Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
There’s something about freedom of speech that doesn’t sit well with some members of the press. Any notable who says anything provocative is in for a lecture — as if the First Amendment is some sort of “Get out of jail free” card they’re shabbily taking advantage of. The other day, Rick Majerus, the men’s basketball coach at Saint Louis University, showed up at a Hillary Clinton rally, and, being a local notable, was buttonholed by a TV reporter. She’s my candidate, he said. What about abortion rights? said the reporter. I’m for them, said Majerus. What about stem cell research? I’m for that too, said the coach. “Is this OK with Father Biondi?” said the reporter, naming the Jesuit president of the university. “Are you trying to go 60 Minutes on me?” Majerus joked in reply.
The story made its way up to Chicago. And what did Rick Morrissey have to say about it? “Why should we care what a basketball coach has to say about abortion? Or, more to the point, why would a basketball coach think we should?” Morrissey went on, dutifully, “I will fight to the death for Majerus’ right to offer his opinion,” and then continued, “I will be bored to death listening to it. This is not what Majerus was hired for. Reproductive rights are not his area of expertise.”
