Utah Not even a thought for Free Agents...

[TheMulletMutilator]

Young black men aren't attracted by a city with no night life and a small population of African Americans to go with that. So family and character seems to be a value the Jazz have to draft and or use to get Free Agents. Not to mention money as well.

 

[bigb]

There are many people in this thread who are lying to themselves. True story. I've been to SLC and I can say, truly, it's a garbage city. It's boring as ****.

To each their own Viny. I have thoroughly enjoyed it the times i've been, not just because I'm a Jazz fan but I enjoy the wildlife (outside the city), the natural beauty of the mountains,the terrain, etc.. aesthetically it's beautiful. And i'm not lying to myself, that's my honest opinion, and Park City is a fun place also. I'm not a big partier, so I enjoy the slow pace and the peaceful nature of a smaller city, compared to the hustle and bustle of the northeast where I reside; it's a nice respite. Again though, to each their own.

I actually consider you both correct here. I love the mountains, wildlife, etc. But I can also see how a 20-something, single, black, NBA star wouldn't want to come here. The entire county has probably less than 6 strip clubs, but it wouldn't surprise me if there's over 600 Mormon churches.
Still, I think most of those that come and give it an honest chance end up liking it.

 

[slc]

But that's why these players are paid outrageous salaries. To live where they don't want too.

 

[cowhide]

I think a simple way to end this debate is to move the team to Vegas. I promise you that the Jazz will no longer have a problem getting the attention of free agents. I have no doubt that the stigma of Utah is the main reason why the Jazz have a problem attracting free agents to Utah. With the winning tradition, stable organization, and support of the fans there should be no reason why FA wouldn't want to come to a team like the Jazz. The big problem is the location, weather and the culture. Right or wrong. Utah, nationally has a negative stigma attracted to it.

 

[Jazzfannut83]

It's a mixed bag like any other place IMO...who knows if my opinion would change if I ever lived in the area, rather than just visited about 2x a yr. I'm considered a minority on 1, maybe 2 counts, but never caught flack for it when i've been there. We've seen how much Deron likes it...he even had that interview where he mentioned what a great place it is to raise a family, and how he's even sold his house in Texas and recently bought a new house in Holladay, UT (nice suburb I presume? I haven't been). Anyway, I suppose when you look at attracting free agents, sure, the younger demographic will be turned away by the alleged lack of nightlife (although this group of Jazzmen seems to have a good time getting drunk, these free agents don't know about AK's famous house parties .

Again, we seem to have some polarizing viewpoints here but like catratcho said above, me and viny both are a little right. It's a matter of glass half full/half empty and also, what's a bigger priority for someone (in this case, an nba player) to move to a new city: Nightlife, Demographics, Scenery, Safety? Probably none of the above...and for the person who wrote the original article, if the Jazz were way under the tax and could offer more money perhaps then the players is worth (that'll happen anyway)...they could get at least 1 of these guys to throw their pre-conceived notions out the window and simply ask "Where do I sign?"

 

[7StraightIsGreat]

You're either lying or delusional. I grew up in Salt Lake City for 18 years. I've lived in Texas for 6 years since then. Salt Lake City seems nice on the surface, but overall it is a close-minded, suffocating place that pushes people who think differently into an underground subculture where trouble often follows them. The city has a property and violent crime rate on par with places like Baltimore and is one of the meth capitals of the world. Many non-mormons are pre-destined as outcasts and criminals from birth for having the wrong faith and are treated accordingly.

Anyways, cities in Texas that I'd rather live in than Salt Lake:

1. Austin
2. Georgetown
3. Richardson
4. Denton
5. New Braunfels
6. Schertz
7. San Marcos
8. Selma
9. Boerne
10. Canyon Lake
11. Mansfield
12. Round Rock
13. Sugarland
14. Carrollton
15. Frisco
16. Allen
17. League City
18. Plano
19. The Woodlands
20. Pearland

San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Dallas are toss-ups. Hell no to Houston.

It's funny how you spew this stuff and then act self-righteous enough to act as if it is fact. I've spent all of my 33 years living as a non-mormon in Utah about 25 miles north of SLC. The only time "trouble" has followed me is when I went looking for it. I live in harmony amongst Mormon and Non-Mormon neighbors. My children are good, well adjusted kids and many of their closest friends are LDS. It's strange: when you show tolerance and respect to people with different view points than your own, they usually tend to respond with tolerance and respect for your beliefs. You should try it sometime.

But on the flip side, I could see how Utah wouldn't appeal to the average black athelete who has never lived here. It's a hard sell. However, it's funny to see how many black players are traded to the Jazz and end up loving Utah. Quick story: I used to run a tire store in Bountiful and one of my customers was Donyell Marshall. I got to know him a little and we began talking about how he felt about playing for the Jazz. He admitted at first he wasn't too crazy about the idea of coming here. He said it didn't take long after he got here before his mind changed. He loved the city, the fans, the team, etc. He even said he hoped to end his career in Utah. Obviously that didn't happen, but it wasn't because he was hell-bent on getting out of town.

 

[Beantown]

Utah is basically one of the only places in the world where you could go snowboarding in the morning and then go golfing in the afternoon. Also it has the BEST snow in the country as well as mountain biking and climbing.

But for the rest of you that apparently hate the outdoors and maybe your skin melts with sunlight then Utah is not for you. If you want to find plenty of dark rooms to drink all night long then you should look elsewhere, like Texas.


Also if Utah sucked so bad then Michael Jordan would not live here.

 

[TheMulletMutilator]

Utah is basically one of the only places in the world where you could go snowboarding in the morning and then go golfing in the afternoon. Also it has the BEST snow in the country as well as mountain biking and climbing.

But for the rest of you that apparently hate the outdoors and maybe your skin melts with sunlight then Utah is not for you. If you want to find plenty of dark rooms to drink all night long then you should look elsewhere, like Texas.


Also if Utah sucked so bad then Michael Jordan would not live here.

This may be true for some posters who are bashing Utah, but you are right. It is a beautiful place to live and generally a good place to raise a family. That's still not a draw to many young African Americans who neither play golf nor snowboard.

 

[VINYLONE]

Great thread. Would read again.

 

[honz]

Great thread. Would read again.

If you really "would read again" you would be re-reading it right now instead of sounding like a big dum-dum.

 

[Nate505]

Young black men aren't attracted by a city with no night life and a small population of African Americans to go with that. So family and character seems to be a value the Jazz have to draft and or use to get Free Agents. Not to mention money as well.

I agree. I never tried to justify SLC that way. I just think it's a nice little city, and I've been to most cities in this country.

That being said, I always wondered why blacks care about having a large black population in the city they live in when they tend to live in extremely exclusive gated, high white population communities even when they live in the Detroits and LAs of the world. It's not like these guys live in Compton or anything.

 

[jimmy eat jazz]

Impressions of Utah (for what it's worth)

It is apparent that Utah has a bit of an image problem among NBA players. I'm guessing that this image problem stems in large part from an overall negative perception of Mormons and Utah's 'unique culture.' As much as the Mormon Church wants to portray itself as mainstream, in my experience (having traveled throughout the US and world for work), people by and large do not view the Mormon Church as mainstream, but rather (if they think about it at all, which most don't) as a kind of strange, insular, and almost cultish religion. The #1 association with Mormonism is polygamy (try as it might, the church cannot escape this identity), and the #2 (at least in the US) is the prohibition against alcohol. (People tend to think that the Utah liquor laws are much more draconian than they are. In fact, get alcohol in Utah is much easier than in many other states in the US, and things have improved since the repeal of the stupid 'private club' law. But most people are not aware of this and cling to broad stereotypes.) In the minds of many, Utah and Mormonism are the same, and for many NBA athletes (and much of general public), the association is not a positive one. (I am not endorsing this view point, merely describing it.)

Also, the lack of African Americans in Utah probably matters a bit (although there are almost as few African Americans in Portland and maybe other NBA cities). Plus, it is a relatively small media market. Some may also view Salt Lake as an undesirable place to live due to size and weather or other factors, aside from anything to do with other stereotyped impressions.

I personally love living in Utah, but I do find its idiosyncratic culture to be highly annoying at times. However, I'd take Utah over the Bible Belt any day. In my experience, Mormons are far more mainstream and far less annoying than fundamentalists.