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After the Utah Jazz, then what?
Posted by: Deb on July 30th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Since I know nothing about Mike James and do not care to remember anything about Ronnie Sykley, I wanted to share a comment from the Jim Rome show and what it led me to think about. A few weeks ago I was listening to the show (I realize I am in the 1/2 of one percent of his listeners who have a XX chromosome), Rome was talking about Wimbledon and the match that lasted for days. He then went on to ask if anyone knew what Wimbledon was, what professional tennis was, what the little yellow ball was etc. I believe it was his attempt at humor while making fun of professional tennis as not a manly enough sport. At least that it how it came across to me.
That led me to thinking about what other sports I am interested in and understand, after of course Utah Jazz Basketball. There are a few others. My list was based on a couple of criteria: what I enjoy watching, what I follow on TV, print, electronic media and by word of mouth, what sporting events I would go to and finally what events I would pay for out of my own pocket. My list goes as such:
1. Utah Jazz Basketball
2. NBA basketball in general
3. Local college football and basketball (especially the University of Utah)
4. NFL Football
5. Olympic and X-game sports
6. Professional tennis
And if there is a top part of the list there also is a bottom part, which includes;
Professional boxing, wrestling, mixed martial arts, cage fighting, blah, blah, blah
NASCAR
Professional Golf
Now I would like to hear your lists, I know the bottom few will be very different for most of you.
Since we touched on local football, I have one questions for those of you in the know:
Is the head football coach at BYU really as arrogant and self-righteous as he sounded in one interview in Las Vegas recently? Or is he angry and worried that the one game of the season in which a win can validate the whole season for many fans, no matter how so-so the season might be, is in danger of going away. Opinions please.
P.S. This blog took me several hours to write as I had to spell check and verify each word and name individually.
Thanks for reading
Replies: 33
Views: 997
33 Responses
1. Utah Jazz
2. NBA
3. Local High School Sports
4. College Basketball
5. College Football
6. Olympics/World Games/etc.
7. NFL
8.-11. (in no particular order) MMA, Golf, Hockey, Tennis
Then the rest; Nascar, Water Sports, Winter Sports, etc. Which I know nothing about.
Our lists are pretty much the same.
Here’s my list of sports I like watching. I didn’t put a bottom list of sports I don’t watch or don’t care about. This is just the order of the sports I like watching. Oh, and I hope people don’t hurt me too bad for not having the Utah Jazz as number one. I’m a hardcore NFL guy all the way as my number one.
1 – NFL
2 – Utah Jazz
3 – BYU Football
4 – College Football
5 – BYU Basketball
6 – NBA
7 – College Basketball
8 – MLB
9 – Olympics/X-Games
Oh, and by the way, if I were to be ranking coaches, Bronco Mendenhall is the most studly coach out of all the current coaches on my list. Yes, I’d put Bronco ahead of Jerry Sloan. Although, I am not familiar with this interview of his that you are referring to, so you’ll have to find a link where I can watch it so I can answer your question. GO COUGARS! Oh, and by the way, since you brought up that you like the Utes, let me mention something. Your Pac-12 traitors can go burn in Hades. I look forward to duking it out with their much more suitable replacement in Boise State.
1. Utah Jazz
2. New Orleans Saints (I lived in Louisiana since I was 11.)
3. NBA/NFL tied
4. Any other sport besides baseball. (I can’t stand it.)
1. Utah Jazz Basketball
2. MMA (Ufc, Dream, Strikeforce, King of the Cage, etc.)
3. NBA
4. NFL (I try to follow the Chargers and 49ers). I am a 49er fan, but because I live in the LA area, San Diego is just an hour away so I go and watch Charger games. They grew on me over time.
5. College Football
Pretty much everything else I don’t care for, unless it involves drag racing, off-road, or snow boarding.
Wow Adam, Jazz #2, wow! a tear drips down my cheek.
1. 24 Hours of Le Mans (45 min of my hometown, first time when i was 1 year old, total addict)
2. Manchester United and the premier league (obviously i’m european, Eric the King Cantona is my childhood hero)
3. AJ Auxerre (my french football team)
4. Utah Jazz ( for a good reason, there is a same game, work and team philosophy in Alex Ferguson the Manchester coach, Guy Roux the AJ Auxerre coach and Jerry Sloan)
5. the Six Nation Tournament (rugby is awesome)
6. NFL (Broncos fan since my first superbowl in 97, strange, Shanahan had a similar career as my 3 other favorite coach)
7. Handball ( coz France is dominating the entire world, today we’re Olympic, World and European champ, just one of the best team of all time in all sports)
8. Reno Air Race ( total plane addict too, hope one day i can go to Reno )
9. Tennis (Roger is the man) Golf, Volleyball (great team in town)
1. NFL (Go Steelers!)
2. NBA/Jazz
3. College football
4. Rugby
5. Golf
6. Hockey
I like how Soccer, the most popular sport in the world, hasn’t even been mentioned yet. Real American spirit right there
As for now:
1 Utah Jazz of today
2 Rugby of the 90s … check it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSSqYLGpjZA&feature=related
a good friend of mine is playing there and could escape .. number 9 became minister of sport.
3 SLUC Nancy basketball, again of the 90s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kza7K8Uh4Gk
Banks was my favorite player.
4 FC Sochaux, my favorite soccer team
5 athletics
Yeah, sorry champ. Don’t mean to make you cry. If it helps any, the Utah Jazz are a close second. Me as a major sports fan, it’s a mighty lofty position being second. The Utah Jazz should be proud that they made it that high. I decided to put them slightly ahead of BYU football which is a huge honor.
I’m only gonna write 2, cuz that’s all that matters to me.
1- Utah Jazz
T2- BYU Football
T2- S.F. 49ers
Yep, its tied at #2. I like watching other basketball, and football games, and every once in awhile I’ll catch a baseball game or something. But those top 2(ish) are by far my favorites.
1. BYU Football
2. Utah Jazz Basketball
3. NBA
4. College Football
5. Major events (Olympics, World Cup)
6. MLB/NFL
7. NHL/MLS
@Gerald…didn’t know you’re a Louisiana boy…what part of the state? I lived in New Orleans for the last 3 years. As for the Saints, gotta love that Tracy Porter. Saved their bacon in the NFC Championship game, and a photo of him returning the interception in the Super Bowl is the background for my desktop.
@Deb…I love Jim Rome. He is freakin’ hilarious.
List:
1. University of Utah football
2. Utah Jazz
3. NFL (love all of it)
4. University of Utah basketball (these are tough times)
5. Major League Baseball
1. Utah Jazz
2. NBA
3. Summer Olympics
4. Winter Olympics
5. Pro Golf
6. The Superbowl’s commercials
and the rest is history.
if it is on, I’m probably watching list:
1) Utah Jazz basketball
2) NBA basketball in general
3) boxing (except heavyweights)
4) NCAA basketball, especially Big-10 (my local area) & OVC (my old conference, which I know isn’t all that great)
5) summer Olympics
if it is on, I’m definitely not watching list:
1) NASCAR & other car racing (How is this even a sport? Granted, it is a competition, but machines do more than 99% of the work; seriously, competitive games like chess & poker are better labeled as sports than car racing is, because humans strategize & do the manual labor, such as there is.)
2) golf (fun to play, but horribly boring to watch)
3) winter olympics
4) AL baseball (hate the Yankees, White Sox & DHs)
5) LA Lakers basketball (unless playing the Jazz)
@James, actually, thats wrong. I lived there since I was 10. I meant to say I lived there for 11 years. I live in California now, but I go there all the time to visit family and friends. I lived in the Baton Rouge area (Denham Springs for people that know the area.) I have some friends that live in New Orleans also that I visit. As for T Porter, wow. Him being hurt and out for a little while I think was one of the reasons the Saints slumped at the end of the regular season. There were a lot of defensive injuries during the end of the regular season. But they came back, and took out all the top teams to get the SB win. No easy route for them.
1. Utah Jazz/Nba
2.MMA (One of the most technichal sports of all time)
3.Winter Olympics (absolutely loved having that come to
SLC, it was so much fun)
4.Summer Olympics ( It’s a cool thought knowing that the
world is coming together to watch the Olympics)
5. Golf (More fun to play but I enjoy watching it as well)
6.Soccer ( Used to hate it but after watching the world
cup this year I really enjoy watching it)
7. College Football
@Gerald…maybe we should start a new blog site for Jazz fans who also root for the Saints.
it’s gonna be interesting to see how well the Saints can defend their title. The offense should be a well-oiled machine just like in years past. The defense is interesting because, statistically, it’s not that strong (in terms of yards against). But Greg Williams is one of those defensive coordinators who has his guys attack, attack, attack and thus they force a lot of turnovers. I’ll bet dudes like Jonathan Vilma and Darren Sharper absolutely LOVE playing in his system. The problem is, if you run up against an opponent who takes care of the football and can run it, they can beat you. That’s what happened in the Dallas game last year and it almost happened against Minnesota in the NFC title game, but Minnesota just turned it over too many times. What the Saints really need is a big run stuffer at defensive tackle. I like Ellis, but they need another guy alongside him to eat up blockers and allow the linebackers to contain the run. But yeah, Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer? Absolute studs. And watch out for Malcolm Jenkins, he will take Sharper’s job if Sharper shows even the slightest sign of aging. Man, I wish I was gonna be in the Dome for that Thursday night opener against the Vikings!!!
Heres the my order in terms of watching.
1.Jazz basketball
2.Deron Williams owning
3.Go Utes!!
4.Cowboys
5.X Games
6.MMA
7.World Series of poker
8.Golf
888,475,222,112th. Nascar.
My favorite NFL team had it’s moment on top of the NFL recently. The top of the NFL draft that is. I’m not giving up on my Rams. We just paid a fortune for who I hope can be our savior in Sam Bradford. 78 million over 6 years, 50 million of that guaranteed. That’s a rookie contract. Yikes!
@Adam…What are your thoughts on Bradford as a player? I mean, sometimes you just don’t know what you’re gonna get with a quarterback at the top of the draft. Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf, ya know? Were you happy with that pick?
Clearly, they need a franchise quarterback, but Ndamukong Suh is going to be an absolute monster. You watch him at all when he played at Nebraska? BEAST! I remember the Big XII title game when he’s getting double teamed and still basically steamrolls these two Texas linemen, grabs Colt McCoy and slings him to the ground. I would have been awfully tempted to take Suh with that top pick.
James, you definitely made some good points. I was going to make some points, but this pretty much does it for me and then some.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/11454/camp-confidential-saints
Also, they are in the 2nd year of Williams defensive system. From all perspectives, it can only get better.
I lead a rather sheltered life.
1. Jazz
2. NBA
3. Ute football (BYU, if they are playing the Utes)
And yes, Bronco is a sanctimonious twit.
Anything but pro basketball just doesn’t hold my interest. I have to TiVo UTE football, start at halftime and hit the 30 second FF button after each play.
Baseball…the grass grows faster than the game progresses.
College basketball…ouch, the skill level is so low compared with the pros, it’s hard to endure.
Hockey, where the puck is the puck?
Soccer, when are they ever going to score?
Golf, I can see someone playing golf, but watching it? Quiet now, I’ve got to whisper.
I can actually watch tennis for a while. Women’s tennis is one of the few female sports, where they have longer and better rallies than the men.
NASCAR, give me the highlights of the crashes, what else is there?
It must be my ADD, because I need to have some action and pro basketball is really nonstop, where, almost always, a team still has a chance to win at the end of the game.
Jazzaholic
Utah Jazz
Utah Utes sports
Boston Red Sox
Greenbay Packers
Real Salt Lake
Major things (Olympics, world cup)
Golf Nascar
1. UTAH JAZZ, the only team i watch religously, meaning i never miss a game whether its live or not. The fountain of life. All of utah lives and dies by their every move. NBA basketball has os much to offer. There is suspense at the end of its games regular season and playoff basketball is where amazing happens.
2. NBA
3. March madness, best tournament layout in sports. But… not the highest level but puts on the biggest stage makes up for it.
4. NFL, and only because i play fantasy football and because it is something to pass the time till basketball. Also you are crucified at work if you say to the football fan that you dont give a sh**.
5. Olypic sports, you have to love the training and the spirit of competition on the biggest stage, ill get to that later.
6. Tennis, i like tennis cause it takes skill and there is action to it but i never loved the sport enough to watch it which brings me to my next statement…
7. Everything else i like to watch the major tournaments.
Who cares if so and so wins another tennessee invitaional or if the braves beat the indians or joe schmo takes mr rodgers in 3 rounds. IT’s all about who preforms on the biggest stage if you dont have anything invested in a certain team or player.
baseball is too long and too many games to care till playoffs. An 8 hour game in the middle of the summer doesnt mean anything when your gonna play 160 more.
College sports arent professional so they arent the highest level so there is someone better you could be watching. They are also too lopsided. I am tired of seeing teams like university of southwestern baptist new mexico tech state feeding other teams a number in the win column because they dont have the money for a good program which isnt based on money. People just like to support the school they went to. Its all about being a part of them and thats why people like it. Oh and the BCS isnt accurate or worth my times worrying about.
Golf is amazing to play but boring to watch most of the time. * in the most monotone voice possible. I would rather be out playing
Hockey is too eratic and violent. Its a game for international rednecks with missing teeth who play under 60 pounds of pads.
MMA and boxing is people fighting without a reason. TOO much hype made out of the fights. It’s never as dramatic as they make it out to be.
Why do i wanna watch nascar where people drive around a track a 100 times and come in for tires and the only suspense is when they will. Crashes are kinda interesting but you wouldnt want it to happen to someone you know.
PLAIN AND SIMPLE THE JAZZ ARE THE ONLY THING SACRED TO ME WHICH IS WHY I AM HERE. GO JAZZ
@James- Yes, I was very happy with the Rams picking Bradford. Suh is a monster and I love him, but here’s why I would’ve actually been angry if the Rams took Suh. If you look at the Rams’ first round draft history, in the last like 5 years they’ve spent their 1st round picks on either defensive or offensive lineman with the last 2 years being in the top 5. If you look at the players, none of them have panned out at all. The reason why the Rams tanked as a team was because all their stud players got old and retired or left and the new players haven’t stepped up to the plate. Now, I’m not sure if that’s bad drafting or just bad luck, but I think it’s more of bad luck because at the time all the stud lineman they’ve picked looked really hardcore. Bad coaching could be a big thing, but I do like our new coach. Last two years they passed on both Mark Sanchez and Matt Ryan for Jason Smith and Chris Long respectively. Now if that doesn’t make you embarrassed, I don’t know what does. Mark Sanchez and Matt Ryan both took their teams to the playoffs their rookie season. Now all I can do is dream of what could’ve been for my Rams if they would’ve had one of those two. Needless to say, it was time to take a quarterback. We couldn’t afford to pass up on Sam Bradford. Now, I did like Marc Bulger, but the poor guy had the worst time staying healthy and recently he had the worst time playing good when he was healthy. It was time to move on. Now since the only offensive weapon the Rams have is Steven Jackson, I don’t expect much from Bradford. Have you looked at the Rams receiving corps recently? Donnie Avery, Laurent Robinson, Marty Gillyard, Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson. Billy Bajema at tight end. Yeah, none of those guys would start on any of the 31 other NFL teams. However, in next year’s draft there is a huge stock of stud wide receivers and a few that are top 5, top 10 caliber. I expect the Rams to be back in the top 5 again where we will get someone for Bradford to throw to. As far as Bradford goes, who knows what he could’ve accomplished his senior year if my BYU cougars didn’t injure him in the season opener? But if he eventually plays for the Rams the way he played for the Sooners his junior year, I will be a happy Ram fan once again. His stats that junior year are mind boggling. 4720 passing yards, 50 TDs, only 8 interceptions, topped off with a 68 completion percentage. Yikes!
@Adam…interesting; thanks for the info regarding the Rams’ draft history. One thing is for sure: if you can get your hands on a QB who is going to be a stud, you have to take him. Just don’t know for sure what Bradford will do. But it was probably the right pick. As for your Cougars knocking him out last year, I was in Vegas for a bachelor party, watching that game at the Mandalay Bay sports book; put $100 on the Sooners. I guess that’s karma biting me in the keister.
James- yes, there is always that risk of taking a quarterback high. If he doesn’t pan out and becomes a Ryan Leaf type quarterback then you pretty much just kiss the next 5 years (at least) goodbye. If he does work out you’re back in the playoffs. The NFC West is a rather weak division. If Sam Bradford becomes the next Peyton Manning or Carson Palmer, the Rams could be the kings of that division for a long time. Most times, I like to play it safe, but there are times where you need to play the high risk, high reward game.
@Adam…all good points, especially the one about the door being wide open in the NFC West. The 49ers are an interesting team because they’ve built themselves around defense and a tough running game, and they’ve got some playmakers to catch the ball in Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree. It all comes down to Alex Smith now. He’s in a position where he doesn’t have to do it all. He just needs to make the right reads and the right throws and not make big mistakes. He’s definitely fortunate to be in this position given the way his first few years in the league went. As a Utah fan, it’s been painful having to admit the guy was basically a huge bust. But he’s shown the fortitude work himself back to this point, and I think that says something about his growth. I don’t actually think his problem was ever lack of arm strength (as some have speculated)…I think mentally he was totally unprepared for the NFL. In his last year at Utah, he never played a close game (and he teamed with Reggie Bush in high school, so I’ll bet they blew some people out). He had no idea what it was like to get smacked around and have to come from behind, or to try and hang in there when you’re totally overmatched.
James,
I thought part of Alex Smith’s problems early in his career with the 49ers was the lack of a great offensive line. Is there some truth to that or am I just imagining things. Also I am pretty sure Oklahoma would have beat BYU if Bradford hadn’t been knocked out, it kind of soured the victory for me a little bit. But injuries are always a big part of sports unless you are Michael Jordan and play with 104 temperature or John Stockton who just refused to let injury or illness stop him.
Yeah, I’m actually excited for Alex Smith. It’s been an interesting thing to watch. In addition to the Rams, I’m also slightly partial to the 49ers, which is weird because they are in the same division. Just makes me care even less for the Seahawks and Cardinals. Now I did think that Alex Smith was done, but he’s got his second chance with the Niners now and this is a make or break year. He now has the talent around him for him to succeed. This could be the year he steps his game to the next level. However, if he tanks this year, he might be doomed to be the next David Carr. Now the Seahawks and Cardinals are also intriguing. For the Cardinals, back in 2006 if you had told me that Matt Leinart would be on top of the depth chart for the Cardinals in 2010 and because of it people don’t think the Cards will be that great, I might’ve thought you were weird. Also, with Kurt Warner’s crash with the Rams and subsequent year on the Giants, if you told me that the Cardinals would be mourning his retirement, I also might’ve thought you were weird. Interesting how things played out. I think this is a make or break year for Leinart, too. If he fails, the Cards may be in line to snag up one of the several 1st round caliber quarterbacks. Now with the Seahawks, I’m just interested to see what Pete Carroll can pull out of his hit in his second NFL stint. I hope it’s not another Nick Saban rollercoaster.
Now also, if you think that Alex’s Smiths struggles were hard to swallow as a Ute fan, imagine how I feel as a BYU fan with John Beck. Now I know he wasn’t a first rounder, but with all the success he had at BYU and a lofty 2nd round draft pick, I expected a little more than him battling for the 3rd string quarterback spot on the Baltimore Ravens. His first year as a Dolphin was embarrassing. I still get nightmares from the play where he was throwing and it slipped right out his hands and went backwards where a Buffalo Bills player caught it ran in for a touchdown. Well, at least he threw a touchdown, right?
Deb- Yes, the non-existent offensive line early on for Alex Smith didn’t help him at all. I also thought the crazy coaching carousel both with the head coach AND offensive coordinators were a problem in his progression. He had no talent around him at first AND he was a rookie quarterback jumping straight from the Mountain West where he had little competition. All those elements combined together were a horrible recipe for disaster of which he probably pulled a great lesson out of it in the long run and is now ready to shoot for the stars.
As far as the OU – BYU game, yeah Bradford would’ve changed the outcome of that game, but let’s not forget that before he got injured, BYU was playing pretty good against him. I still think BYU could’ve pulled it off with Bradford in. Let’s also remember that BYU’s defense totally shut down OU’s two stud running backs the whole game. That goal line stance at the end of the game could go down in history as one of BYU’s best defensive moments in school history.
@Deb and Adam…hard for me to say this because I’m a Ute fan, but I think BYU beats Oklahoma even if Bradford stays in. BYU was well prepared for that game, and Oklahoma pulled another one in a long line of disappointing performances (they’ve lost 3 BCS title games with Bob Stoops as coach…he’s got some sort of issue getting his team up at the right time). I was surprised with how well BYU played in that game and absolutely have to give them credit for it. It’s like when Utah won the Sugar Bowl with Alabama missing its best player (left tackle Andre Smith)…a few people said it took away from the win, but on paper Alabama was still more talented than Utah and the Crimson Tide had the mighty Nick Saban as their coach. Given how they came out of the gate, I think Utah wins that game regardless of whether Alabama has Andre Smith.
Let’s not forget that it was even basically a home game for Oklahoma being that it was at the Cowboy’s stadium.