Bill Clinton was in the middle of the Monica Lewinsky scandal that saw him impeached. Jesse Ventura is elected as Governor of Minnesota. Armageddon was the highest grossing movie of the year, and we were all forced to listen to Aerosmith and Puff Daddy all the time no matter how much we hated it.
Why does any of this matter, it was 12 years ago.
1998; 12 years ago was the last time the Utah Jazz made it to the NBA finals.
In 1997 & 1998 the Jazz had the bad luck of playing the Chicago Bulls who were ripping off their 5th and 6th championships, and third in a row. The Utah Jazz has not been back since.
Jerry Sloan has been the coach of the Jazz since 1988; that is 22 years ago. When he took over in Salt Lake City, Ronald Reagan was still President and the Berlin Wall was still standing. In fact you could still get a Mc DLT from McDonalds. Remember those came it two packages so the hot stayed hot and the cold stayed cold and you had to put it together your self? Don’t remember that? Go to YouTube and check out the Jason Alexander commercial for it.
Why am I bringing up the past so much? Thanks for asking! It is because the Utah Jazz are living in the past.
The Jazz have been clawing at the past for years now and some one needs to call them out on it. Yes we all loved Stockton and Malone, but they are closer to receiving social security now then they are to their playing days.
Name me another coach that has been anywhere for 22 years. There are a few in college football, but the difference is they have at least one championship.
Jerry Sloan must have some deep dark secrets on the Miller family, because that is the only way I can explain why he is still around.
Sure new coaches have not exactly been successful over the last decade or so. Since 2000 Phil Jackson has won 4 titles, Gregg Popovich has won 3, Doc Rivers Larry Brown and some guy named Pat Riley all won one each. Not exactly lightweights, but head and shoulders above Jerry Sloan.
I am not saying they need to take down the Stockton and Malone statues or change the names of the streets named after them. Just stop clinging to the past as your reason for existence.
In 1988, the same year Jerry Sloan took over as coach of the Jazz, George H.W. Bush was elected President. Think of how the country would look if he was still President today. Every few years based on the success they have we elect a new President, but for some reason for 22 years straight the Jazz have tasted neither change nor success and seem content.
The Jazz need a new head coach if they want to rise above anything more then a one and done first round and out appearance in the play offs. In order to win a title you have to be able to beat your biggest rival in the conference. Sloan and the Jazz don’t even seem like they are trying to beat the Lakers.
The Utah Jazz players do not have passion, they play with no heart they play with no sense of purpose. And that lays clearly on the shoulders of the coach. There are reasons guys like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich can win multiple titles and some coaches can’t win one.
Have you ever been to Salt Lake when the Lakers are in town? It is easy to say the Lakers have two home courts. Sure the stadium sells a lot of tickets, but they are sold to people cheering against the Jazz and wearing Bryant jerseys.
Sloan needs to go and the Jazz need to start looking towards the future and not the past. Because the one thing we know is history repeats itself, and it has been repeating it’s self for the last 22 years in Salt Lake.
