I first met Coach in 2004 at a business conference in San Diego, in the hot tub at Le Meridien on Coronado Island- and with the two of us big guys in there, we pretty much had it to ourselves. and we talked for hours, and hours, about everything. I got to learn more about life than I ever had from anybody in that time.
I learned that an explosive first step and a good family gets you to the pros, because that is the easiest way to glimpse talent and to know whether a kid will be coachable.
I learned where to get the best pizza in MY town, in any town. Rick truly knew food, he was more gourmet than glutton, despite what you've heard. And he told me, "all the regional styles of pizza you see each have their merit." Which is really how he saw people. If he was tough on you, it was because he expected a lot. He was a no-kidding Jesuit and aimed very, very high at all times.
What I am proud of is, I turned Rick into a PC user. He knew that other coaches were using PCs, and for a long time, to evaluate talent. That, Coach could do, and did do, all over the world, Australia, Eastern Europe, he was the first to recruit there. What he was fascinated by, and why I chose a Macbook for him, was the communications angle, what it could add to how he could reach kids.
He sure reached me. Told me I was a good guy. I told him, there is only one You, just like there is one John Wooden, and I learned equally from both of you. The difference is, Rick was human, and Coach Wooden was like a God. I could never approach myself to even say "Hi" to him at Pauley, where he was real easy to find, and still is. His seat in the new Pauley glows. If you look real close.
If you are local, or in St. Louis tonight, there is a memorial for Coach Majerus tonight, Friday, December 7, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. at Chaifetz Pavilion on the SLU campus. The funeral service is private, but will be held tomorrow, Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 11:30 a.m in Milwaukee's Church of the Gesu, 1145 West Wisconsin Avenue.
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