What's new
By:
Filters

What's wrong with SLC?

JimLes

JimLes

Well-Known Member
Now, I'm not from Utah, and have only been there twice on pilgrimages to the then-Delta Center. I'm not overly familiar with the place, but I'd like to know what makes it such a horrible place for a 20-something multimillionaire to live in?

All I know is that other teams' players don't want to live there, Jazz players live elsewhere in the off-season and players even want to leave because of SLC. And I'd like to know why?

Is the weather that bad? Keep in mind I'm writing this from Calgary, Canada where it is -6 Fahrenheit right now and dropping to -20 later tonight.

Is there not a single club in the whole Wasatch Front?

Are Mormons the absolute worst people in the world who burn crosses on black people's lawns and holler insults at them on the street?

Is trying to get liquor in SLC like trying to get a bacon cheeseburger in Tel Aviv?

I'm constantly reminded of how NBA players don't wanna live in SLC, and I'm trying to figure out what exactly is so bad about it. Now, I know it ain't NYC or LA or Miami, but I never hear about how no one wants to live in Milwaukee, Portland, Charlotte or Oklahoma City. What's so different and so horrible about SLC?
 
It was destroyed by the North Koreans...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZqyg1wXTDQ
 
It's not horrible, but it's a little repressed compared to much of America. There are worse places. The reputation that proceeds it is somewhat undeserved. But yeah, get used to missionaries knocking on your front door. ;)
 
fairweather said:
It's not horrible, but it's a little repressed compared to much of America. There are worse places. The reputation that proceeds it is somewhat undeserved. But yeah, get used to missionaries knocking on your front door. ;)
Click to expand...

LOL, I've lived here (right downtown....same building as 3 former and 1 current Jazz player(s) live(d) for 3 of them) for 10 years and never.....not once.....had a missionary knock on my door. I've never even seen one on the streets around where I live. There are 8 clubs within one block of where I live.

It aint LA, and I mean that as a compliment to SLC.
 
Ha, try 30 years, then get back to me! I've been to "clubs" in Utah and they don't even compare to other cities. Personally, I don't care about that, but some 20-something players might. I can't stand LA.

Of course, players are on the road so much, I can't see why it's a problem. During the summer, they can go wherever they want...
 
SLC is a relatively quiet and relatively small town (by NBA standards) in the mountains. The people seem quite homogeneous compared to more metropolitan cities and are predominantly Caucasian. The culture is conservative and, to some, a bit odd.

I'm speaking out of place here, but it may not be the most exciting place for a young black American wanting to live a highly celebratory and highly extroverted lifestyle with like-minded people. It isn't the media circus that you get in LA or NYC, just a quiet, scenic little city with rabid basketball fans.

However, I don't think that SLC is really any less appealing than half the other cities in the league for one reason or another. For example, aside from the warm weather, I can't really see the appeal of Phoenix. San Antonio bores me to tears. Portland is like SLC, except that it's more liberal. Charlotte is also a bit small and conservative, although it may have more of a black community. Sacramento, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, Cleveland...all seem less appealing.

I don't think players are down so much on SLC. I think there are just a few cities--LA, NYC, Miami and Chicago--that are the 'it' cities. Lots of people, not just pro ball players, want to live in these exciting cities.
 
Catchall said:
The people seem quite homogeneous compared to more metropolitan cities and are predominantly Caucasian. The culture is conservative and, to some, a bit odd.
Click to expand...

I think this sums it up best - a point I missed.
 
So many of these reasons seem like they'd be completely irrelevant to the actual daily life of an NBA star.

I mean, the weather sucks? Boozer's from freakin' Alaska. What's he normally used to, tropical climate? Yet the dude was living in Miami in the off-season. And what does this mean, anyway? Are LeBron and Wade chilling out on the beach every day? Considering the amount of time these guys travel, play on the road, or practice, how much time can you possibly have to enjoy the weather?

The clubs? Again, how much time do they have to go clubbing? And isn't Deron, for example, married with small children? Does he really hit the strip every Saturday night?

And the diversity thing? Do players feel better when they see black people on the street randomly? I mean, we're talking about professional athletes here. I understand that a black waiter in Utah might occasionally feel out of place and experience racism, but a multi-millionaire celebrity? It's not like Malone walked down a street in SLC and had children point and say "Look ma, a negro, a negro!"

I just have a hard time seeing what about SLC made it so horrible for Deron to live there.
 
I grew up in SLC. Now I split time between San Francisco and New York for work. For young guys with an ego who want to be rich and famous and have a circle of friends, sometimes they want to be in the "big city" where all the excitement presumably is. They want to be loved by a big town, not a small town. They want to live "the life."

Again, it's not that SLC is bad. It's just that aside from low-key players like a Tim Duncan, or a small-town guy like Karl Malone, quite often the players want to be on the big stage. They have a big appetite for fame.
 
I think in some cases players/people may come into Utah with the thought that SLC is a boring place and then will search for reasons to dislike the place because of that notion. I do think its half decent place to live even for a millionaire player at a young age. Not saying its the best or most entertaining place, but its a decent enough place to live while collecting an NBA salary.
 
I don't see what this has to do with Deron. Clearly, he was fine with living here.
 
I think this is overplayed. What SLC deals with isn't much different than most other larger, more diverse NBA cities out there.

Do you think Baron Davis is glad he was traded from L.A. to Cleveland? Of course not. Cleveland is a hole and even though it has a large black population, that alone isn't keeping the talent there.

The Nuggets were just forced to deal its star player because he outgrew the town. Denver is Salt Lake on steroids without the Mormon vibe and even they are now faced with a rebuild. Hell, up until their draft of Carmelo Anthony, the entire franchise was a goddamn purgatory for most NBA players. Who the hell wanted to go and play for the Nuggets?

Ultimately, unless you're Miami, L.A. or New York, we're all in the same boat. That includes Boston, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Portland, Orlando and any other city in between.

Hell, even Chicago, for a stretch, had a helluva time getting talent there and even when they eventually landed Carlos Boozer, it was only after whiffing out on Wade and James.

No city is exempt from the potential of losing great players. Is Salt Lake further down on the pecking order? Sure. But we're not that far off most the league in terms of perception and ability to draw free agent talent.

We'll have our losing battles and we'll certainly lose talent to better franchises - but we'll still do well in trades and draft picks and in the end, that's just as good of a way to rebuild a franchise as doing it through free agency.
 
look at the los angeles clippers no one really wants to play for the clippers they are in los angeles but they are 2nd fiddle to the lakers and they have a cheap owner who will pay there players to keep at times, who else washington,atlanta milwaukee, the golden state warriors teams that plays in larger market citys...are unable to land true star players and these city has more night life than salt lake city but it all boils down what the player is looking for and were they feel they will get the playing time they are looking for. every city goes through this...why do players want to play in a place like green bay for football its even smaller than salt lake city...but green bay they are a team that wins games what counts the most. best shot to win it all each and every year that is the ?
 
There's a lot wrong with SLC...a whole hell of a lot. And for an urban, black kid, its the most misunderstood and foreign state in the Union.
 
Bodhi said:
LOL, I've lived here (right downtown....same building as 3 former and 1 current Jazz player(s) live(d) for 3 of them) for 10 years and never.....not once.....had a missionary knock on my door. I've never even seen one on the streets around where I live. There are 8 clubs within one block of where I live.

It aint LA, and I mean that as a compliment to SLC.
Click to expand...

Ive lived in SLC area for 30+ years and NEVER had missionaries knock on my door. Other than JW once.

One thing that does really suck about the SL Valley is the HORRIBLE air quality. It's like a bowl so the smog and pollution tends to gather and if it doesn't snow or rain in a week or so it looks really depressing.

If you didn't do any outdoors stuff here and didn't appreciate the mountains and slower pace I can imagine there would be plenty of place you'd rather live.

Honestly do you really think a lot of the NBA greats are spending a lot of time in the clubs? Vegas is an hour flight if you want to hit up some clubs.

I can see the Mormon white majority being a factor, but the team is only here for what 4 months out of the whole year if you factor in offseason, road trips.
 
I like that so many people perceive SLC as a weird, weird place to live. I don't want a bunch of tools coming to wreck my fair city. I live three blocks from ESA, one block from the Main Street pubs, and four blocks from my gym. I can take TRAX home for less than the price of the subway or a taxi.

I'm a three-minute run from City Creek Canyon, where I can run seven miles up and back, and not hear any sirens, horns, or people. The air is fresh up there. There's ****ing deer and ****. It's very peaceful.

True, if you're in the unique position of being under 30 years old, having millions of dollars and finding yourself in this town, and you're looking to get rubbed to death by your zipper in a booty club with premier DJs and half-nekkid womens jumping out of tubs with rose petals covering their lady-parts and bouncers the size of a Hummer and cocaine that makes you feel like Billy Dee Williams, you're going to have to settle.



But once you get that **** out of your system, or you can handle the hour-flight to Vegas once in a while, you're gonna be just fine.



I'll always say that SLC in the summertime is totally underrated. Running around at 11pm with no shoes, and it's still 75 degrees, perfect for a night swim...


JESUS-when did this turn into the Wonder Years or Dandelion Wine...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top