No Harm, No Foul

It looks like the Jesuit St. Louis University is going to let its basketball coach Rick Majerus skate over his public activism in support of abortion and embryonic stem cell research. No disciplinary actions taken except for this press release:

In a statement released Jan. 22, St. Louis University said, "Majerus' comments were his own personal views and he was not speaking for St. Louis University. The comments were made at a nonuniversity event and he was not there as a university representative."

In other words, while they may be personally opposed to his activities, they don't have the right to tell someone else what they can do. See how easy that is? It's a one size fits all excuse for any ethical dilemma. Meanwhile, another 1.2 million get thrown on the pile. Oh well, nothing you can do about that.

As previously mentioned, it looks like SLU sold their soul to hire this million dollar man in order to generate the revenues necessary to profit on their new $80 million basketball arena. But that doesn't mean they're getting soft on morality over there. No, rigorous standards still exist, according the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The school will open its new Chaifetz Arena soon, which will be the home for its basketball teams and also will hold events and performances. Weixlmann said that because SLU is Jesuit, there are certain events the school would not be likely to book, such as a mud wrestling event.

That's a relief. In the event that a National Mud Wrestling Association forms and grows in popularity to where it is holding events at 15,000 seat arenas, St. Louis University would not be likely to book it.

Not likely, but .... you never know! It good to see they're leaving some wiggle room, just in case. It could be a good revenue generator. Plus, who are they to impose their values on people who want to watch people wrestle in mud? Isn't that a Constitutional right or something?

BTW, for a disturbing profile of Rick Majerus, take a look at this recent article in Sports Illustrated. How this guy got hired by any college, let alone a religious one, is a mystery to me. Oh yeah, his career record is 423-147. Never mind.