Call in the Reinforcements

Yesterday was my birthday. I thought of asking for a Jazz win in San Antonio. But I might as well have asked for the sun to rise in the West. Watching the game I couldn’t help but think of the press tirade of Rick Patino when he coached the Celtics. In that rant he began yelling about his players’ lackluster effort. “Robert Parrish ain’t comin’ through that door!” he cried. “Larry Bird ain’t walkin’ through that door!” I was thinking that maybe Jazz coach Jerry Sloan should employ the same tirade. Because guess what: John Stockton ain’t walkin’ through that door.


A friend of mine received an e-mail from his ticket agent. He is a season ticket holder, and she was asking him if he wanted playoff tickets. In order to do so, she explained, he would need to buy his season tickets for next year. He responded, telling her that he didn’t want them. She replied, asking if he didn’t want the season tickets, or the playoff tickets. Both, he answered. She again came calling, asking what she could do to keep him as a valued season ticket holder. “Get some players on the floor that care as much as the people in the seats.” He responded. He hasn’t heard back.


I think the Jazz need to change their ads for the playoffs. They just need to say, “Get your playoff tickets so you can see the Lakers come to town not once, but twice. Get them now, because it will be a long summer.”

15-0 Run in less than 3 minutes

If you missed yesterday's debacle in Miami consider yourself lucky. The Jazz had the game in the bag: A 7 point lead with a minute to go. They didn't score again and allowed the Heat to send the game into overtime. In the overtime it looked like they once again had things wrapped up: They scored the first 8 points of the period and led by 8 with 1:50 to go. They didn't score again in the overtime and allowed a second overtime after an 8-0 run to end it. Then they had to come from behind to force a third OT, where they simply ran out of gas and lost by 11. It was a disgrace. A week ago they were the darlings of the NBA with a 12 game winning streak. People were talking about them in the same breath as the Lakers. After yesterday they are a punchline. We'll see how they respond today in Orlando.

All the Jazz had to do was run some clock in the 4th quarter. Instead, Kirilenko and Millsap decided to be flashy and run it. They should apologize to their team mates, then Slaon should take them out back and have them summarily shot.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

This morning my father gave me a box of old papers and such. Most of it consisted of report cards, school projects and pictures. But I found a handful of Jazz-related items that I collected when I was a kid. A few are shown here, and there will be more forthcoming.

The first is a magnetic schedule from the '91-'92 season. It was sad to see the caricature of Jazz owner Larry H. Miller in happier times with a smile leaning on his new Delta Center. I knew that Miller has been in poor health for some time, and was saddened to hear that he had both of his legs amputated below the knees yesterday due to diabetes related complications.

I also found this certificate from a Jazz basketball camp that was hosted by Ron Boone. In addition to Booner's autograph the certificate was signed by such legendary Jazz guards as Delaney Rudd and Eric Johnson.

In the pile of papers I found a Home Court magazine from 2000 which featured this picture of Adam 'The Garbageman' Keefe (not queef). If only that guy would have stayed around. Oh what could have been...

Time to Hang It Up?

The other day I read a story in the Salt Lake Tribune about Matt Harpring's slow decline. The story detailed how Matt suffered an infection that nearly ended his career and how he hasn't been right since. Considering his age I have to admit the end may be near for Harpring. I hope not. I want to think that he can get back into the player that earned his reputation.

My wife doesn't like Matt because she claims isn't nice to nurses. I don't know about that. I wasn't there. What I like about him is the way he scraps. Jerry Sloan refers to players who don't like to mix it up as 'playing in tuxedos'. Matt is not that kind of guy. If there is a scrum on the floor, he's in the middle of it. He's been in a lot of skirmishes in his career, most recently taking a fish from Nowitzki. I feel that there are too many prima donnas in the league nowadays who wouldn't be nearly as effective without protection from the officials. Don't get me wrong. Guys like Kobe, LeBron, Wade and Iverson are special talents. But I don't see any of those guys as being particularly tough. When I hear of announcers talking of players having a big heart, I laugh. It doesn't take a big heart to score 83 points in a game. It takes selfishness and 60 field goal attempts. You want heart? Dive into the stands after a loose ball. Go to the floor and sacrifice the body for the team.

I hope that this isn't the end of the line for Harpring, because I think he's one of the last tough guys who plays the game hard and the right way. Too many pansies in the league.

Jerk Nowitzki srtikes again

I have never been a fan of Dirk Nowitzki. He was the first player to start using the kick move when shooting, where he takes the legs out of the defender in an attempt to draw the foul. But justice was served on old Dirk today when he was given a one game suspension for back-handing Matt Harpring with a closed fist Friday night. Now, I can understand that Harpring can get under a player's skin. After all, Matt is s scrapper, a hard worker, a brute, while a guy like Dirk is, well, a pansy who likes to play in a tuxedo. But it was good to see Dirk sit out a game. This marks the second time in as many seasons that Dirk has been suspended for hits placed on Jazz players. Last year he horse-collared Andrei Kirilenko who had beaten him for a layup. Watch the video.

I have many opinions about the Jazz, the NBA and the sports world in general. Historically I have added my rants to my personal blog, interspersed among posts about me and my family. So I have decided to create this blog, so that those who don't wish to hear my tirades about sports on my other blog won't have to be exposed to them.

To say that I am biased toward the Jazz doesn't quite sum it up. I have been a fan as long as I can remember. My Dad purchased season tickets in 1983, when the Jazz had been in Salt Lake City just 4 years. Back then we cheered for guys like Ricky Green, Darrell Griffith, Mark Eaton and Adrian Danltey. No one had ever heard of Gonzaga, and the Jazz had never been to the playoffs.

In the twenty plus years since my Dad first got his tickets, I have been to many memorable, and some painful games, including game 6 of the 1998 finals. As I post about current events surrounding the league I will add in memories of certain players, teams or games.