Ratto: Who cares what he thinks?

The television reporter approached Rick Majerus the way television reporters often do, which is to say without warning and with a camera following closely behind.

The man needed a quick quote about the event, and we've all been there. So he asked the Saint Louis University basketball coach about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party and the issues of the day. And because Majerus answered thoughtfully, he now finds himself in a controversy that should finally help everybody understand why Tiger Woods refuses to have a public opinion on anything of relevance.

Rick Majerus fielded a question, answered it honestly ... and ticked somebody off. (AP)

But what Tiger isn't is somebody naïve enough to believe prominent sports figures can discuss polarizing topics without fear of negative backlash. And that's why if you bump into Tiger this weekend and ask for his views on abortion, I'm betting he'll take a breath and explain in detail one of his best putts of the morning. No way Tiger would touch the subject of abortion, not with a 10-foot pole linked to a 5-iron while wearing his favorite Nike glove.

But Majerus isn't as guarded with every word. He's crazy that way. So when a reporter showed up at a local Clinton rally and asked Majerus' opinion on abortion, the first-year SLU coach hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly.

"I'm pro-choice, personally," Majerus said.

Response from the Catholic Church: Oh no you didn't!

"It's not possible to be a Catholic and hold those positions," said St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke. "When you take a position in a Catholic university, you don't have to embrace everything the Catholic church teaches. But you can't make statements which call into question the identity and mission of the Catholic church."

This is not a column about abortion.

Let me make that clear before going any further.

Abortion is a complex issue, perhaps the most complex to juggle. Reasonable minds see it differently. So whether Majerus is right or wrong can be debated elsewhere, because that's not what I'm here to discuss. No, what I'm here to discuss is how his words have been received, how he clearly would've been better off had he said nothing. And regardless of how you feel about abortion, isn't that kinda sad?

Seems all we ever want from sports figures is for them to be more than sports figures.

We want LeBron to care about Darfur. We want Carmelo to care about Jena 6.

We want them to shoot it deep and offer deep thoughts, but when they do we ridicule them if those thoughts don't jibe with what we think ourselves. The byproduct is prominent figures learn to stay positively neutral; so in a country where more people seem to care about American Idol than the next American president, what we get are coaches and athletes who say less even when we beg for more.

Honestly, it's a boring crop. Which is what makes a guy like Majerus a true gem, because he's a basketball coach who is passionate about more than basketball, a man truly engaged in public life and politics who has thoughts on foreign policy, healthcare, stem-cell research and abortion.

Majerus cares. And by any standard, that's a great thing. But when he opened his mouth he opened himself up to criticism.

And somewhere Tiger Woods was nodding ... wisely not saying a word.