The March to Madness

The Rick Majerus Soap Opera

St. Louis coach Rick Majerus is apparently upset over the university's cancellation of private charter flights for his team and has decided to take it out on a local radio station.

The controversy started last month when the university, in a cost-cutting move, told Majerus his team would have to fly commercial.

The Billiken coach reacted by canceling that week's appearance on "The Rick Majerus Show" on WXOS.

The following week, Majerus appeared on the hour-long show for only 35 minutes and said he wanted his name taken off the title because he would be unable to appear regularly.

"With our schedule, I'm not able to allocate the time on these evenings,'' he said.

But the following week, he was guest for 45 minutes on WGN in Chicago. The feed was picked up by KTRS, the sports talk competitor of WXOS in St. Louis.

For Majerus, St. Louis Is Gateway to the Worst

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Rick Majerus arrived in St. Louis last season, a surprise choice to coach the Billikens, then the team staggered to a 16-15 finish.

The big guy is going to be pressed to match that record this season. St. Louis is 2-4 after a humbling 64-48 loss Tuesday at Southern Illinois.

"We kind of fell apart there at the end," guard Kevin Lisch said.

There are nine freshmen on the roster and although it's only December, the wear and tear is starting to show not only on the players, but Majerus and St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Tom Timmermann.