The Tragedy of the Utah Jazz
This blog is meant to tell the reader why my beloved Utah Jazz will never win an NBA championship- at least not in the next 10 years. There are many factors which figure into this complicated equation, including location, politics, and bad moves by the team.
The first problem with the Utah Jazz is that they are the Utah jazz. Utah? Where is that place anyway? This is what most east-coasters think of when they hear Utah. Now don't get me wrong. I love Utah. It is a great place, but let's face it. Ninety-nine percent of NBA superstars want to live and play in a big-time location like New York or L.A.. As Salt Lake City grows, I expect this to be less and less of a problem, which may enable the Jazz to attract more big names to the team.
Then their is the more theoretical problem with the team. While I have no "actual" evidence that this theorem is true, I believe there are many fans out there who agree with me. Here it is: The NBA is scripted. Now perhaps not every single play is written into it, but I believe that NBA referees are instructed to give the more "popular" team the advantage. Also, and to a greater extent, the star players get all the calls in the NBA. Case and point: the recent loss by the Jazz to the Los Angeles Lakers. As the game clock expired, Kobe Bryant missed a long jumper. As he was coming down off of his shot, he threw his arm into the defender, thus creating the illusion that he was fouled. The Lakers went on to win the game. However, despite this "scripting" of games, all teams still have a chance, if they play hard enough and get some lucky breaks. I believe John Stockton's last-second 3-pointer against the Houston Rockets in 1997 to send the Jazz to the finals was not supposed to happen; I also believe that Michael Jordan's no-call push-off against Bryon Russell in the finals was supposed to happen.
Lastly, there is probably the most frustrating problem with the Jazz of all. Foolish moves by the management have set back the team time and time again. Let's relive some of these moments, shall we? The Jazz have had only one first-round draft pick in the last 10 years really turn out, that being Andrei Kirilenko. The many foolish choices of players such as Raul Lopez, Curtis Borchardt, Quincy Lewis, and Kirk Snyder have prevented the Jazz from improving as much as they should. And then of course, there is the big one. The signing of CARLOS BOOZER the LOSER. I have a deep dislike for the man, as I believe many Jazz fans do. Not because he is not a good player, he most definitely is. But his injuries are becoming ridiculous. He has not played a game since February, and at that time there were questions about his effort. To top it all off, Boozer does things like purchase a $9 million dollar mansion in L.A. when he plays in Utah! What a mess!
Despite all of their shortcoming, I still will not give up on them. The people who live in Utah and don't like the Jazz need to be sorted out and kicked out. They are our only REAL professional sports team, and we simply have to support them or it is possible they could leave. Yes, the Jazz have many shortcomings, but I will never give up on them.
The first problem with the Utah Jazz is that they are the Utah jazz. Utah? Where is that place anyway? This is what most east-coasters think of when they hear Utah. Now don't get me wrong. I love Utah. It is a great place, but let's face it. Ninety-nine percent of NBA superstars want to live and play in a big-time location like New York or L.A.. As Salt Lake City grows, I expect this to be less and less of a problem, which may enable the Jazz to attract more big names to the team.
Then their is the more theoretical problem with the team. While I have no "actual" evidence that this theorem is true, I believe there are many fans out there who agree with me. Here it is: The NBA is scripted. Now perhaps not every single play is written into it, but I believe that NBA referees are instructed to give the more "popular" team the advantage. Also, and to a greater extent, the star players get all the calls in the NBA. Case and point: the recent loss by the Jazz to the Los Angeles Lakers. As the game clock expired, Kobe Bryant missed a long jumper. As he was coming down off of his shot, he threw his arm into the defender, thus creating the illusion that he was fouled. The Lakers went on to win the game. However, despite this "scripting" of games, all teams still have a chance, if they play hard enough and get some lucky breaks. I believe John Stockton's last-second 3-pointer against the Houston Rockets in 1997 to send the Jazz to the finals was not supposed to happen; I also believe that Michael Jordan's no-call push-off against Bryon Russell in the finals was supposed to happen.
Lastly, there is probably the most frustrating problem with the Jazz of all. Foolish moves by the management have set back the team time and time again. Let's relive some of these moments, shall we? The Jazz have had only one first-round draft pick in the last 10 years really turn out, that being Andrei Kirilenko. The many foolish choices of players such as Raul Lopez, Curtis Borchardt, Quincy Lewis, and Kirk Snyder have prevented the Jazz from improving as much as they should. And then of course, there is the big one. The signing of CARLOS BOOZER the LOSER. I have a deep dislike for the man, as I believe many Jazz fans do. Not because he is not a good player, he most definitely is. But his injuries are becoming ridiculous. He has not played a game since February, and at that time there were questions about his effort. To top it all off, Boozer does things like purchase a $9 million dollar mansion in L.A. when he plays in Utah! What a mess!
Despite all of their shortcoming, I still will not give up on them. The people who live in Utah and don't like the Jazz need to be sorted out and kicked out. They are our only REAL professional sports team, and we simply have to support them or it is possible they could leave. Yes, the Jazz have many shortcomings, but I will never give up on them.
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