Maguire University
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Maguire University is a fictitious college invented in 1963 by a group of Chicago high school basketball coaches, for the sole purpose of securing tickets to the NCAA Final Four.
Maguire "University" is born
The idea was hatched by then-Fenwick High School coach Len Tyrrell at Maguire's Pub in Forest Park, Illinois. The NCAA fell for it, and so did at least one real school: the United States Air Force Academy, which contacted Tyrrell (Maguire's self-proclaimed "Chancellor") and asked to play his nonexistent team.
Maguire (nicknamed "the Jollymen") received Final Four tickets for two years, until Bill Jauss wrote about the scam in the Chicago Tribune.[1] The NCAA was not amused. The coaches then had to acquire their own tickets, and at least one of them has attended every Final Four (or, as they call it, Final Five) ever since. Maguire's motto, "We Play Hurt", is a reference to the hangovers accrued by Maguire's "students".[2]
Terrell grew the faux-university's "enrollment" from the original eight members to well over 150 in the thirty-plus years he ran the phony school. He was also named Maguire's first Hall of Fame member, after resigning his position in 2000. Kelly's Pub, on Webster Street in Chicago, serves as the college's "campus" since the closing of Maguire's Pub in 1988.[3]
For the 2018 Final Four (which featured Loyola University Chicago, the first [real] Chicago-based team to make the Final Four since DePaul in 1979), the Jollymen were based at the Drury Plaza Hotel in San Antonio.[4]
Officers
Founder: John Maguire (Founder and President, 1961 - 1976)
President: Art Duffy (Hall of Fame, 1998)
Treasurer: D.J. Moore (Hall of Fame, 2016)
Treasurer Emeritus: Meg Comer (Hall of Fame, 2013)
Director of Admissions and Alumni Relations: Jimmy Dillon (Hall of Fame, 2005)
Vice Presidents: George Hoey and Beth LaRocca (Hall of Fame, 2004)
Recording Secretary: Shawn Roberts (Hall of Fame, 2008)
Maguire University Hall of Fame Members
Listed by year of induction[5]
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References
- ↑ Jauss, Bill (February 4, 1973). "This 'college' bars all games". Chicago Tribune. p. 67. Retrieved March 29, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
- ↑ Walker, Kevin (1999-03-25). "Maguire U. has jolly-good time". The Tampa Tribune.
- ↑ "World Class Facilities". maguireuniversity.com.
- ↑ "The 2018 Final Five will be Maguire U's 56th appearance at the Final Four!!". maguireuniversity.com.
- ↑ "Maguire University Hall of Fame Members". maguireuniversity.com. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
Further reading
- Gregory, Ted (March 28, 2018). "Final Four might be rare for Ramblers, but Jollymen of phony Maguire U have been there dozens of times". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
- Mathie, Frank (March 28, 2006). "Fake Chicago university scored Final Four tickets". ABC7 Chicago. Archived from the original on March 31, 2006 – via Wayback Machine.