Jazz vs. Suns Game

Just wanted to post a couple pictures I took and edited from the Jazz game last night. Though the team lost it was an amazing expierence to sit that close to the action. I have a new found love for Steve Nash, who is the best passer I have ever seen!* The guy is a baller and I am his newest fan. It was too bad to see the Tyrone Corbin era start with a loss, but injuries to four key players is a lot to overcome. These next couple weeks should be interesting for Jazz basketball. I wouldn't be suprised to see Karl Malone and/or Jeff Hornacek added to the full time coaching staff soon.

*I was too young to truly watch Stockton play or Nash would probably be the second best

The Irony Is Bulls

For Jerry Sloan it started with the Bulls and it ended with the Bulls. He was the first player drafted by the organization. He coached his first game for this organization. He then lost two championships to this organization. His number #4 now hangs in their rafters. And in the end he coached his last game against this organization. Maybe, Jerry, the "Original Bull" did plan this whole resignation at least a little.

Goodbye Coach Sloan

I thought yesterday, February 9th, was the worst day in recent basketball history relevant to me. My intramural team got slaughtered, the Jazz lost to a Chicago Bulls team loaded with old Jazz stars, and then to top it off my #17 Aggies lost miserably to the Idaho Vandals, effectively ending their run in the Top 25 polls. I was wondering why and how sports, that were supposed to bring joy to my life, could bring me such disappointment!

Then today when I woke up, my roommate informed me that the Jerry Sloan could possibly resign this afternoon. I refused to believe. Sloan had just signed a contract on Monday.

As the day went on, more rumors started coming out. Indeed something big was going to happen and would be announced at the 3pm press conference. Every Jazz fan, myself included, was hoping for something else besides the resignation of our famed coach, maybe the press conference would just be to announce a blockbuster trade.

Sadly that wouldn't be the case, Coach Sloan did announce his resignation. I do not remember a time when Sloan wasn't the coach of the Jazz, the fact is Jerry has been the coach ever since I was a week old! Sloan leaves the Jazz after 23 seasons, 1,127 wins, 2 trips to the NBA Finals.

Truly a sad day for all NBA fans. There will be no farewell tour, no standing ovations as he visits each arena for the last time, and sadly no championship parade for Sloan. But that is probably just the way Sloan wanted it, no fancy show, no need for extra attention. There will be rumors that Deron Williams pushed him out or that management pushed him out. I don't believe that is true, Sloan is Utah Jazz basketball just as much Karl Malone, John Stockton and Larry H. Miller are Utah Jazz basketball. No one could push him out, Sloan would go when he wanted and for Sloan it was time.

Here We Go Again

It's the first day of February and just like the previous two seasons the Aggies are experiencing a nice win streak and garnering some national attention. The teams 15 straight wins matches the days temperature here in Logan. Despite the freezing temps, Aggie basketball fever is at an all time high!

Coming off a thrilling double overtime victory in Hawaii, ( I would say Hawaii's home court advantage in basketball is the best in the country. Basketball teams can't take a whole week to adjust to the time change and recover from jet lag like football teams can.) the #21 Aggies shouldn't have any problems with the rest of the WAC schedule. In a way this is a two edge sword. Bad, because there is no one to really prove yourself against in this years depleted WAC. Good, because we shouldn't lose a conference game.

Thank goodness for the Bracketbuster game on Feb. 19 @ St. Mary's. We've played St. Mary's the last two years in the Bracketbuster series with them getting the best of us each time. This year though needs to be different. And it should be. Tai Wesley is a mature player and now that St. Mary's doesn't have Ogar, I mean Omar, Samhan, he should be able to dominate down low. A win on the road at St. Marys late in the season will be just as big as an early season win against BYU or Georgetown would have been. It will solidify us as a tournament team.

Stay tuned. These next few weeks will be exciting!!

Auburn's Fairley, Hardly a Champion

First off, I have to say that was one heck of a BCS National Championship game! Congrats to the University of Auburn on a great season!

There was something that disturbed me though and it can be seen in this following clip...



What the heck is Nick Fairley thinking? That is utterly ridiculous and uncalled for. Yes, I know football is a rough game but there is absolutely no need to do that and I personally believe players should not just be flagged and there team given a 15 yard penalty for actions such as this but that the player should be ejected from the game. In any other sport an action like that would result in an ejection. A basketball player wouldn't dare do that unless he was ready to be ejected.

Don't get me wrong, I know emotions are high. I realize there is going to be trash talking in sports. There is going to be pushing and shoving, I am fine with those things. I understand that a defensive players job is to bring fear to the offense. But one must have the understanding that that is another human being under that helmet and there is no need to go after another player after the whistle has blown! James did nothing to provoke such a ludicrous attack Fairley should have been thrown out of the game.

It wasn't just Fairley (though he does have a history for such things) doing such actions, another Auburn player kicked a downed Duck in the back and there are countless more examples of excessive violence from this year in college football. Actions like these are going to continue if something isn't done, players are going to recieve unneccesary injuries. The NCAA needs to step up and enforce its core value of "The highest levels of integrity and sportsmanship."

My Top 10 Sports Moments of 2010

My annual list of unforgettable sports moments from the past year. This isn’t necessarily a list of the biggest events of the year, just a list of moments that I will never forget.

10. Never Ending Tennis Match
I am not a huge tennis fan but I will never forget the 22nd through the 24th of June when John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the world’s longest tennis match. It was impossible to turn off the TV! “Isner, Mahut, Isner, Mahut” when will it end?!

9. 2010 PGA Championship

A controversial finish on the 72nd hole left Zach Johnson out of a playoff for the championship where Martin Kaymer beat the long hitting Bubba Watson for his first major championship. Tournament golf at its finest!

8. The Decision
Oh LeBron… Anybody who is reading this most likely already knows about the shenanigans that LeBron James pulled this summer. To break up with a whole city on national TV is heartless and definitely unforgettable.

7. NCAA Basketball Championship
The ultimate David vs. Goliath Story, almost, as the Butler Bulldogs nearly upset the Duke Blue Devils! I know I thought that Hayward’s shot was going in!

6. Canada/USA Olympic Hockey
Wow. You couldn’t ask for a more thrilling game in one the premier events of the Winter Olympics. Both teams really came to play on the sport’s biggest stage and then for the games star to win it in overtime, just classic.

5. Year of the Pitcher
Oh what was that? Another no hitter? Yup! There were six no-hitters, err should have been seven if Armando Gallaraga’s would have counted, including two perfect games in the 2010 MLB season. None of the games were more special though than my #2 Moment of the Year.

4. The 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach
The tournament wasn’t the most exciting but that fact of the matter is, I was there and it was beautiful. To watch the world’s best golfers up close and personal in one of the games four majors is amazing!

3. “Beat the Heat”
November 9, 2010. The day Paul Millsap brought his talents to South Beach. This was just the beginning of what has turned out to be a good season for my Utah Jazz. Make sure to watch the video clip attached to the link.

2. Unhittable Halladay
Rarely does anybody watch an entire baseball game the whole way through (especially on TV) but on this occasion, when Philadelphia Phillie Roy Halladay took the mound in the first game of the National League Division Series playoffs I don’t think I missed a pitch. It is amazing to see person do an almost perfect job at anything.

1. End of a 17 Year Drought

Anytime that something doesn’t happen for as long as time as 17 years, it is definitely going to be worth remembering. Though the Aggie football season didn’t go all according to plan I had to give the victory over arch rival BYU the top spot for the year. We absolutely handled those egotistical Cougars in their favorite sport. It definitely is nice to have some bragging rights for a while!

Alright there is my list! I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to hear your moments of the year! Happy 2011!

Some moments were close but didn’t make the cut… Boise State Football Loses to Nevada, Saints Win Super Bowl, Giants Win World Series, Utah Jazz Upset Nuggets in First Round of NBA Playoffs, Michael Vick’s Return as a star

The 2009 List

A Year of Games

It's Christmas break and I'm a little bored so I have compiled a list of all the professional and NCAA sporting events I went to this year. The links will take you to my blog posts that I wrote on the events. Check the blog next week for my Top 10 Sports Moments of 2010!

I finished the year with a 20-4 (.833) record for teams I was rooting for. I saw teams from 14 different states. I went to 7 different venues. I saw all of my favorite teams (the Phillies, the Jazz, the Aggies). I saw Tiger Woods. I saw the World Series Champion. I saw one of the most prestigious events in professional sports in the most beautiful spot in the world when I attended the 110th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. I felt the magic that is the Spectrum on a winter night. And I experienced it all with you, my family and friends. Sports wouldn't be the same if I didn't have you there to cheer and jeer with. I have been very blessed, thank you! Here is to the games and championships that we will enjoy in 2011!

Aggie Basketball

(all games attended in D.G. Smith Spectrum, Logan, UT unless otherwise noted)
Record in Games I Attended: 12-1

Jan 11 vs. Hawai'i W, 98-54
Jan 16 vs. Boise State W, 81-59
Feb 2 vs. Idaho W, 80-62
Feb 6 vs. Nevada W, 76-65
Feb 17 vs. Louisiana Tech W, 67-61
Feb 20 vs. Wichita State W, 68-58
Mar 1 vs. Fresno State W, 76-39
Mar 6 vs. New Mexico State W, 81-63
Nov 13 vs. Weber State W, 77-65
Nov 17 at BYU L, 78-72 @ Marriot Center, Provo, UT
Nov 27 vs. Northeastern W, 56-54
Dec 7 vs. Long Beach State W, 81-53
Dec 31 vs. Hawai'i W, 74-66

Aggie Football

(all games attended at Romney Stadium, Logan, UT)
Record in Games I Attended: 2-2

Sep 11 vs. Idaho State W, 38-17
Sep 18 vs. Fresno State L, 41-24
Oct 1 vs. BYU W, 31-16
Oct 23 vs. Hawai'i L, 45-7

Utah Jazz

(all games attended at Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT)
Record in Games I Attended: 3-1

Jan 23 vs. New Jersey W 116-83
Feb 27 vs. Houston W 133-110
Apr 23 vs. Denver W 105-93 1st Round of the NBA Playoffs
Dec 3 vs. Dallas L 81-93

Major League Baseball

Record in Games I Attended: 2-0

May 10 Philadelphia Phillies at Colorado Rockies W 9-5 @ Coors Field, Denver, CO
June 14 San Francisco Giants vs. Baltimore Orioles W 10-2 @ AT & T Park, San Francisco, CA

Other Events

Record in Games I Attended: 1-0

June 16 & 17 The 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey, CA
Oct 31 Utah State Soccer vs. Hawai'i W, 4-0

Provo Preview

The Aggie men travel to that school down south tonight. You know the one we beat in basketball last year, the one we beat in football this year, the one that still doesn't think we are a rival. A win tonight will solidify the fact that we are indeed a rival. In what could be the last game in the series for some time the Utah State Aggies (1-0) take on the #23 Brigham Young Cougars (1-0).

It's a huge early season match up, especially for the Aggies as they only play one more quality opponent out of. A win will go a long way come tournament time in March. Here is what happened up in Logan last year when the two teams met up. Hopefully there will be more of that tonight and my road spectating record will improve to 2-3. It will be a tough game for the Aggies, who are already missing starting forward Nate Bendall, as defensive specialist Pooh Williams may be unable to go after straining his groin in the opener vs. Weber State. He is listed as a game time decision but I expect him to play in a game as big as this.

Some quick facts about the game via the USU Media Guide:

• Utah State and Brigham Young will be playing for the 227th time this week in what is the oldest rivalry in school history. USU's first game against BYU was during the 1905-06 season. The Aggies trail in the all-time series 135-91. The first game played in the series was on Feb. 23, 1906 with BYU winning 21-14. The last time the two teams played was on Dec. 2, 2009 in Logan with USU winning, 71-61. The last time the two teams played in Provo was Dec. 16, 2006 with BYU winning, 75-62, and the last time Utah State won at BYU was on Dec. 18, 2004, 84-62. Overall, USU has won six of the last nine games played in the series.
• Utah State has won 16 straight regular season games dating back to the 2009-10 season with its last regular season loss coming at Louisiana Tech, 82-60, on Jan. 4, 2010.
• Utah State has won 24 of its last 30 games versus in-state opponents and is 31-10 (.756) against the state of Utah during the last 11 years. During that time period, USU is 6-4 versus Brigham Young, 6-4 versus Utah, 11-2 versus Weber State, 5-0 against Utah Valley and 3-0 against Southern Utah. Overall, USU is 32-15 (.681) versus teams from the state of Utah under Morrill.
• Utah State is 11-56 (.164) all-time against ranked opponents, which includes a 5-13 (.278) record under Morrill. The last time USU played a ranked opponent was in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament when it lost to No. 23 Texas A&M, 69-53. The last time USU defeated a ranked team was on March 9, 2007 when it beat then No. 9 Nevada, 79-77, in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament.
• Utah State is starting the 2010-11 season with four-straight in-state games as it defeated Weber State (77-65) at home, plays at Brigham Young (11/17) and Southern Utah (11/20) and hosts Utah (11/24). Those four in-state games to start the year are the most for USU since the 1991-92 team began its season by playing five-straight in-state opponents.
• Utah State's four returning starters have a combined 353 games played while at USU including 288 starts.
• Only one player on the Aggie roster has ever played a game at BYU, Morgan Grimm a U of U transfer.

The Comeback Kids

(AP Photo)

Just wanted to make a quick note on the Jazz. They are tearing it up! Last Monday they left of their early season eastern conference road-trip making stops in Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, and Charlotte. I predicted that they would win one, maybe two games at most. This first road trip has been bad for the Jazz the past few years, they usually return with a losing record. Well not this year, they won all four games on the Atlantic coast! And they did it in amazing comeback fashion each and every time! They now sit at an impressive 7-3 and have swagger, knowing they can come back from anything! They will have some good tests this week in Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Hopefully they will keep this streak going.

The End Starts Tonight!

Well tonight, at approximately 7:05, my senior season of enjoying Aggie basketball begins as the Aggies take on in-state rival Weber State. It'll be a bitter sweet moment for me, so happy for the fun nights in the Spectrum to begin but sad that this is it! This is it for me watching as a student. This is it for my friends and favorite players playing, Tyler Newbold, Tai Wesley and Matt Formisano. That being said there are 30+ games and I thoroughly believe that those boys are going to do everything in their power to win every single one of them!

There are two key games in the early part of the season, Nov. 17 @ #24 BYU and Dec. 4 @ #20 Georgetown. Both will be tough tests and at least one victory will be needed to boost the Aggies tournament resume come March. Other than that there aren't many games the Aggies should lose if the team comes together like they usually do by January.

As I stated before it will be the senior season for Tai Wesley (who is the only Aggie to ever record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 blocks), Tyler Newbold, Pooh Williams, Nate Bendall (assuming he recovers soon from a foot injury), and Matt Formisano. Wesley, Newbold, and Williams will all retain their starting positions. Athletic Brady Jardine will fill in while Bendall is injured and JuCo transfer Brockeith Pane will run the point. From the two preseason games, Pane looks like a very exciting player and could be the missing piece to help this seasoned line-up win an NCAA tournament game.

Some analysts are saying Utah State is the most likely team to go unbeaten through the regular season, I won't go that far. My predictions are as follows, the Aggies will lose 3 games throughout the season, Georgetown and two WAC road contests. The team will win WAC Regular Season Championship for the fourth straight year and then win the WAC Tournament in Vegas with a strong Aggie crowd behind them. And finally they will win, not one but TWO tournament games propelling them into the Sweet 16. Too bold? Nah, these guys are ready for this.

Commercial of the Week!

Brandon Jennings almost gets into a car accident with Stuart Scott.