So this the year that we finally win the champion......Ship?
Yes. Really need it at this point. So much ups and downs over the years. To be the types that we are of the level that we’ve followed the team for decades, it really takes a toll. I’m not a fan of college sports and don’t really follow the MLB or NFL. I’ve never had the experience of my team going all the way. But there have been lots of good and bad memories along the way.
I remember going to a few games at the Salt Palace and always wanting to catch the balls they'd throw out. I remember the first time going to the Delta Center when it was brand new and how tedious those small steps seemed on the northwest entrance as a kid. I remember when they'd send out the Jazz playoff signs every year in the newspaper that you were supposed to hang in your window. I remember going to a road playoff game in Denver in '94 when my mom had an overnight there. That was the only road game I've ever been to. I remember my dad being excited about getting Hornacek. I remember the Thurl Bailey / Corbin trade. I remember thinking how cool it was when we'd hit the conference finals and think that we were one of only four teams left. I remember watching the closing minutes when we got eliminated by Seattle in game 7 of the WCF and thinking we could have gone to the finals. I remember watching "the shot" in our living room and all of us as a family went nuts and I called my friend to ask if he saw it. I remember the way I felt after we got bumped from the finals, and going to school the next morning when everyone was a Bulls fan. I remember when we traded for Rony Seikaly and I was excited to watch the next Jazz game, then he totally flaked out. The next game during the post-game I remember Frank Layden (was doing commentary then) said to not feel sorry for these guys (Morris and Foster) and that this was business (they then had to return after I believe they reported to Orlando). I remember how pissed I was (and still am) about the Eisley 3 and the Harper 2. I remember going to my friend's house and having sleepover a few of us back when we were playing Sacramento with Divac and then Portland with Sabonis and Wallace, and we would never hit the conference finals again with those teams. I remember feeling bummed out about trading Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson leaving. Ended up really liking Donyell Marshall. I remember drafting Stevenson and the natural assumption is that since he was coming out of high school that naturally he was going to be Kobe, and we just needed to wait. I remember my sophomore year of high school when I started to get really, really into it and from that point on would essentially watch every game. We ended up playing Dallas in the first round, which up until that point in time always seemed like a formality to advancing, then we got upset and that stupid layup by Calvin Booth and his Cal tattoo. It felt like Dirk didn't miss a FT all series. It was that point in my sophomore year of high school that I started posting on here. I've now spent more of my life as a member of JazzFanz (20 years) than I've spent not being a member (16 years). I remember the 2003 draft being the first one that I really looked at all the info on. I remember how I was and how pissed everyone was when we draft Raul Lopez. Every time there was an unpopular draft pick, the FO and the media rolled out the "yeah, well they booed the Stockton pick..." schtick. Then somehow I ended up convincing myself he'd be great even after he blew out his ACL before coming over. I remember having to listen to the media sell John Amaechi, or when KOC made moves like bringing in Calbert Cheaney as our off-season acquisition. I remember never advancing past the first round after our Dallas defeat. Getting beat by Sacramento both years and going to all of those home playoff games. I remember Brad Miller hitting a three at a crucial time. I also remember Vlade hitting a three down the stretch. I remember being excited about Borchardt and Pavlovic. I remember the year after John and Karl left. I went to every home game that year by myself before leaving on my mission. I got to shoot for money a few weeks before I left and hit a three. I remember my dad sending me the newspaper clippings about the trade deadline while I was in the MTC and we traded Stevenson for Giricek. I remember following the team through an 800 number called TELL ME that would give sports scores and synopsis. I remember checking the boxscores from the library. I remember thinking signing Memo and Boozer was a solid off-season. I remember knowing nothing about Deron, and then coming home to the tail end of his rookie year and really liking the way our team looked. I remember the excitement of the WCF run. My wife and I were on our honeymoon in Cabo for 1-2 of the Houston games and trying to load the score on crappy phones at the time and being in bad service areas. I remember being excited that we were finally back after nearly 10 years, and I remember Chuck picking us to win the title when he went on a talk show (Letterman?). I remember the Korver trade and how awesome that was, but then watched KOC bring back the same roster for 3 years to have the same result of getting bumped by LAL in successively less games each year. I remember being in my first year of medical school and we were living in Missouri. I didn't have league pass at the time but the Cavs game was on TNT, so I stayed up really late to watch Gaines hit that buzzer-beater. Then I remember the Corbin era. I remember we had moved to Texas to start residency but we couldn't get into our house for a week, so we had to stay in a hotel with our (at the time) two kids. I watched the 2013 draft and was excited for Trey Burke, and also liked the move for Gobert. I remember how bad it sucked having league pass in Texas because they considered any game against Houston, San Antonio, or Dallas to be in-market so I was blacked out for 12 games per year. I remember watching that first Clippers playoff game and seeing Rudy go down and thinking "ah, **** it, I guess next year." But then it was later and we stayed in it. My wife had gone to bed and my oldest son and I watched Joe Johnson hit that game winner. I remember then getting smoked by the Warriors. Then I remember the whole Hayward debacle, and that pretty much brings us up to speed on our current team.
Yeah, we need a championship. I've had enough foreplay.
For Christmas my oldest son was saying he wanted to order these replica super bowl rings. He’s not that big of a football fan and I thought it was kinda silly. Anyway, recently I had seen that they actually make these rings...
Amazon product ASIN B08S3GM4TV
So I decided "hell yeah, I'll buy a ring." Would be great on my shelf. We've watched all these guys come and go. We've been through enough ****. If we were to win it all, we've endured as much as anyone else.
