Wednesday, April 17, 2013

All Hail the Utah SPAZZ

Watching the Spazz play Wednesday was a little frustrating. First of all, the national media who can do no wrong could talk about nothing else but the Lakers and Rockets. Second of all, the Jazz themselves run an increasingly frustrating offense. It’s not the inside out model I don’t like. I love that. The inside post is my favorite position on the basketball court and sadly the good fundamental players at that position are becoming as rare as the snow in June. I’m not talking about the Blake Griffins and the lumbering centers. I’m talking about the Tim Duncan’s, the Moses Malone’s, the Karl Malone’s. These type of players are going the way of the dodo because it’s not sexy to watch a big guy defend in the paint like Dennis Rodman did in the 90’s. Nor is it sexy to watch a center sky hook a shot from 4 feet in front of the basket like Kareem Abdul Jabar in the 80’s. It’s more about what you can do to get on Sports Center. I.E. Blake Griffin, Carlos Boozer and Big Al Jefferson. All of which play the Matador style defense so well that I’ve overheard turn styles say they were jealous of those three’s collective ability to have people go by them.


What bugs me about the Utah Jazz offense is the fact that when Al Jefferson is on the floor everything stops around him. He gets the ball and it seems like the rest of the team stops, gets popcorn and watches the show. Not only that, Utah has four good quality big men. Millsap, Jefferson, Kanter (who is out for the rest of the season) and the young phenom Derek Favors. They should not only push the ball inside, but they should push it inside again. After that doesn’t work, do it again. But they don’t come anywhere close. They play a double high post game that drives me bonkers. Imagine Karl Malone playing either 15 feet outside or just at the free throw line. Not that I am comparing any of these guys to the great Mailman, but come on. Even Charles Barkley played deeper than these guys do. With that said, Gordon Heyward and Alec Burks are both very good players and I love that Randy Foye has come on and shot the three really well. I’m OK with all of that. In fact, I love that the Jazz have embraced the fact that a three point line actually exists (sorry Sloan fans, you know it’s true). The high post is good, the double high post is absolutely ridiculous with the bigs Utah has. In fact, I don’t like the double high post with one big and one guy who has no business playing the four. Jerry Sloan realized that even with AK47 playing the power forward position. Think about this: Gordon Heyward is about the same height and weight as Andre and he plays the three and the two. AK played the three but was more comfortable at the four. Sloan played AK at the four because he didn’t have anyone else, and they had Greg Ostertag at the five. So defensively they were really good. Offensively they were really, really bad. They did have however, a plan, and executed that plan. The plan now, if there is one, seems to be get the ball into Jefferson and watch him play and when the lack of movement and rotation bites them in the butt, let Mo Williams do whatever he wants and see what happens. Also on defense, guard the three point and hope Derek Favors or Enes Kanter can defend everything else. Oh oops, Jefferson is there again, so let them score and we’ll try to shot threes until the coach takes out Jefferson and we go back to an what might look like an offense.

I know it’s a simplistic view of what actually goes on, but I honestly think it’s one of two things here: Ty Corbin doesn’t have an offense he is comfortable running or he has zero control of the team. Sometimes I think they will pull it off because Paul Millsap and Gordon Heyward take over the game and run what resembles offensive plays. Then again, sometimes I think they are just following direction and it’s not good direction at all. I loved that they hired a guy who had Sloan ties. I loved that he was a former Jazz player and he seemed to run similar things to Sloan with a more modern twist. Right now, I don’t think it was the right hire. I am hoping they cut ties with him (which they won’t) and the new GM Dennis Lindsey will talk management into hiring long time Phil Jackson asst. Brian Shaw. Not that I’m a Phil Jackson fan, nor am I real fan of the Triangle offense. It’s that he has an offense and a defense he likes to run. From what I’ve heard, it’s not the triangle, but he believes in running plays and playing the right way. Maybe that is what Utah needs right now.

With them not only losing a must win game, but getting embarrassed on national TV again, with this talent, someone needs to be held accountable. Whether that’s the coach, or even the front office because of the lack of movement at mid-season, someone needs to be held accountable. And I reiterate what I’ve said since they didn’t trade him, if they re-sign Al Jefferson, I am a Seattle Sonics fan.



On a side note, come join me and my family at the Red and White game with me and my family this Saturday at 1 pm! GO UTES!!!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Take me out to the ball game

For years I've been a fringe baseball fan.  I love going to the Bees games and taking in all of the sights, smells and sounds of a summer evening game.  The crack of a bat, the chatter of the crowd, the popcorn, peanuts,  the drunken stupor of the guy next to you.  I love all of it.  I love the tradition of the 7th inning stretch and signing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."  I really enjoy walking into a ball park and feeling like you are stepping into tradition and history.  It's not something you get with football or basketball on any level.  But baseball oozes such feelings on almost every level.  I don't mean the hyper competitive little league where parents are yelling at the umps or even heckling the other 10 year old kids, which is a major problem in all sports.  I really mean the old ball fields that feel like you could watch your dad holding his dad's hand walking into park pointing at the sights and explaining the game to his boy.  Baseball has that feeling, for good and bad, of always looking into it's history.  Even the new parks, with all the entertainment options and new architecture, feel nostalgic.  Mostly anyway, I haven't been to the Disney park that house the Los Angeles of Anaheim of California in the southern part of the state below Hollywood but not quite to Chino Angels, but I hear even with all the extra stuff they have, it's a great field. 

I recently flew over Chicago and it made me smile to see all this foriegn land where large buildings were seemingly sticking up out of the earth like the crystals in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and dotting the landscape were the beautiful diamond shapes that told me there were children here who were laughing  and having a good time with their teammates who would become life long friends. 

Baseball means history changing events.  This week a movie is hitting the theaters about a few men who changed the history of sports and hopefully the history of mankind.  42 is the story of Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers.  For those of you with no historical sense of greatness, it was April 15th 1947 and Jackie Robinson was the first man to break the color barrier in all professional sports.  This was more than 20 years before the Titans in Virginia.  If you get nothing out of this Baseball love fest of mine, get this: Jackie Robinson is a national hero and you should see this movie for it's historical significance alone.  Or at least read as much as you can on it. 
 
I say fringe though because as a Mariners fan it's hard to watch sometimes. What I mean is that I walked into a sports apparel store wearing a Mariners cap and a Seahawks shirt and a random man there asked if I was married and after my positive response, he said "Your wife must really love you." I said "Thanks, but why do you say that?" "Because she knows you are loyal." The Mariners have dashed my hopes more often than Michael Jordan. Not as bad mind you, but more often.


In fact, I don't like the structure of the league very much at all. Don't get me wrong, I love the dynamic between the NL and AL with the DH. But what I really don't like is the lack of disparity among the league. Honestly, how bad is Kansas City? And did you know that the Pittsburgh Pirates are in fact a Major League team? (sorry David, I had to mention it). Miami and Tampa Bay both have Major League teams, though the people there don't yet realize it. This league is not set up as a league to succeed. It's succeeds despite that fact. It is truly set up for the rich to get richer and the poor to suffer longer. The Yankees, the Red Sox, the Dodgers now, are set up to buy their way into the World Series and more often than not, it works. In a perfect world, the league would work together to make sure that the playing field was level. I love the theory of Money Ball and how it works to not ever over pay for a statistic, but also not fall in love with a "5 tool" guy who has never won. All in all, I love the game but not really the league.


Now I've been going to Jazz games my whole life and I love them.  I've sat everywhere from the 7th row all the up to the last row and loved every second of all of it.  I love the modern feeling of the arena.  I also have been going to college football games for as long as I can remember and I've been to quite a few stadiums and even some old ones.  They are great fun places to be and watch football, but none of them offer that same feeling of ease and nostalgia that Spring Mobile ball park gives.  It's not the park either, it's baseball.  Why do you think three quarters of all the good sports movies are about baseball?  It's because of the feelings that it spurs in all of us with a heart. 

Recently I had the opportunity to go and watch the Mariners play the White Sox in Chicago.  I took the hour long train ride from my hotel to U.S. Cellular field.  I walked in by myself, an outsider in an unknown land.  I had even forgotten my hat at home and because of my Scandinavian heritage, I had to buy the hat of the enemy (not my first White Sox hat though).  The clouds were grey and ominous.  I sat in my seat as to not draw attention to myself and curled up to keep myself warm.  The first pitch was thrown by a 9 year old girl who was representing the girl scouts and she tossed that sucker dead on over the plate into the catchers mitt.  The crowd really cheered for first time.  The wind settled down a bit and the White Sox took the field to the first rays of sun I'd seen all day.  My shoulders relaxed, my senses opened up to the baseball atmosphere that surrounded me.  An old man was sitting next to me and we started to chat while we watched the game.  He grew up on the north side of Chicago.  Three up, three down for the Mariners.  He was an usher for the Blackhawks and Cubs while earning his doctorate.  He had worked at all the major sporting arena's in Chicago.  This man was a treasure trove of information.  Felix Hernandez started blowing batters away as I quietly cheered to myself.  I asked him about Wrigley field and he told me it felt like home to him and he hoped the don't lose the nostalgia when they remodel.  Felix retired the side in order. We talked of baseball fields across the country and his love of the great game.  Top of the 2nd, Raul Ibanez is on second when Jeff Keppinger reaches on a fielding error (worst stat in all of sports)  Mariner's up 1-0.  The guys behind us who are season ticket holders begin talking to us about the man's incredible history and start picking his brain just as I was.  Bottom of the forth the Sox finally get a hit off King Felix.  He talks about the legacy of a place like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park and how places like these should be held in great honor.  Also of how architects shouldn't be allowed to touch a baseball field unless they know baseball.  He references my now known teams foul pole debacle.  When Safeco Field was built, the architect put the poles in foul territory, in contrast to the rest of the world where they are actually in fair territory.  Bottom of the fifth, White Sox Hector Gimenez sac fly to center allows Conor Gillaspie to score.  1-1.  A breeze blows in and it becomes a little chilly again.  We start talking of all the cold weather games we'd been involved with.  Me talking about Utah vs BYU, Boise State at BYU etc. and the guys behind us talk about a Blackhawks game they went to at Soldier Field.  The old man decides to let us feel special for only a moment before telling us of a Notre Dame game he ushered for where the bleachers had iced over the night before and they couldn't chip it off fast enough because of the snow still falling.  It still sold out and the Irish won.  Bottom of the sixth Alex Rios hits a two run shot shot out of left field.  White Sox 3-1.  The older gentleman decides to leave us at this point to find some nachos in a baseball cap.  Literally $12 of food over flowing from a plastic White Sox helmet.  Awesome.  The other guys and I continue to talk sports, and Chicago.  They are both in the 200 club.  Which means they've been to over 200 White Sox games.  They tell of places to go and see in Chicago.  I have to go see the bean.  During the 7th inning stretch all the fans, and I do mean all the fans stand and sing at the top of their lungs.  "Root, root root for the WHITE SOX!!"  By the way, shame on you Bees fans.  I know you are one of the best selling tickets in the AAA, but small traditions like this get more mocked than anything sometime.  Bottom of the 7th, sac fly allows Conor Gillaspie to score again.  White Sox 4-1.  I have to go check out the bar on the 96th floor of the Hancock building.  It over looks the whole city and gives a view of the most amazing sunset you'll ever see. They had decided they'd seen enough of the 17th row on the 3rd base line.  We moved down to three empty seats on the sixth row, right behind the dugout.  Top of the 8th with a man on and no outs, Michael Saunders homers over the left field wall.  4-3 White Sox.  We start talking Bulls and how I laughed while watching the Nets and Bulls two nights prior because with Boozer screaming "AND ONE!!" and Deron scowling at everyone and shooting threes whenever he wants to, I felt like I was watching a Jazz scrimmage form 4 years ago.  Top of the 9th, two outs and a man on first, White Sox still leading by 1 the crowd gets up on their feet and starts cheering on their young closer Addison Reed.  He blows by the batter with his first two pitches making it an 0-2 count.  The third pitch goes a wee awry and the count gets up to 1-2.  The next pitch was fouled back into the crowd.  Still 1-2.  96 MPH fastball right down the gullet leaves the Mariners waving goodbye.  I say goodbye to my new comrades, they console my loss while cheering their win.  I walk up the stairs and leave the park.  As I do so, the clouds start coming back out and cover the sun and the wind picks up a little bit more.  By the time my train ride was over, the rain had begun to pour down.  Nothing could ruin this perfect day for me. 


Thursday, April 4, 2013

I'm back... again

Hello all you faithful and awesome followers!!  I know you've missed me and I've missed doing this so I'm back to give my schpiel on sports as we know it.  Here is a quick rundown of everything that has happened in my biased sports world since my last post.

Utah football: one meh year with Norm Chow (now the HC at Hawaii) was attempting some weird combo of the spread and west coast offenses and one abysmal year under the youngest offensive coordinator I've ever even heard of (I mean really?  BJ was the QB for the team in 2008) and where even the defense looked lost most of the time.  Throwing up seemed a more pleasurable experience than watching the garbage that  was displayed by the Utes.  In fact, every coach but one that the Utes beat in the Pac-12 has got fired over the last two years.  And the Mike Leach experiment in Pullman is yet to be decided.  That is how bad the were.  However, in the off season, they finally made a solid choice (hopefully) in offensive coaches.  Bryan Johnson is still the co-coordinate, but they brought in Dennis Erickson (yes that Dennis Erickson, of the Miami two time national championship and leaving to coach the Seahawks) to help him along.  They have narrowed the offense from a non functional "multi" scheme mess to a fast paced spread offense.  Erickson has been quoted in saying he wants at least 80 offensive plays a game.  The Utes averaged under 65 last year.  So that's a huge jump.  That's Oregon like numbers.  Hopefully they can hit it and Travis Wilson proves he is a bigger man than Jordan Wynn was. 

Running Utes Basketball:  New coach, same results... so far.  They did go nuts and beat two teams in the conference tourney this year and show some major promise.  But I seem to remember saying something like that in 2004...

Seahawks:  The Pete Carrol thing is going much better than I originally thought.  They have drafted well and attacked the free agent market this year and are a favorite to come out of the NFC West, even with the 49ers Super Bowl loss. 

The Utah Spazz, I mean Jazz.  They look great against the mid range teams and have even learned to beat the lower level teams.  But they seem star struck whenever they see a really athletic and disciplined team.  They are currently in the 9th spot in the west with seven games left and 1/2 game out of the 8th spot.  Honestly it doesn't look good to make the playoffs and even if they do, they'll be playing the Spurs again.  Yikes.  If they re-sign Big Al Jefferson, the biggest defensive liability I've seen since, well Boozer, I'm becoming a Sonics fan again.  Even though they may not even have a team next year, I'll just wear my old green and gold and wait. 

The Mariner's.  They look solid.  they are a grand 2-0 this year and I am super excited about the next 400 or so games they play in a season.  On a side note, I may actually be becoming more of a White Sox fan than I have before.  Those who've known me for a long time know that I've quietly sported the gear since I was 14, but now I'm actually starting to follow them a bit. 

All in all, I'm back.  Back again.  Look who's back.