Somehow I missed this one, but apparently former Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus said the following March 17:
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.”
What Majerus apparently meant to say is that not even Mitt Romney and “magic underwear” would help BYU win. I’m wondering if Rick Majerus will suffer any consequences at all or whether he should.
Here’s what one blog had to say about the matter:
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.”
My take: I tend to have more of a sense of humor about these things. Majerus had no love for BYU when he was with the Utes. So at least some of his comment can be taken as a light-hearted jab at a former rival. But it’s not kosher to make fun of a religious symbol other people consider sacred, and somebody definitely needs to inform Majerus that most people take off garments when they are exercising.