Comments about ‘Utah to hang replica Majerus sweater from rafters’

A fitting tribute to a great coach.

Awesome. We were so lucky to have him leading us on the hill for so many years. RIP coach.

Go Utes!

A silly thing to do to celebrate a good coach yet irrational person. He may have had good success at the U but he was certainly not a good role model.

I think it's a great gesture, regardless of his flaws, especially since I have yet to meet an unflawed person.

Terrible headline DN. The homepage link simply says "Majerus replica" and omits his sweater. Since the U is not hanging an effigy of the man from the rafters, you might consider changing this.

"A silly thing to do . . ."

JT:

They aren't naming the floor or arena after him. But thanks for casting the first stone.

Johnny Triumph, thanks for your opinion. He was not for everybody but apparently you know more about him than Jensen, Van Horn, Miller, Doleac, the Johnsens, and dozens of others whom he treated as his own children and served as godfather for their children as he didn't have any of his own.

Wow...I don't know that I have ever seen someone "dis" a memorial gesture? Gotta be a new low...

You're a real leader Sir Triumph....

I loved watching his Utes play. I love Majerus. He deserves this recognition. He made some mistakes, so what? Live above the line and have some respect for big Rick.

@dbrbmw: The coach's trousers were not iconic, just his sweater.

Johnny Triumph

Show a little respect.

Regardless of what you may think of Majerus as a person, Rick was a great coach and nothing would be more appropriate for the U to honor him than to "retire" his iconic sweater in the rafters of the Huntsman.

Johnny T did you know him personally or did you just draw your own opinion from the bottom of a box of Wheaties and some of the press.

How ironic that the uninformed, negative posts are coming from Utah County. The Marriott Center will never hang a Reid sweater or pants or anything.

Sweater in the rafters is a fitting gesture for an iconic coach. The southies will forever be jealous of what big brother accomplished with Majerus. The southies have NEVER, nor will EVER see such basketball prowess grace their floors.

RIP big guy! You will be missed.

Dear Brother Triumph,

Please be sure to study the lesson material before Sunday.

@stg

I agree they should have honored him like this, he won a lot of games. But this statement just isn't factual:

"Jensen, Van Horn, Miller, Doleac, the Johnsens, and dozens of others whom he treated as his own children and served as godfather for their children as he didn't have any of his own."

If you listened to Britton Johnson's interview on 1280 the other day you would know that he and his brother at least did not feel the way about Majerus you claimed. To the contrary Britton said he would not want his son to play for a coach like Majerus or have to endure the things they endured from Majerus. I have heard him say before that if he had it to do over again he would attend BYU and play for Steve Cleveland before he'd play for Majerus. I really don't think he was asking Majerus to be godfather to his children.

That said he was a great coach and this honor was based on his coaching accomplishments at utah which were undeniably many and great.

@vegas ute

You realize that BYU owns utah all time in basketball don't you? LOL!

Duckhunter, my apologies, I didn't clarify to say that not EVERY one of those players asked him to godfather for them (obviously this is not a tradition in the LDS church, so they couldn't if they wanted to), but some of them did. I would guarantee you that if you asked any player if they loved everything about Majerus, there would undoubtedly be several things they disliked, whether it be offensive language or just criticism. But any player that was tough enough to stick around him their entire career would probably tell you of the work ethic, importance of a college degree, and many other important attributes that many other successful college coaches fail to emphasize because their job depends on them winning games. To quote him: "That's a special feeling, to know you can achieve on the national level like this with real, actual college students. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying we're the only program doing that. But it does make it special."

Continued: Last night was special. Lots of former Utes in the house, including Billy McGill, Coach Pimm and Coach McBride just to name a few, and I met several of Rick's former players. Most of their reminiscences were horror stories about him making them run extra stairs or calling them names, but it was not hatred or inconvenience they spoke of him with, it was adoration for the people he had helped them become. Very memorable night for me.

@stg

Well I don't want to detract from his night or what it meant for the University and its basketball program. He was undoubtedly a great basketball coach who did great things at Utah. I think it was entirely appropriate for them to honor him like they did and I'm glad you enjoyed the evening and the ceremony. As for the other stuff, well we'll have to disagree and I don't want to have a negative conversation over a dead man, I'm glad he was honored for the things he accomplished. His tenure at Utah was definately a high water mark for University of Utah basketball fans.