Rick Majerus: Is Nothing Sacred? Not Even Underwear?!

the blog at www.riverfronttimes.com ^ | Mar 25, 2008

[Alex Murphy]

Back in January Rick Majerus offended local Catholics (and particularly Archbishop Raymond Burke) when the Saint Louis University basketball coach publicly stated his support of stem-cell research and abortion rights.

Now it seems Majerus has insulted yet another Christian populace: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Speaking on the syndicated radio program The Dan Patrick Show last week, Majerus opined that nothing -- not even Mitt Romney or Mormons' "magic underwear" -- would help Brigham Young University defeat Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament.

The comments came at the close of a ten-minute on Monday, March 17, in which host Dan Patrick asked Majerus to quickly provide his picks for the tourney. "Let me run down the list," said Patrick. "You just say who you like. You don't have to tell me why unless it's a really insightful comment that the listeners will say, 'Damn, that was insightful.'"

When asked about the BYU-Texas A&M matchup, Majerus responded, "A&M. I don't like BYU from my Utah days. The magic underwear Mitt and those guys send themselves."

Huh? During his tenure at University of Utah, Majerus apparently learned quite a bit about the Mormon culture, including the practice of wearing temple garments under their clothes. The garments -- often referred to as "Mormon underwear" -- are traditionally worn by adherents as a reminder of their promise to live a virtuous life. Though as Slate reported prior to BYU's entrance in last year's tournament, few Mormons wear the garments while competing in sports.

In response to Majerus' comment, a laughing Patrick quickly changed the subject: "You're going to get me put on probation." But not everyone was willing to forgive and forget so quickly.

Posting last week on the sports site bleacherreport.com, blogger Andrew Perkins compared Majerus' comment to Don Imus' ill-fated musings on Rutgers' women's basketball team last year. "Whether or not he has any love towards Mormons is not the issue," wrote Perkins. "The issue is that Majerus said something that is discriminatory and disrespectful to a specific group of people."

Perkins isn't the only one whose shorts are bunched over the remarks. Responding to Perkins' blog post, a reader named Tracy Hall commented, "If Majerus had made a derogatory comment about a Jewish player's 'magic beanie,' he would have been fired on the spot. It's time to realize that anti-Mormons and anti-Semites belong to the same Klan."

No matter whom you support -- the SLU coach or the Mormons -- you can't argue with the coach's pick. The ninth-seeded Aggies beat number-eight seed BYU 67-62.

[bigcat32]

I had the Aggies in my pools. Shouldn’t the requirement to wear “magic underwear” disqualify one from believing in a religion?

[fproy2222]

Thanks for the somewhat better post then usual, even if some of the links lead to grody sits.

fred

[dangus]

Actually, “Mormon underwear” seems related to an ancient Christian tradition; Ancient Christians would wear the shirt of a slave, including underneath whatever other clothing they might wear, as a reminder that they are slaves to Christ. The tradition is not lost among Catholics, although the garment has been reduced so much it could never be called “underwear:” Today, many Catholics wear two postage-stamped-sized pieces of fabrics, connected by strings. The wearer places his head between the strings.

Likewise, urban legends have persisted for centuries of Jews being so prudish about nudity as to have sex through holes in their sheets. This stems from people having seen on Jews’ clotheslines and undergarment which appears to be a simple, long bedsheet with a hole in the middle. In reality, the wearer places his head in the hole, and the two ends of the sheet fall along his torso. (Oddly, I am told my wife who once considered converting to Judaism, that some Jews believe it is spiritually unhealthy to have sex while wearing any clothes at all.) (And please don’t embarrass either of us by taking silly guesses as to the context of THAT conversation.)

[Rameumptom]

As you poiont out, Historical Christianity has a long tradition of both inner and outer sacred clothing for those who care to learn about it. Unfortunately some modern Christians have become more "worldy" in this regard and are willing to bash special religious clothing that is very similar to what many of their own denominations used to use.

I guess it is fair to say that some modern Christians have sunk to the intellectual level of Bill Clinton's boxer or briefs conversation on the matter.