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LogGrad98

LogGrad98

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I was 11 years old, and I went to my first Jazz game, first professional game at all. It was in the Salt Palace, and it was in the early part of the season. I think we were playing the Nuggets, in November. It was a high-scoring game. I don't remember a ton other than we were in the 5th row or so, near the Jazz bench. Got good tickets from a friend of my dad. We got to talk to some of the players after the game, and I got some autographs I still have somewhere, on the program I think. Met Eaton, Green, Griffith and Dantley, a few others, got their sigs. I was in complete awe. I had started playing myself just a couple of years before that, at about 9, with a jr rec league kind of thing. No Jr Jazz at that time. I was taller than all my friends, and the next summer I would shoot up to 6'1" and end up playing varsity ball as a freshman, and get a short stint as an honorary ball-boy for the Jazz the year Malone was drafted, an honor for jr high basketball achievement and academics or some such. 10 games throwing the ball back in warm-ups and a couple of practices. It was an amazing time to grow up like that, deep in the bball culture, with time on the floor with some of the greats, like Stockton and Malone.

I had all the hope in the world. We were an up and coming team. Not long after we would make an impact by pushing the eventual champion Lakers to 7 games. The 90's was a magical, and frustrating, time as a Jazz fan. Get to the WCF one year, first round out the next. Hard-nosed defense was the name of the game, and a no-nonsense approach to the game instilled by Sloan. We thought we had what it takes. Then we get The Shot. Unbelievable moment in my Jazz fan-dom. We thought maybe we had a chance, to be the one team that could unseat the Bulls. But bad officiating combined with untimely melt-downs (remember losing by 40? ugh) conspired to keep the elusive ring just out of reach. But we still had hope. We could re-tool, rebuild, come back with a vengeance.

We drafted Williams over Paul. Controversial to say the least. Would we have been a better team with Paul? Who is to say? That team had a shine to it, but it also had a lot of holes, and we just couldn't get anywhere near form.

Losing Sloan we really lost our identity which we haven't been able to find since. Are we a defensive stalwart? An offensive juggernaut? Something in between? But no matter what that fluid identity may be, we are definitely inconsistent. And frustrating. What is the next iteration of the Jazz? What are we going to be? The bumblebees?

So here I sit, soon to be 41 years into my life as a Jazz fan. Having seen the tough road, the failures, the very pinnacle of achievement for the Jazz over the years. Laughed, cried, cheered, loved the team, hated the team, all the ups and downs of fan-dom. Yet we are still no closer than we were when Sloan opted out (RIP Jerry, we love and miss you). And the question arises, will we ever be? Are we destined to be the one team that never gets any closer to the title than we were in 97 or 98, the Cubs of the NBA? But of course the Cubs won the series twice, just had a long time in between. The big question for me, getting on in years, is will we ever win one in my lifetime. I have no answer to that obviously, and I am afraid my hope is dwindling fast. The team now seems in disarray. We are likely looking at the next rebuild coming soon. A half decade or more of mediocrity to come, followed by a high-lottery pick, god willing, and maybe we get back into contention for a few years. It is the cycle of the NBA. The stars will still conglomerate in the coasts, and the also-rans will try to cobble together a contending team from what is left and what they can acquire in the draft. And we hope our rise coincides with a lull for the juggernauts, like the Raptors and the Bucks championship seasons. In real estate, location is everything, and in the NBA, timing of the rise is crucial.

And now we have new leadership, a new owner, with a new direction. It is different, uncomfortable, foreign even. Seems to be on a whim, and not taken as seriously as we have taken the team over the years. The new billionaires new toy. Feels cheapened and disrespectful of the legacy, and it throws everything into question. Who are we? What is our new identity? Does anyone know, is there a plan even?

So where I sit now as a fan later in years, I am thinking it is just more and more likely we never get the ring during my lifetime, And I also wonder, as a fan, is it worth it? I have been a pretty passionate fan for 40 years, and frankly, in lots of ways it is exhausting. Lots of emotion goes into it, and the defeats are crushing. Often worse for the fans than the players. The players move on. In lots of ways it is just their job, and I think most of them know their odds of winning it all are slim. But for fans, we put so much on the success of our team, we put so much time and commitment into it, it becomes part of our identity, we even introduce ourselves often that way - Hi I am LogGrad and I am a Jazz fan - and for us it doesn't end, we don't move on, we stick around through the bad times and the good. Hoping against hope for the one time our timing is right and we win it all!

But I am starting to see that the light at the end of the tunnel is as elusive as a candle in the wind, and the chase is tiring and mind-numbing, and so, frankly, you have to start thinking, is it worth it?

Is it for you?
 
TheStormofWar said:
Welcome Beavis.

Due seriousness though, take a break. You're describing burnout.
Click to expand...
Yep. Agreed. Depends on what the team does at this point. We are on the cusp of something. Could be a meteoric rise, could be a dip in the crapper. We'll see.
 
Please Danny, name a coach sooner than later. We need to get over the draft, we need some hope, throw us a frequen bone. Give us something to look forward to. We had no picks this year, we've gone years not getting a good first round pick, and we have no coach, GIVE US SOME HOPE!
 
That is really awesome that you were able to do that at such a young age. Thank you for sharing that story.

Being a fan of the Jazz is something I will always be. They’re the only professional sports team I have a personal connection to. I love the NFL and my dad is from Wisconsin and we are Packers fans but it just doesn’t feel anywhere near the same as being a Jazz fan. It seems almost made up or pretend. It is a really weird feeling. I was born in Utah and ever since I am able to remember I love everything about the Jazz.

I used to record the RMR on video tapes and re-watch them all summer long. No matter who we drafted I would stand behind them and believe they will be the next big thing. I remember crying tears of joy when we made the WCF and crying tears of sadness when we got knocked out repeatedly by the Lakers. Those were some damn good teams we had. I thought there was maybe a chance we could get past them once. I wore my baby blue Boozer jersey to school any chance I could get. I’ve always been proud of being a Jazz fan.

These past few years have honestly been the best years of my life and as a Jazz fan. I think we had our best chance at making the Finals since 2007 in 2021. It was a magical run starting from the beginning of the season. It is extremely rewarding to me to watch the Jazz and converse with you guys on here. I’ve been posting on Jazz message boards since I was 10 years old. It is nice to share the ups with people who can relate as well as the downs. Let’s face it if you post on here regularly you’re a die hard fan of the Jazz.

It will always be worth it to me and I will enjoy whatever stage of team building we are in. Hell, the Core 4 years were some of my funnest years as a Jazz fan. I was so damn happy when we drafted Burke. I couldn’t believe it happened and we see how that turned out. Will we win a ring in my lifetime? Nobody really knows as there are a lot of variables. We’ve actually been top-5 in the NBA in wins since 2000. That’s super impressive and many other teams would die to be in that situation instead of theirs.

In the end, the Jazz are engrained in me as a person and in my life. No matter what it will be worth it and make winning a championship that much more sweeter.
 
LogGrad98 said:
I was 11 years old, and I went to my first Jazz game, first professional game at all. It was in the Salt Palace, and it was in the early part of the season. I think we were playing the Nuggets, in November. It was a high-scoring game. I don't remember a ton other than we were in the 5th row or so, near the Jazz bench. Got good tickets from a friend of my dad. We got to talk to some of the players after the game, and I got some autographs I still have somewhere, on the program I think. Met Eaton, Green, Griffith and Dantley, a few others, got their sigs. I was in complete awe. I had started playing myself just a couple of years before that, at about 9, with a jr rec league kind of thing. No Jr Jazz at that time. I was taller than all my friends, and the next summer I would shoot up to 6'1" and end up playing varsity ball as a freshman, and get a short stint as an honorary ball-boy for the Jazz the year Malone was drafted, an honor for jr high basketball achievement and academics or some such. 10 games throwing the ball back in warm-ups and a couple of practices. It was an amazing time to grow up like that, deep in the bball culture, with time on the floor with some of the greats, like Stockton and Malone.

I had all the hope in the world. We were an up and coming team. Not long after we would make an impact by pushing the eventual champion Lakers to 7 games. The 90's was a magical, and frustrating, time as a Jazz fan. Get to the WCF one year, first round out the next. Hard-nosed defense was the name of the game, and a no-nonsense approach to the game instilled by Sloan. We thought we had what it takes. Then we get The Shot. Unbelievable moment in my Jazz fan-dom. We thought maybe we had a chance, to be the one team that could unseat the Bulls. But bad officiating combined with untimely melt-downs (remember losing by 40? ugh) conspired to keep the elusive ring just out of reach. But we still had hope. We could re-tool, rebuild, come back with a vengeance.

We drafted Williams over Paul. Controversial to say the least. Would we have been a better team with Paul? Who is to say? That team had a shine to it, but it also had a lot of holes, and we just couldn't get anywhere near form.

Losing Sloan we really lost our identity which we haven't been able to find since. Are we a defensive stalwart? An offensive juggernaut? Something in between? But no matter what that fluid identity may be, we are definitely inconsistent. And frustrating. What is the next iteration of the Jazz? What are we going to be? The bumblebees?

So here I sit, soon to be 41 years into my life as a Jazz fan. Having seen the tough road, the failures, the very pinnacle of achievement for the Jazz over the years. Laughed, cried, cheered, loved the team, hated the team, all the ups and downs of fan-dom. Yet we are still no closer than we were when Sloan opted out (RIP Jerry, we love and miss you). And the question arises, will we ever be? Are we destined to be the one team that never gets any closer to the title than we were in 97 or 98, the Cubs of the NBA? But of course the Cubs won the series twice, just had a long time in between. The big question for me, getting on in years, is will we ever win one in my lifetime. I have no answer to that obviously, and I am afraid my hope is dwindling fast. The team now seems in disarray. We are likely looking at the next rebuild coming soon. A half decade or more of mediocrity to come, followed by a high-lottery pick, god willing, and maybe we get back into contention for a few years. It is the cycle of the NBA. The stars will still conglomerate in the coasts, and the also-rans will try to cobble together a contending team from what is left and what they can acquire in the draft. And we hope our rise coincides with a lull for the juggernauts, like the Raptors and the Bucks championship seasons. In real estate, location is everything, and in the NBA, timing of the rise is crucial.

And now we have new leadership, a new owner, with a new direction. It is different, uncomfortable, foreign even. Seems to be on a whim, and not taken as seriously as we have taken the team over the years. The new billionaires new toy. Feels cheapened and disrespectful of the legacy, and it throws everything into question. Who are we? What is our new identity? Does anyone know, is there a plan even?

So where I sit now as a fan later in years, I am thinking it is just more and more likely we never get the ring during my lifetime, And I also wonder, as a fan, is it worth it? I have been a pretty passionate fan for 40 years, and frankly, in lots of ways it is exhausting. Lots of emotion goes into it, and the defeats are crushing. Often worse for the fans than the players. The players move on. In lots of ways it is just their job, and I think most of them know their odds of winning it all are slim. But for fans, we put so much on the success of our team, we put so much time and commitment into it, it becomes part of our identity, we even introduce ourselves often that way - Hi I am LogGrad and I am a Jazz fan - and for us it doesn't end, we don't move on, we stick around through the bad times and the good. Hoping against hope for the one time our timing is right and we win it all!

But I am starting to see that the light at the end of the tunnel is as elusive as a candle in the wind, and the chase is tiring and mind-numbing, and so, frankly, you have to start thinking, is it worth it?

Is it for you?
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your journey. Your connection to the team is stronger than almost everybody here. You probably take it to heart more than most as well.

I'm also one losing faith. I was so incredibly optimistic after the Bojan signing and even the Conley trade. I hated the cost but was so hopeful that it was worth it. It all looked promising. I absolutely loved Joe, Don and where we seemed to be.

We seemed to take every single avoidable misstep and here we are. Fractured. Leaderless. Lost.

Sent from my SM-A516U using JazzFanz mobile app
 
LogGrad98 said:
I was 11 years old, and I went to my first Jazz game, first professional game at all. It was in the Salt Palace, and it was in the early part of the season. I think we were playing the Nuggets, in November. It was a high-scoring game. I don't remember a ton other than we were in the 5th row or so, near the Jazz bench. Got good tickets from a friend of my dad. We got to talk to some of the players after the game, and I got some autographs I still have somewhere, on the program I think. Met Eaton, Green, Griffith and Dantley, a few others, got their sigs. I was in complete awe. I had started playing myself just a couple of years before that, at about 9, with a jr rec league kind of thing. No Jr Jazz at that time. I was taller than all my friends, and the next summer I would shoot up to 6'1" and end up playing varsity ball as a freshman, and get a short stint as an honorary ball-boy for the Jazz the year Malone was drafted, an honor for jr high basketball achievement and academics or some such. 10 games throwing the ball back in warm-ups and a couple of practices. It was an amazing time to grow up like that, deep in the bball culture, with time on the floor with some of the greats, like Stockton and Malone.

I had all the hope in the world. We were an up and coming team. Not long after we would make an impact by pushing the eventual champion Lakers to 7 games. The 90's was a magical, and frustrating, time as a Jazz fan. Get to the WCF one year, first round out the next. Hard-nosed defense was the name of the game, and a no-nonsense approach to the game instilled by Sloan. We thought we had what it takes. Then we get The Shot. Unbelievable moment in my Jazz fan-dom. We thought maybe we had a chance, to be the one team that could unseat the Bulls. But bad officiating combined with untimely melt-downs (remember losing by 40? ugh) conspired to keep the elusive ring just out of reach. But we still had hope. We could re-tool, rebuild, come back with a vengeance.

We drafted Williams over Paul. Controversial to say the least. Would we have been a better team with Paul? Who is to say? That team had a shine to it, but it also had a lot of holes, and we just couldn't get anywhere near form.

Losing Sloan we really lost our identity which we haven't been able to find since. Are we a defensive stalwart? An offensive juggernaut? Something in between? But no matter what that fluid identity may be, we are definitely inconsistent. And frustrating. What is the next iteration of the Jazz? What are we going to be? The bumblebees?

So here I sit, soon to be 41 years into my life as a Jazz fan. Having seen the tough road, the failures, the very pinnacle of achievement for the Jazz over the years. Laughed, cried, cheered, loved the team, hated the team, all the ups and downs of fan-dom. Yet we are still no closer than we were when Sloan opted out (RIP Jerry, we love and miss you). And the question arises, will we ever be? Are we destined to be the one team that never gets any closer to the title than we were in 97 or 98, the Cubs of the NBA? But of course the Cubs won the series twice, just had a long time in between. The big question for me, getting on in years, is will we ever win one in my lifetime. I have no answer to that obviously, and I am afraid my hope is dwindling fast. The team now seems in disarray. We are likely looking at the next rebuild coming soon. A half decade or more of mediocrity to come, followed by a high-lottery pick, god willing, and maybe we get back into contention for a few years. It is the cycle of the NBA. The stars will still conglomerate in the coasts, and the also-rans will try to cobble together a contending team from what is left and what they can acquire in the draft. And we hope our rise coincides with a lull for the juggernauts, like the Raptors and the Bucks championship seasons. In real estate, location is everything, and in the NBA, timing of the rise is crucial.

And now we have new leadership, a new owner, with a new direction. It is different, uncomfortable, foreign even. Seems to be on a whim, and not taken as seriously as we have taken the team over the years. The new billionaires new toy. Feels cheapened and disrespectful of the legacy, and it throws everything into question. Who are we? What is our new identity? Does anyone know, is there a plan even?

So where I sit now as a fan later in years, I am thinking it is just more and more likely we never get the ring during my lifetime, And I also wonder, as a fan, is it worth it? I have been a pretty passionate fan for 40 years, and frankly, in lots of ways it is exhausting. Lots of emotion goes into it, and the defeats are crushing. Often worse for the fans than the players. The players move on. In lots of ways it is just their job, and I think most of them know their odds of winning it all are slim. But for fans, we put so much on the success of our team, we put so much time and commitment into it, it becomes part of our identity, we even introduce ourselves often that way - Hi I am LogGrad and I am a Jazz fan - and for us it doesn't end, we don't move on, we stick around through the bad times and the good. Hoping against hope for the one time our timing is right and we win it all!

But I am starting to see that the light at the end of the tunnel is as elusive as a candle in the wind, and the chase is tiring and mind-numbing, and so, frankly, you have to start thinking, is it worth it?

Is it for you?
Click to expand...
1656081387415.gif
 
Look maybe the championships were all the internet friendships we made along the way.
 
By the way, Malone seemed a lot bigger in person, and Stockton seemed a lot smaller, shorter than I was at least. Ricky Green was tiny, I would be surprised if he were actually 5'10". Mark Eaton was, and still is, the biggest human being I have ever seen. He made Malone look small. I have a picture somewhere with me and another ball-boy and Eaton between us resting his arm on our heads. It felt like it weighed 100 lbs. Stockton really does have huge hands (pads). I remember throwing a ball back to him and missing his spot and he reached out one-handed and just grabbed it out of the air. I have pretty big hands but I can't palm the ball like that. It was pretty cool.
 
I honestly couldn’t care less. I have a demanding job, three little children at home, way too many organized sports practices and games to go to, a home to keep up, as well as a marriage, all to which to dedicate my time. I can’t invest whatever time is left over on a completely unlikable collection of millionaire or billionaire dumbasses. It’s a waste of time and energy and only detracts from being a better parent, husband and employee.
 
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