stem cell research. Maybe God would disagree — I wouldn't know, but I doubt Burke does either.

Secondly, although I'd like to get off on some sort of "who cares what he says, he's a basketball coach, not a 'beacon for the Lord'" rant, what exactly did Majerus think was going to happen??

However, in an interesting development mentioned further in the article:

"Last year, St. Louis U. celebrated a legal victory that affirmed it is not controlled by the Catholic church or by its Catholic beliefs. . . In a 6-1 decision, the court said SLU 'is not controlled by a religious creed.'"

In addition, University spokesman Jeff Fowler supported Majerus, saying that "Rick's comments were his own personal view. They were made at an event he did not attend as a university representative."

So, in the end, it appears that Archbishop Burke was just shooting off his mouth, as the University doesn't seem to be terribly concerned. Looks like Majerus will be able to coach incredibly potent team another day. But it's still not great publicity, for the University or the Catholics.

Apparently, God doesn't really like Kentucky basketball

Contrary to the opinions set forth by a new Kentucky recruit's prophetic mother, God appears to favor his own, a little Baptist school named Gardner-Webb.

As many people no doubt have heard, this little Cinderella story defeated #20 Kentucky at home on Wednesday night, and though it was the second game of the season, this spells some pretty heavy embarrassment for UK. I know at least one member of the Quail's team is unhappy about this outcome, but, being a North Carolina fan since childhood, and a UGA fan since being at school here, I revel in the desecration of one of the most storied programs in college basketball history.

Smart Car USA! I'm all over it.

When I returned from Europe, I mentioned my deep infatuation with the Smart Car, which, at the time was not available in the U.S.


Well, apparently now it is. Here's a classic video demonstrating its deceiving spaciousness by fitting NBA player Udonis Haslem into it.



Haslem, just for reference, currently plays for the Miami Heat and is a former Florida basketball star famous for once throwing a basketball at a UGA fan’s head during warm-ups. I saw it happen, and it hit the kid dead-on from about 40 feet. Though I didn’t like him at the time; it’s still pretty awesome.

Anyhow, I know the car’s a glorified scooter, but this is still pretty awesome.

More from the world of hilariously bad journalism

In my efforts to become the world's ombudsman for journalistic decency (does this just make me a cynical prick?), here's Deadspin's coverage of several journalistic blunders just from yesterday.

The lead story, which was reported by ESPN among others, mentioned that Kobe Bryant had cleaned out his locker, adding to the drama surrounding his impending trade. However, in fact, Kobe had just tidied up his locker, a stark difference. I love it.

Prophet predicts University of Kentucky basketball success

Really, I just liked the title of this Deadspin post on the subject, as I'm always a sucker for a Back to the Future II reference.

Underneath that exterior of hilarity, here's the real, in-depth story on the mother of a UK recruit that is a real, live prophet for the Lord. There's not much to be said that hasn't been in these two links, and really, I think a Michigan woman speaking through God regarding colege basketball results is a story that tells itself.

I bet Tubby Smith is PISSED. Where was God all those years he was starting his crappy son instead of NBA-level talent, and where was God when he was botching recruiting for one of the best and most well-known programs in the nation?