Tuesday, July 14, 2009

When the time comes...


Perhaps I'm jumping the gun here.

Yes, Carlos Boozer is still officially a member of the Utah Jazz, but I can never remember a member of the Jazz being so uniformly disliked while still a member of the team. Legions of Jazz fans still curse (unfairly, I think) Derek Fisher's terminated contract and subsequent move to the Lakers. And Jazz fans delighted at the subsequent failures enjoyed by Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson when they spurned the Jazz and bigger paychecks for more exotic home locales. But these players were beloved until they moved elsewhere.

There was John Amaechi who claimed he was disliked because of his sexual orientation, but in reality was disliked because of the multi-year vacation (contract) he took at the Jazz's expense. Perhaps the most comparable Jazzman, in terms of negative fan sentiment, is Greg Ostertag who was booed so intensly and frequently during the regular season that he had his family stop attending games. But Amaechi was a benchwarmer and Ostertag provided enough effort during the post-season and enough amusing quotes to the media that he was tolerated.

The most intense vitriol from Jazz fans is saved for arguably the most dislikable player in the NBA: Kobe Bryant. Obviously, Kobe is not a popular player in any NBA arena not named Staples Center, but there is a special hatred in the hearts of Jazz fans for the self-proclaimed "Black Mamba" (which is one of the dumbest nicknames ever, by the way).
Kobe's arrogance, his rape accusation/adultery and subsequent ring purchase, and the fact that he has, in the latter half of his career, had the Jazz's number more than any other player certainly provides sufficient fodder for this hatred, but the fact that Kobe hates Jazz fans as much as they hate him just throws gasoline on this malevolent fire.

What are you doing with your middle finger, Kobe?

But if/when Boozer gets traded and returns to the Tox Box, will there be a new threshold of disdain established? If history is any indication, Boozer will probably pull a Derrick Coleman and have a phantom injury when he returns to the House that Larry Built.

Regardless, let's stay classy, SLC.

22 comments:

Pasty Gangsta said...

My problem is not with Fisher terminating his contract, it's with him doing it and going to LA where he's killed us in the playoffs. Not cool. He could have signed with other teams, and it makes people think (not incorrectly, perhaps) that he just wanted to get back there.

As for Boozer, as long as we keep Paul I'm fine. Although I do think it's interesting that two teams/fan bases had pretty terrible experiences with him. Doesn't bode well for Miami.

Susanna Johnson said...

haha. nice post.

Pasty Gangsta,

if your kid had a major illness, wouldn't YOU naturally want to be where the best doctor was AND your extended family? that's all he did.

I will defend him to my death, even though we miss his skills sorely.

Pasty Gangsta said...

He said when he left that there were four or five cities he could live in where she could get the medical care she needed. Los Angeles was one of them, but all I'm saying is he gravitated there because he knew they had a good team and had played there before. Something tells me the Clippers never entered his mind. . .

As this year's playoffs demonstrated, Fisher often gets away with being the nice guy when something a bit more is lurking underneath.

Anonymous said...

derrick coleman? boozer will be pulling a carlos boozer. after signing with the jazz, he was injured or "injured" the first two times the jazz played CLE.

The Golden Griff said...

Fair enough. The reference was to Derrick Coleman's statement that Karl Malone was an "Uncle Tom". After he made that statement, he had the uncanny ability to twist an ankle or sprain a wrist just a game or two before he played the Jazz, thus avoiding The Mailman's wrath.

Orlando said...

I don't like booing former players just because they are former players. It just makes fans seem uninformed and intolerant. It's a business.

Fisher may have used his daughter's illness to get back to LA, but so what? That's better than him going to the media and forcing his value downwards. Plus, people forget that Fisher had a brutal contract that would have KILLED us this year in free agency. He did us a fiscal favor.

Tucker McCann said...

Having said all of that, I agree with Golden Griff that, when Boozer comes back to town wearing a Bulls / Heat / Pistons / LA Sparks jersey, I would predict that he will HEAR it like not many former jazz players before him.

He is hated.

And then he adds fuel to the fire by going on Chicago radio and making up lies about conversations had with Greg Miller (which supposedly NEVER happened). This guy gets more slippery as the days go by.

Pasty Gangsta said...

If I had to bet, I'd say the conversation with Greg Miller did happen. When asked about it last week Jazz management had no comment and Boozer confirmed it.

With regards to Fisher, I don't think Jazz fans should boo him. And I completely understand the NBA is a business. All I'm saying is he used a legitimate personal reason to get out of his contract to go back to the Lakers without seriously considering any other teams. I find that disingenuous, even if it's nothing worse than what happens in the NBA all the time, or the business world for that matter.

Tucker McCann said...

In regards to the Boozer-Greg Miller conversation, Locke was livid yesterday because he says he has high-profile informants that WOULD NOT LIE who told him that Boozer made that up.

Who do you believe?

Pasty Gangsta said...

I don't know, but Kevin O'Connor again today declined to comment on whether anyone talked to him. Maybe Greg Miller didn't have the conversation with Boozer but O'Connor did? My bet is that someone at a pretty high level of the organization told Boozer in the last ten days that things weren't going to work out. It seems like an odd thing to make up (embellish, maybe) especially given the fact that it's clearly true.

Also, since when you do listen to Locke, Booner? I thought you hated sports radio.

Orlando said...

Booner only hates sports radio when it is compared to conservative talk radio.

He LOVES Glenn Beck.

Tucker McCann said...

Here is why I believe that the conversation never happened:

Why in God's great earth would O'Connor or Greg Miller tell Boozer that? It then allows Boozer to go tell the media, which then lowers his trade value. If you were a GM, there is no way you say that to the player until the trade is a done deal.

I just dont believe it happened. Also, Glen Beck is a fag.

Pasty Gangsta said...

My guess is they told him because they're decent people who wanted to let him know what the plan was. I think from time to time players ask owners to be traded and from time to time owners tell players they probably will be traded. The idea is that then neither side goes to the media, but clearly that didn't happen in this case.

But if no conversation took place, I think Kevin O'Connor would say, "We absolutely never told Carlos any such thing," not, "No comment."

The Golden Griff said...

Careful what you say about Glenn Beck, Booner. You wouldn't want to offend our readership of the Freedom Festival and Stadium of Fire persuasion. They may throw their tinfoil hats at you

Unknown said...

YAAA, Hate to break the news to you guys, but Kobe cheated on his wife but didn't rape her.

If any NBA superstar had to use force to have sex with a women, it would be someone ugly, unpopular, or over rated.

Someone like John Stockton

Anonymous said...

To: Sammy P

I would like to give you fair warning when it comes to taking the name of Stockton in vain, and venturing into the legal realm with the authors of the Cowhide Globe. It's a bad idea. Just keep drinking your laker kool-aid, refrain from mentioning kObe, and enjoy being a member of one of the worst fan bases in all of professional sports.

Regards,

Adam "The rebound thief" Keefe
aka Olson

Unknown said...

To; Olson

"fair warning", from...???

regards,

Sammy "loves talking trash" P.

The Golden Griff said...

Sammy, Sammy, Sammy.

I'm not sure how you can be overrated when you're the all-time leader in both steals and assists, but here's a little assignment for you: find out how many playoff game victories Bryant had when he went up against The Greatest Pure Point Guard of All-Time. I'll give you a hint - its one more than the number of logical posts you've made on this blog.

Congratulations to Mitch Kupchak for this year's championship by pulling off the trade of the century in getting Pau for Kwame Brown. Without Pau or without Shaq, Jazz fans have seen how successful Kobe is. However, I doubt you (like most fans in LA) were a Laker fan during that time.

Unknown said...

To Golden Griff:

I am flattered that you have taken the time to actually count how many posts that I have made on this site.

And I am sorry if my Laker trash talking might come off as a little rash. But it is because I am a "real" Laker Fan. And yes, I was there, yelling at the TV screen during the Kwame and Smush days.

I was also there during the days when the jazz would beat the lakers (with kobe and shaq) every year in the playoffs, when team that was coached by Del Harris.

BUT, i was also there as a baby, watching the showtime offense with my dad, who brought me up to be a laker fan. I also had to deal with nagging sisters who always said Jordan was better than Magic. and everytime Jordan would win and I would get picked on. (the same Jordan that crushed your beloved Malone and Stockton)

So when, Phil Jackson came around, and gave me a three-peat it gave me a voice. It gave a voice to a lot of long time fans. I am not a band wagoner because of that, as it seems you are implying I am.

As a Laker fan, I do like to talk trash to oppenent fans and rivals. I like to think I have the maturity to not get personal about it and to not take any trash talk towards my team personally either.

When I made my cut-down about Stockton, it wasn't because I didn't have any respect for the guy or because I don't know what I am talking about. I was just matching the Kobe trash talk that was in the actual blog post that I was responding to.

With that said, I was having fun and I am sorry if the readers of this site mis-interpreted my comments as being disrespectful rather than jestful.

In the future I will make note of how sensitive your fans are.

Tucker McCann said...

Remember Sammy, Jesus is a Stockton fan.

The Golden Griff said...

Sammy,

I don't think you got my joke referring to Kobe's playoff wins against Stockton and your blog posts, but your story as a Laker fan was heart-warming.

I'm also not sure which of my listed reasons for Jazz fans disliking Kobe was not factual.

Facts:
- Kobe did commit adultery (he admitted as much)
- Kobe was accused of rape
- Kobe did purchase a large diamond ring for his wife to make up for his misdeed (certainly a classy move)
- Kobe is arrogant
- Kobe has bested the Jazz as of late (as in, since Pau arrived)

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