I have a love/hate relationship with the Utah Jazz. I had the weekend ticket package with a friend of mine for years and years. I hardly paid attention to the game. For me, it was a fun evening out and an excuse to go to Red Rock Brewery for dinner before the game (I love the Red Rock Burger). Then a certain Mr. Kyle Korver was traded to the team and I became obsessed (actually obsessed might be too much of an understatement but let's leave it at that). I went to every single home game remaining in the season. I bought a jersey. I started watching away games on television. I learned what a pick and roll was. For the next few years I had season tickets with my aunt and cousin and I loved going to games! I even started going to Jazz events (the less said about the unfortunate hyperventilating incident when I met Kyle Korver the first time the better). Then Korver became a free agent and signed with the Chicago Bulls. Despite my devastation, I renewed my season tickets anyway but it just wasn't the same. After Coach Sloan quit and Deron Williams was traded, things went downhill for me. During a game against the Dallas Mavericks, Al Jefferson had an epic temper tantrum and got ejected. The rest of the team literally shut down after that. I was so disgusted that I decided to sell my tickets to the remaining games and I vowed never to return. In fact, the next year I only went to one game and the Jazz lost. Last year I decided to get a ten game package because I like having things to do. Their first win of the season was the first game I attended. Even though the Jazz were a terrible team last year, they always won when I was there (even a bonus game between the Jazz and Nuggets that I saw in Denver). I thought of myself as their good luck charm and it was fun going to games. However, in the last few games I went to the Jazz blew a lead in the fourth quarter. Many people said they were losing intentionally to get a higher draft pick and that was really disappointing to me. During the off-season a new coach was hired and the team was reconfigured with a lot of young players. I didn't know what to think! I went to my first game this season last night and I saw a spark that just might make me a Jazz fan again! The first half of the game was a bit underwhelming. The Jazz looked sluggish and trailed the Oklahoma City Thunder by as many as 17 points. Then Coach Snyder ran on the court to protest a foul and had an epic meltdown which resulted in a technical. It was awesome! Then he started yelling at the Jazz and they responded by going on a 10-0 run to cut the Thunder lead to two points. That got the ESA cheering. They played much better during the second half and eventually took the lead, which they held for the rest of the game to win 98-81. The game was so much fun for me and I especially loved seeing our rookie, Dante Exum, hitting those threes! I think these young players are only going to get better and I may need to go to a few more games this season!
Note: Before the game, the guys sitting next to me said that the Jazz really needed a big win. I told them not to worry because I was there and I was their good luck charm. After the game, they told me that they had decided to pool their money to get me season tickets! So much fun!
