Tony Jones No Longer Covers Utah Jazz

[George W]

Tony

Y'all remember Eric Woodyard? I think he was the Desert News person (for like maybe 2 or 3 seasons) before they hired Sarah Todd (he works for ESPN covering the Detroit Lions now). He was honestly the best writer that's ever covered the Jazz.

I think Andy is the best at doing tough questions/critical reporting.

Tony was the best at delivering credible rumors/giving you an idea how the FO is thinking (and podcast appearances).

I dont have anything against Sarah Todd, I think she's fine. I just dont really ever find myself looking for her work. Nothing about her work has stood out to me as being particularly strong. Seems more like a well-rounded beat reporter.

Bullseye. Woodyard was a savant.

Before this generation we also had a couple of other decent writers, god I'm forgetting the names -- Bill Oram comes to mind. Never really liked Jody's writing, but he was a personality. I appreciated that Tony had stature across the league and tbh I feel like he did a lot to hospitalize the image of Utah, probably his lasting impact (look no further than the post in here).

All the best in Philly, Tony. Thanks for your engagement and professionalism. You blocked me on twitter too, but I never cared and probably deserved it.

- George

 

[vegas]

@Tony Jones
Much love. Best of Luck to you!

 

[Tony Jones]

I watched Jones, go unhinged, on a beta dude in a South Jordan gym about 8 years ago. It totally changed how I look at him as a person, especially one I don't know who writes for the Jazz.

No one is the same person they were 8 years ago, but it was something that stuck with me. I don't even remember what the guy did to piss him off, but he was a easy target to bully and petty af. He was pushing balling back then, age wise, so I doubt he's still playing. He seemed/was a nice dude except for that. Totally changed my opinion on him.

He was nice to me, but that gym was toxic af.

Lol, I still play regularly......

I've gotten into plenty of basketball scraps....happens all the time. If it ever defined me as a person, I wouldn't be a journalist today. I've had fights on the court and gone out to lunch with the guy afterwards. That's just the nature of competitive sports. Sometimes it spills over. I do know you must have been talking about Lifetime Fitness. And you are correct, those runs were toxic. But, so is any basketball run that involves good players and good competition.

That being said, thank you for this post. It's much appreciated.

 

[Tony Jones]

Tony

Bullseye. Woodyard was a savant.

Before this generation we also had a couple of other decent writers, god I'm forgetting the names -- Bill Oram comes to mind. Never really liked Jody's writing, but he was a personality. I appreciated that Tony had stature across the league and tbh I feel like he did a lot to hospitalize the image of Utah, probably his lasting impact (look no further than the post in here).

All the best in Philly, Tony. Thanks for your engagement and professionalism. You blocked me on twitter too, but I never cared and probably deserved it.

- George

Eric was and is phenomenal. I loved working with him. Thank you for the kind words

 

[Tony Jones]

I know that I will be downvoted. However, certain things deserve to be said. Tony Jones as the Jazz reporter was pretty forgettable. He had no unique, interesting style of delivery and no particularly interesting basketball insights. I have never felt the urge to specifically search for his content and have no lasting memories of any of his articles. There are sports journalists on the national level who are different. And even in SLC there are Lock and Monson who are way more memorable.

Now, I am not saying that Tony was a bad reporter in any way: just your regular, replacement-level beat writer. And it is not an easy achievement to become an average sports reporter: it takes a lot of time and effort to become average in such a competitive field. But I hope that in Philadelphia Tony manages to become someone a level above. He has everything to be that special basketball guy.

Good luck to you, Tony.

I'm certainly glad none of my bosses, or any of my metrics, at any point of my career, have ever felt this way. Or, I'd be flipping burgers

 

[idiot]

Best of luck, Tony! You were always first on my Twitter feed.