The Mitchell Report: The Billionaire Coach, Majerus and Suh

Dec 2, 2012

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This will serve as my weekly column for notes about things I find interesting outside the Triangle. Enjoy my insights. I will enjoy sharing them ..

Majerus

I was extremely sad to learn of the passing of Rick Majerus on Saturday. He was really one of the true great minds of basketball. It was nice to see the reaction to his death on twitter and it was interesting to read all of the great articles written about his life over the weekend. My favorite Majerus fact is that he lived in a hotel for much of his life noting someone cleaned his room, made his bed, and left him a mint each day. It always seemed like a very logical reason to live in a hotel. That's the kind of guy he was. I don't think we will see another

The Billionaire Coach

It's unlikely you are paying too much attention to football at Coastal Carolina. I will be the first to admit I thought they made a huge mistake in hiring Joe Moglia as head coach last year. I covered the Chanticleers during my first job working in Myrtle Beach, so I try to keep up with the team. Moglia, in addition to being the head coach at CCU, is the former CEO of TD Ameritrade. Talk about a resume! He has very little football coaching experience and is known as "The Billionaire coach". I, like many people, thought Coastal hired him more for his money and financial support than for his coaching skills. He may not be the greatest coach ever, but he's winning. Coastal won the Big South this year and won the first playoff game in school history last week. He constantly talks about how running a football team and a multi-billion-dollar business are very similar. It is an interesting experiment and I am looking forward to watching how this all works out in the future years.

Sit First

Kendall Marshall was sent to the D-league after playing only 18 minutes for the Suns this year and not impressing anyone. The "pass-first" guy did little but warm the bench. I wasn't surprised by this move after reading a few articles out of Phoenix last week talking about Marshall and his new role.

"It's extremely difficult," Marshall said. "Obviously everybody wants to be out on the court. It's an adjustment that has to be made. You're not going to be the best player at every level that you play on. I'm just trying to learn as much as I can and show patience. You know, wait for my opportunity and continue working hard."

I loved watching Marshall play at UNC but wondered how his lack of scoring ability would transfer to the NBA. So far, it's not going very well. Hopefully he can get some playing time in the D-League and make his way back up to the NBA.

Suh

A few years ago I was watching a Nebraska game and fell in love with Ndamukong Suh's game. He had like 900 sacks in the game I watched. He was all over the field and I decided I would make him my favorite NFL player. I don't root for teams very much anymore, but I try to find a players to root for. I'm a fan of Aaron Rodgers, Larry Fitzgerald, and Ray Lewis just to name a few. I really thought Suh would be my next "favorite". I've been very disappointed by his performance in the NFL so far. He stomped on a guy's arm last Thanksgiving and he was fined last week for kicking Matt Schaub in the groin. I want to root for the guy but he's really making it hard to do that.

The Chiefs

I've been discussing the Chiefs situation with a lot of people the last few days. It is just hard to fathom the terrible aspects of a story involving a player shooting his girlfriend and then shooting himself in front of his coach. I worked hard to find another story like it and I couldn't think of one. I wish the NFL would have allowed Kansas City to postpone the game. It seems the only people who should have made that decision were the guys in the locker room. I'm happy the team won, but I can not begin to imagine what it was like for all involved to get on the field and play. What a terrible year for the Kansas City Chiefs.

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RE: The Mitchell Report: The Billionaire Coach, Majerus and Suh

I can agree with most all statements on this one. However, Suh doesn't stay within the rules. How many times has he been flagged for trying to injure a player? The great ones do it the right way.

RE: The Mitchell Report: The Billionaire Coach, Majerus and Suh

I would disagree with you about cancelling the Kansas City vs Carolina game. Would WRAL close down and not report any sports if this happened in the sports dept. at WRAL? Would any business close down, if it happened at their business? A lot of people depend on that game being played for their paychecks. Not playing that game, should not have been an option.
As far as Ndamukong Suh goes. Football is a violent game played by violent people. He does what he does to help his team win football games.
Majerus had a basketball mind. He always got the most of the players he had. I like him as a coach.

RE: The Mitchell Report: The Billionaire Coach, Majerus and Suh

Majerus learned at the knee of Al McGuire, one of the great coaches of all time.

RE: The Mitchell Report: The Billionaire Coach, Majerus and Suh

Majerus was one of the best coaches in winning at four schools. Billionaire coach. Time will tell if he knows anything. Marshall needs some coaching to get his shot down. Suh. Pretty nasty player, and hope that the NFL will continue to make him pay. The Chiefs. I feel for the family members of these two deceased people.

RE: The Mitchell Report: The Billionaire Coach, Majerus and Suh

Suh has made some very poor choices. He needs to understand that such choices are not acceptable in civilized society. By removing him from the field, ie removing his source of income, he might learn that being a ugly goon has it's price.

Concerning Coach M-he was a good man. His basketball knowledge will be missed. He was a real student of ther game of College Hoops.
- Posted by baldchip

Goon, a very underutilized word in sports. Is this considered journalism or simply a blod entry?
- Posted by Hammerhead

It's blog, you dolt! Get a clue, will ya?

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Mandy Mitchell