"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Majerus on the MU/UWM situation

Kudos to Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Wolfley took the MU/UWM 'deal then no deal' issue to Rick Majerus, a coach who had success at both high majors and at a mid-major, Ball State.

Pardon the mixed metaphor, but the basketball coach knocked it outta the park:

"If I was UWM, I've got nothing to lose because if I lose, (the Golden Eagles) are in the Big East, they are the major power," Majerus said. "It enhances my schedule at UWM. It helps my recruiting. If I'm Dominic James of Richmond, Indiana - Marquette's star guard - what do I care about UWM? But if I'm UWM, and I recruit primarily the state and Milwaukee, then it's a big deal.

"For UWM it's a 100% win-win and for Marquette it's a 100% lose-lose. For basketball in the state, is it the best? Absolutely. For fan interest? Yes."

Wait there's more......
"When I was at Ball State, I played Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota and Purdue. If you get those wins, you are living life large. And if you lose those games, it's going to be better for us because we're playing in the MAC (Mid-American Conference), which is a better league than UWM plays in, or at least at the time it was better.

"I can't see getting hung up over $6,000. I can see getting hung up on 3-0. It's a 4-for-1 and that would kind of bother me, but then again they haven't had success, really, until the last two years, the kind of success that would demand they have more leverage in that kind of situation.

"If I'm UWM, I'm going to do everything I can to work that out."

and more.....

"If UWM ever beats Marquette, trust me, they will storm the court. It will be unbelievable. If Marquette wins, it will be a nice handshake and Marquette is off to the Big East and UWM is on its way to play in the league where UW-Green Bay is a big game."

Check out the full column at the link above. Sure, Majerus is an MU alum and former coach -- but he left the MU payroll two decades ago and found success at two other coaching stops, each with different challenges.

Imagine coughing up the chance to have a series with a Big East team over $6,000. The megalomaniacal Bud Haidet did just that. And the 25 fans who showed up for UW-M's Midnight Madness last week realize this.

That is not a misprint folks. 25 fans at UW-M's Midnight Madness. 25.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Megalomaniacal"....GREAT word to describe Idiot, I mean Haidet.

UWM is, and always will be a mid-major. Who gives a sh#t if we play them.

Quite frankly, I don't want their obnoxious, arrogant fans in the BC anyway. It would make me sick.

Anonymous said...

I believe they had 25 students at there madness event not only 25 fans. Somebody posted that there were about 1000 people there.

Not sure if thats accurate or not.

Other then that I agree......they were stupid not to accpet the deal.