Majerus left a big trail of tales; Even the Spurs make mistakes; Maybe the ball does lie


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SALT LAKE CITY — Rick Majerus is having his story told after his passing. Most around Utah know who he was and mostly what he was about, but his story is being told through the nation and here are some quick cuts that show who he was from different lenses.

First is a story by ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski called "Rick Majerus gave his heart and help" about his giving nature.

"The Rick Majerus I knew was all heart. His life, all 64 years of it, was a breadcrumb trail of random acts of kindness. I'm not sure I can recall a conversation with him that didn't begin or end with, 'How can I help?'...

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...He thought the NCAA was dumber than a chia pet. He despised the hypocrisy of rules that lacked a gram of common sense. So, sure, Majerus would take a doggie bag of leftovers to a foreign player on his roster who was alone and homesick in a dinky off-campus apartment during the Christmas holidays. If it was a violation, Majerus could live with the shame."

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis told his story about Majerus, "Remembering Rick Majerus: A jovial, sad, complex man" about his love of food, fun and just being quirky.

"Anyway, Majerus jabbered about his team all during the car ride, the walk through the lobby, the trip up the elevator. I kept my tape recorder running the whole time. He continued to talk as we entered his hotel room. Having just left practice, he was still wearing his sweatsuit. He took of his jacket. He took off his shoes. He took off his shirt. He took off his pants. He took off his socks. He took off his underwear.

And there stood Rick Majerus, all 350 pounds of him, quite literally a man in full. Just the way God made him.

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2009, file photo, Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus stands on the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2009, file photo, Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus stands on the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

"Gee, I hope I'm not embarrassing you," he said.

Over the years, Majerus would laugh whenever I reminded him of that first close encounter. He was a man with many quirks and warts, as well as a total lack of self-consciousness. He was also quite smart. I just looked up the scouting report I wrote on the Utes that week, and darned if I didn't use two sentences from our entire conversation."

John Feinstein from the Washington Post wrote about Majerus's identity as a clown, but also his ability to delve into politics and be involved in deep discussions.

"He was as politically aware as anyone in sports. As a teenager he accompanied his father to the civil rights marches in Selma, Ala., and never forgot the experience. He could talk about serious issues as easily and eloquently as he could toss out one-liners, but most people chose to focus on the funny side because it was easier that way."

Frankly it is amazing to wade through clips of Majerus and see how often words such as friend, heart and nice are brought up. The term genius is used in nearly every one of his stories.

Andy Katz wrote in his blog about a letter Majerus wrote him, "He wrote a heartfelt letter to me and Denise when Lucia was born. It was much different than the standard congratulations. This was personal, written by someone I felt wanted to have children and was so overjoyed when someone he knew had a child. He would tell me over the years how he couldn't get over how much Lucia and Sal had grown and the activities they were involved in at the time."

This was meant to be a simple wrap of a few of the more heartwarming stories that Majerus had. But it is getting hard to cut it off. Utah fans and BYU fans that really understood his greatness really should take time to just type Majerus, search and read.

Everyone has a different story about the big man and they were all unique and interesting and heartwarming.

Sometimes the Spurs screw up too:

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker dressed up for some party while they are threatening someone dressed up as Joey Crawford.
Tim Duncan and Tony Parker dressed up for some party while they are threatening someone dressed up as Joey Crawford.

Apparently the Spurs Halloween party wasn't as closed to the public as they first thought. And now they have a picture that came out of a really dumb decision that was made.

This picture appeared on Reddit first and it has since blown up around the internet. It shows a party that is apparently taken on Halloween, or maybe just a night when the Spurs didn't want to play their starters.

It features Tim Duncan and Tony Parker dressed up as... something. Honestly they might be a trench coat mafia thing with an eye patch. They are pointing guns at a bald man wearing a ref outfit with the name Crawford on the back.

Clearly a jab at Joey Crawford. There is also a noose in the background, which may or may not be another reference for him, but the damage is all there.

To be fair young people do make mistakes, oh Duncan and Parker are a combined 438 years old, wait actually 66.

Ball don't lie:

Rasheed Wallace isn't known for his good guy attitude towards the refs, but this set of technical fouls might have gone a little too far, even for him.

Wallace got another chance to play this season with the Knicks. The 38-year-old forward has had a great career, but might have been overshadowed by his reputation as a nutcase.

The Knicks were playing the Suns in New York and Luis Scola drove to the basket and Wallace grabbed him a little too hard. The refs didn't like it and gave him a technical.

Wallace was confused by the call, but eventually settled down until the Suns missed their free throw.

He then yells to no one in particular "ball don't lie." The refs took that personally and he gets his second technical to get tossed from the game.

He didn't really seem to notice he got the tech. He just walked to the line before his teammates told him. He then left as he is accustomed to.

Ball don't lie, but refs don't really change their mind either.

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