Sports Zone Blog : Ruff Stuff

Ruff Stuff - Important Announcement!

wruff — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 05:06:00 GMT

So, Dana Greene is over covering the first game of the Rocky Mountain Revue Friday night. He's going to stay and get post game comments from the players. The Jazz P.R. department tells him to stick around because they have an important announcement. He called me to say he might be a little late. A few mintues later, he calls to say the Jazz are going to sign Jason Hart. I'm like, "What??? Who is Jason Hart??? That's their big announcement???" Missing out on Mo Peterson, I thought they might be landing another big name free agent. I was wrong. Hopefully, Hart will help the team. He should bring some experience and the ability to score and run the team. But come on...that's the big announcement? Wake me up when its REALLY big.

Ruff Stuff - Draft is all hype

wruff — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 03:05:00 GMT

I'm not a fan of the NBA draft. Not a fan of any draft, really. There is just way too much hype and build-up leading up to it, and it rarely turns out as well as expected for any team. By the time the draft starts, fans and team management have placed so much hope and attention on players that it is almost impossible to live up to. Let's face it, there are hardly any rookies who come out of college (or high school) who make an immediate impact on a team. LeBorn James-type players only come along about every 5 years or so. Look at Andrew Bogut, former #1 draft pick. Not exactly an All-Star yet. Remember all the excitment last year when the Jazz drafted Ronnie Brewer? And how did that work out? He may end up being good soemday, but as far as helpping the team, that's still a few years away. And its the same with almost every rookie. It takes them 3 or 4 years to figure out how to play in NBA, and that they actually have to work in the offseason if they want to improve. Most are just happy to collect their millions and not get any better, then complain about lack of playing time. The draft is overrated, and so are most of the players being drafted.

Ruff Stuff - Tiger #2

wruff — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:55:00 GMT

Tiger Woods just finished 2nd in the Masters, his 2nd straight runner-up finish in a major. That leaves him holding steady with 12 professional majors, 2nd on the all-time list. Tiger Woods is one of the greatest players of all time, and my soon be considered the greatest ever. But right now, he's still #2. Jack Nicklaus is #1. Jack owns more tour wins than Tiger (73 to 57) and more majors (18 to 12). And almost as impressive as his number of wins, is Jack's runner up finishes in the majors. He came in 2nd a whooping 19 times! Tiger has only 4 2nd place finishes, and 2 of those came this year. I love Tiger Woods, how he handles himself, how he plays and what he's done for the game. But if you're ranking the all time best golfers, Tiger finsihes the same place he did in the Open-in 2nd.

Ruff Stuff - US Open Trickery

wruff — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 02:11:00 GMT

The U.S. Open golf tournament tees off this week. I like watching the majors, but the Open drives me nuts. I hate the way they trick up the course. They narrow up the the fairways, they grow the rough to incredibly ridiculous lengths, and they dry out the greens so they get lightning fast. They claim it will bring out the best golf from the best golfers, but I don't buy it. It just turns into a battle for survival. I want to see guys hit great golf shots and get rewarded for it. You don't need to trick up a course to find out which players are the best. Make it tough, sure, but not impossible. The cream will rise to the top. Let them play! Sports producer Jeremy had a great idea-make the course tough the first couple of days, then water the greens and get some easier pin placements for the weekend so golfers can make some charges on Saturday and Sunday. I would much rather prefer to watch an event like that instead of guys just trying not to make double bogeys.

Ruff Stuff - Master disaster

wruff — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:27:00 GMT

Watching the Masters is one of my favorite things to do on this crazy spinning orb that we call the planet Earth, ranking only behind eating chocolate donuts. Heaven help me, I do love chocolate donuts! But I digress... back to the Masters. It is truly one of the great sporting events of all time, and having been to the tournament and walked the course, that just makes it even more speical. But this year was different. They ruined it! By making the course more difficult by drying out the greens, the officals made the course way too difficult. The Masters does not need to try to be the U.S. Open. It has its own special place in sports, and it shouldn't try to be something it isn't. I much prefer to watch golfers get rewarded for good shots, not walk off the greens looking frazzled and shaken, grateful that they only 3 putted from 20 feet instead of 4 putting. I prefer the winnig scores to be around 6-10 under par for the 3 days. If I want to watch golfers struggle to break par, I'll go play with Kent Rupe!!! Soften up the greens a little, don't put the pins in such treacherous places, and let the Masters just be what is has always been-the best golf tournament in the world.

Ruff Stuff - I'm jumping off the Jazz bandwagon!

wruff — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 03:39:00 GMT

What was that?!? The Utah Jazz just blew 2 games after having big 2nd half leads. They were up 17 points in the 3rd quarter Friday night in Sacramento, which was bad, but then on Saturday, they managed to top that. They were up 22 points in the 4th quarter against Seattle-at home- and lost! Are you kidding me? I've been covering the Jazz here at ABC 4 for 22 years, and followed them since they moved here from New Orleans, and I gotta tell you, this may be the worst loss in franchise history. Ever. How does a team let that happen? Do they not have any pride? Do they not have any heart? Do they just not care? They should be embarassed to even show their faces in public after that horrible display. I have no idea what their problem is, but something is going on in that locker room. Jealousy, bickering, something. But at this rate, their stay in the post season will be a short one. Maybe that's what the players want. Maybe they have summer plans that they don't want to change. No wonder Jerry Sloan said this was his most difficult year ever. I'm ready to be done with them. Are you?

Ruff Stuff - The NBA All-Star game (yawn)

wruff — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 01:21:00 GMT

The NBA All Star game used to be cool, but not any more. It seems its all about the party now, not the game. And that is made more evident this week with the taking taking place in the ultimate party city, Las Vegas. I remember when the game used to be televised on a Tuesday night, prime time, and it was a big deal. One year, I hadn't done my homework that night, and my mom punished me by not letting me watch the first part of the game. It was brutal! My favorite player, Hal Greer of the 76ers, was playing, along with Chamberlain, West, Baylor, Russell, Robertson and a host of other future hall of famers. Back then, it was a big deal. Now, its just a show and a chance for the league to wine and dine clients and sponsers and for the players to just go through the motions. Sure, Mehmet Okur of the Jazz is excited to be there, and Carlos Boozer was flattered to be seleceted by the coaches, but the game means nothing and the players know it and they treat it accordingly. Defense... what defense? And would somebody please tell the NBA to drop the hokey slam dunk contest and 3 point shooting contest? If the best dunkers and the best shooters don't even care enough to particpate, why should the fans care about watching it? Give it a rest. The All Star game has lost its luster. Let it die a peaceful death. Just give the players 3 or 4 days off to recharge for teh 2nd half of the season, and let us watch something really entertaining, like Grey's Anatomy or whatever else is on ABC 4. Its got to be way better than a phoney game that means nothing.

Ruff Stuff - Boozer shouldn't play!

wruff — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 06:04:00 GMT

Carlos Boozer was named to the NBA All-Star game as a reserve for the Western Conference. That's great, he deserves it. But he's talking about playing in the game, despite the fact that he will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken leg. He says he thinks he might be ready to go by the All Star game, which is scheduled for February 18th. He claims to be rehabing 24/7 in order to be ready to play. But I say, don't play!!!! First of all, it sends the wrong message to your teammates, that you think an individual honor is more important than getting healthy and helping your team in the stretch run of the season. You've been selected, Carlos, they can't take that away from you. If you want to go to Las Vegas and enjoy the weekend, by all means, go, drop some quarters in a machine, play a few hands of black jack, have some fun. But don't play. Don't risk another injury. Jazz fans remember too clearly what happened last time you tried to come back too soon. You aggriavated your old injury and missed even more time. Don't do it. One little All Star game is not worth the rest of the season.

Ruff Stuff - Give Coach Giacoletti another year

wruff — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:20:00 GMT

There's a lot of talk out there from Ute Fans about how the school should get rid of head basketball coach Ray Giacoletti. The Utes are off to their worst start in conference play in 54 years. No arguement here-that's not good. But is coach Giacoletti the problem, and should he be fired? i don't think so. I believe a coach should get 3 years to prove what he can do. This is his 3rd year. But i think in his case, he should get 1 more year. Why? Because his first year, he did not play the style he wanted to. He changed his philosophy to keep Andrew Bogut here, and it worked out well for both parties. Now he's trying to get the players he wants to play the style he wants. So I say, give him one more year. He has some people hurt right now, and frnakly, the guys who are playing for some reason are not buying into his philosophy. Some of the blame undoubtly lies with Coach Jack for not getting through to his players, but once he gets the right guys here, guys who will be selfless and not selfish, guys who will play as a team and play some defense, I think things will improve. The problem these days is in this day of high-priced coaches, fans want them to win right now, if not sooner. They want to see results for the money being paid to the coaches. But the reality of it is, you can't win them all, and you can't have winning seasons every year. This is a down year, but given a chance, I think Coach Giacoletti will get things turned around and bring Utah basketball back to where fans expect it to be.

Ruff Stuff - Gators deserve shot at national title

wruff — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:05:00 GMT

Not that it matters, because there's nothing anyone can do about it now, but I think Florida deserves a shot at the national title. After playing the toughest schedule in the country, in the toughest conference in the country, and coming through with only one loss, I say give them a crack at Ohio State. Sure, Woverine fans will say Michigan is a better team, and it very well may be, but they had their shot at the Buckeyes and couldn't beat them. Let someone else have a shot at them. A team that couldn't even win its own conference shouldn't be playing for a national title. Michigan is a good team, a very good team, but they proved they couldn't beat the Buckeyes. Let's see if someone else can do it.

Ruff Stuff - Where were these Utes during the season?

wruff — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:22:00 GMT

I'm still trying to recover from the big game on Saturday. That was about as good as it gets, with both teams playing well, several lead changes and a dramatic finish. While I was mildly surprised with the fact that Utah was able to hang with the 20th rnaked Cougars, I just kept asking myself, "Where were these guys during the regular season?". If Utah had played that well in the middle part of the year, this game would have had the added drama of a conference title on the line. But the Utes were so up and down in the middle part of the schedule that it ruined their chance at a league title. How much better would that game have been if it had been for all the marbles? The Utes proved they could play that well several times during the year, but they also proved they could be the Mr. Hyde to the Dr. Jekyll team that we saw Saturday. And that was too bad. The players shouldn't look back at the BYU game as the one that got away, it should be the New Mexico game or the Wyoming game. Now its the "season" that got away, because we all saw what that team was capable of when it played its best..

Jazz know more than you think

wruff — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 04:20:00 GMT

I read the other day where some fan was bent that the Jazz had let Kris Humphires go and how well he was doing with Toronto in the preseason. I had to laugh. Fans think they know what is best for the team, and they can't understand some of the decisions that are made. But they're not there in practice every day, and they don't see players loafing or dogging it or being selfish. They don't see players thinking they know more about basketball than Jerry Sloan, who has probably forgotten more about the game than they will ever know. Jerry wants to win, period. He wants players to play hard, and if they do that, and if he thinks they can help him win, then he'll play them. If he lets them go, there's a reason. You and I may not know what that reason is, but believe me, he probably has a good one. Take Kirk Snyder for instance. He's a great talent, no doubt about it. But there's a reason Kirk Snyder is on his 3rd team in 3 years. Kris Humprhies has talent. But he has a funny habit of wanting to shoot the ball every time he touches it. I mean every time. Carlos Arroyo could have been the starting point guard here for many years. But he wanted to play his way, and since leaving here, he's come off the bench for 2 different teams. He can't even start for Orlando, and that should tell you something. Blue Edwards, Eric Murdock, Chris Morris, the list of talented players is endless. But being talented and being a team player are 2 different traits, and sometimes, a player only has one of those traits. So the next time the Jazz make a move you may not agree wtih, step back and think about it. Would Jerry Sloan jepardize his job by not keeping good players? No way. You may not agree with him, but most times, he turns out to be right.