This is why I love sports.

Think back to 2am Tuesday morning. What were you doing? Probably sleeping (that is what I was doing). Maybe working or doing homework.

Well, you could have been joining in on a heated debate over an article/video by Dan Patrick criticizing Rick Reilly for his article ripping Jimmer Fredette.

I posted a link to Patrick's article on Facebook stating that I agreed with him. I never guessed what would follow that post. Two of my friends - Ronnie and Chris - went back and forth over the course of 73 comments until 2:30am. What they were going back and forth over is not totally clear at some points. It started about the article and then just sort of devolves.

There are a couple of things that I love about this.

1. I love sports. Don't get me wrong; I am passionate about them, I follow them way too closely, I debate hypotheticals concerning them - I love sports. But I will be the first to say that there are a lot of us that take them too far. This Facebook argument is an example of that. At the heart of all of this is Jimmer Fredette. If you don't know who that is, here is quick overview - he is a 6'1" Mormon, white kid who plays for BYU and lead the nation in scoring. He has an unbelievable shot and has taken the nation by storm. He took BYU to the sweet 16 where they lost to Florida. After which, Rick Reilly - a sports writer for ESPN.com - said that he was overrated, leading to a furious debate.

And here is what I love about sports: people - myself included - get worked up into a tizzy over things that can't be known, don't matter, and/or they have no control over.

Take the Jazz for instance. They are my favorite team. They are also horrible this year. I spend gobs of time discussing what they should do, will they get better, and what caused the problems. Yet I have zero control over it and it really has no bearing on my life. But I still do it. I still miss Deron Williams and Jerry Sloan. I still want the Jazz to get good draft picks. I still yearn for them to win the championship next year. And I still want the Lakers to lose in such glorious fashion that all Lakers fans denounce the evil franchise and burn their jerseys.

Yes, that is what I go through as a Jazz fan. And yes, I realize it is foolish, but I am not alone.

2. The second thing that makes the aforementioned Facebook argument such a gem is the fact that Chris and Ronnie have never met each other. It is glorious.

And that embodies why sports are so great. They can cause two people who don't know each other to argue vehemently online for hours about something that doesn't matter.

So here it is:

 

 

Trouble Buying Mehmet Lately?

For those of you who don't know, I'm an avid Utah Jazz fan.

If you don't follow the Jazz closely, don't worry, they are doing well this year. Which is even more impressive when you consider that one of our key players - Mehmet "Memo" Okur - is out with ruptured Achilles. This afternoon I was wondering when he would be back, so I went to the Salt Lake Tribune's website and searched for "Mehmet Okur".

I discovered that his rehab is coming along well, but there is no timetable for his return. I also discovered that we can buy more "Mehmet Okur" on ebay and Amazon. So that is exciting:

It may be worth looking into, because the Mehmet Okur that we have is costing us almost $10 million/year.

Apparently those dynamic advertisements aren't yet perfect. In any case, hopefully Memo and his money ball will be back on the court soon.

"Memo for 3!!!"

My Opinuendo on the Lebron Decision

It turns out I was wrong (I think this is the first time), Lebron didn't stay with the Cavs. He took his one hour special and ripped out the heart of a franchise. My take on it is this: If he wanted to win championships, he would have chosen Chicago; If he wanted to be the most loved and respected player, he would have stayed in Cleveland; but apparently he wants some pressure taken off himself, so he has chosen the Miami Heat.

I don't even know if I consider him the best player on his own team anymore, let alone in the league. Ernie and I were talking about it the other day and I said that if I were a team courting one of the free agents this off-season, I would would take Dwayne Wade. He has done it before; he has been to the top. I question James in crunch time; I don't question Wade. But maybe that is why James chose the Heat. It is a place where he is not THE guy. Now he shares that with Wade and, to a lesser degree, Bosh. He even said in his announcement that Wade was letting he (James) and Bosh come to Wade's team. Now when someone that has to take over, it can be Wade. For 42 minutes, Bosh and James can do their thing and in the final 6 Wade can do his.

That is not a luxury that James would have had in Chicago. Even with Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah, James would have been the most prominent figure on the court night in and night out. It would have been his responsibility to win.

I am still not convinced that Miami makes the most sense for winning - as Lebron claims it does. First of all, the Heat only have 5 players currently... opps, now 4 and - depending on how much money Bosh, Wade, and James are willing to forfeit - the Heat should be about at the cap. Any way you cut this, they are going to need to find several players to play for the minimum. I am not sure that will cut it because in this league it still takes a team to win.

Furthermore, there are always egos involved - and as much as people don't like to admit it, feelings change and evolve over time. Today the 3 of them may well be happy to share the lime light, but what happens when things start going well and one or two of them is given more of the credit? Chris Bosh has shown he wants more publicity, but on a team with Wade and James, I don't think he will get that. Can he handle it? Can Wade or James handle taking a back seat to the other if needs be?

Or even worse - What if things start to fall apart? How do they handle losing? This seems at least somewhat like the 2003-2004 Lakers and that was a total crash and burn. I am not predicting failure, but I don't know that success is guaranteed.

In the end, this may be the best thing for Lebron - in the words of Bill Simmons - "becoming Mega-Pippen to Wade's Jordan" because I am not sure he has the mental makeup of a Kobe or Jordan or Bird. But regardless, it was the worst way to do it. A 1-hour special? No way. The only way that is appropriate is if he is staying in Cleveland and it is a Cleveland love-fest.

Don't mistake what I am saying, for the past 7 seasons Lebron has done good by Cleveland and has every right to leave, but he should have simply released a statement saying something along the lines of:

After carefully weighing the options I have and considering what is best for me and my family, I have decided to sign with the Miami Heat. I have enjoyed my time hear in Cleveland and this will always be my home, but it is time for my career to take me to South Beach. I love the fans here in Cleveland and I hope that they can support me in this as they will always be dear to my heart.

I think that would have been much more professional that what he has done over the past week. It doesn't seem that he realizes that while this is just a game it has far reaching effects. His presence in a community brings income to that community and at the same time the lack of his presence takes away money from a community. Should that fact make him stay? No, but it should have caused him to handle this in a more dignified manner.

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Have you ever heard that when you are mad at someone you should write a letter to them and then let it sit in a drawer for a few days to see if you really want to send it? Maybe Dan Gilbert should have tried that before his response to this news that was posted on the Cavs website. I get it, you are mad. So is everyone else, but the tone is too much like a bitter ex - or in TimpJynx's words, "he sounds like a jilted prom queen". Aside from that, 2 points:

1. Not a fan of the comic sans font. I feel like any letter written in that font should be signed with a crayon.
   
2. To many "quotation marks"... Who is he, Bennett Brauer? (serious, if you take nothing else from this post, watch that clip!)

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One final point. It is interesting that just 4-5 years ago everyone was ready to stick a fork in the Eastern Conference permanently because all the free agents flocked to the west, but now they are looking like the more dominant conference. Hmmm...

My Opinuendo on the Lebron Special

For those of you who may not have heard, Lebron James is announcing which NBA team he will be playing with next year live on ESPN tomorrow at 9pm eastern. Why is this such a big deal? Well, Lebron was the most anticipated player to enter the NBA ever and is widely considered to be the greatest player currently in the NBA. Furthermore, this is the first time he has ever been a free agent. Up until now he has been playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers which is particularly interesting given 2 things:

1) Lebron James is from Cleveland. He grew up in Akron, OH and, almost as though the script was written by Walt Disney himself, the Cavaliers won the right to draft James as the #1 overall pick in 2003.

2) The city of Cleveland is considered to be the most cursed sport city in the USA. If Lebron James - one of their own - leaves for greener pastures, the city of Cleveland may be no more.

Unlike most free agents who visit with different teams and then announce who they will play for, Lebron has made the teams come to him - which I am actually fine with because it becomes less of a spectacle - and he is going to announce his selection in a 1 hour special on ESPN - this is the part I am not fine with.

Why on earth does he need a 1 hour special to announce this? How hard is it?

"I'm staying in Cleveland"

There, I just did it in 4 words. He could do that on twitter.

The only way it is worth it for him to do a 1 hour special is if he uses 5 minutes of it to announce he is going to Chicago - I am convinced that this would be the biggest slap in the face - and the other 55 minutes is used for live coverage of the destruction and riots in Cleveland.

But I am sticking with my original prediction. He is staying in Cleveland. Why? If Lebron stays in Cleveland, he will be the greatest man Cleveland has ever known. If he wins 1 championship there, he will be a demigod. If he wins multiple championships, they will start the church of Lebron. 1 championship in Cleveland, is worth 3 somewhere else.

Furthermore, there is a look that I have never seen in Lebron's eyes. The look of "I would sacrifice my own family to win this game". It is a look you need to be the greatest player of a generation and win multiple championships. Michael Jordan had it. Kobe Bryant has had it. I think I have even seen it in Dwayne Wade's eyes. That is the same look you need to to walk away from 2.25 million people who desperately want you to stay.

Utah, I have failed you...

On June 25, 2009, I finished a new version of the Utah Jazz's old logo. I put a new spin on the old logo and used the newer colors.

I then used it on a hat which I posted on my blog. A few people mentioned that I should have sent it to the Jazz as it looked like they were moving towards changing the logo. Well, I didn't and today I deeply regret that decision as the Jazz unveiled their new logo. Which would you rather have? This (the one the Jazz unveiled) -

Or This (mine)!

Even if you like the darker green - which I kind of do - and the gold (which I am not so sure about), I still think the more modern ball is better as well as keeping the accents of the letters blue rather than green. See:

I will say this, I don't think that they would have used my idea even if I would have sent it in - and where would I have sent it? But, I still wish I would have made the attempt. However, in 5-10 years when they redo it again, Greg Miller should give me a call.

Anyhow, let me know what you think. Vote 1 for the official new Jazz logo (the top one); 2 for my first attempt with the light blue (middle); or 3 for my logo with their colors. Put your vote in the comments!

Valuable Life Lessons

A couple valuable life lessons:
1) never name any fantasy sports teams "undefeated"... Just don't mess with karma like that.

2) never go bungy jumping in Mexico... They just don't have the regulations.

My Utah Jazz Hat!!!!

I decided to embark on a little arts and crafts project on Friday. I have always liked the simplicity of the old Utah Jazz logo, but the color palette of the newest logo. A couple of months ago I recreated the old logo with the new colors and a slight variation of the "J"/basketball (to give it a newer feel) and on Friday I printed it out of fabric and sewed it on to a blank cap that I bought:

You can see the current and historic Jazz logos here.