Ok. It’s time. I’ve had my last straw. I need a happy ending. I haven’t had one since my childhood team the San Francisco 49ers won the Super Bowl back in 1994 thanks to Deion Sanders (sorry Steve Young, but Deion won you that Super Bowl). It’s time to divorce my fanhood from BYU and the Utah Jazz. I’ll keep with my word and stick with the Jazz until the end of the season to see if they get healthy and go on some miracle run in the playoffs.
Why did I become a San Francisco 49ers fan back in 1989 when I was 9 years old? Because I turned on the television one night and saw them beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. It was easy. I saw a team win it all when I was young and impressionable and they were my team. I didn’t pick the Bengals. Sure they had Icky Woods and his awesome dance “The Icky Shuffle” and a quarterback named Boomer (one of the coolest nicknames ever), but I picked the team that won the game and THE championship.
The 49ers consisted of guys named “Jerry” and “Joe” (Jerry Rice – the greatest wide receiver of all-time without a cool nickname and Joe Montana – the greatest quarterback of all-time, also without a super cool nickname). But they won in the clutch and that was enough for me dancing around my living room in 4th grade happy as an impressionable kid could possibly be for no reason whatsoever. Why do you think there are so many Yankee, Lakers, Celtics and Cowboys fans in the world? Because their fans can actually remember championships in their lifetimes!
I’ve already gone into great detail about how this is my last season rooting for the Jazz before they lose in the playoffs AGAIN (20 agonizing years and counting), but my BYU development is relatively new. I mean, c’mon, they are my alma mater.
But I decided I can still like BYU the University and its academics and what it stands for, but I can’t get excited about a team that is absolutely the antithesis of clutch. After watching the University of Utah and its crappy basketball team beat a top-15 Gonzaga team in person last Wednesday, then seeing its over-rated football team destroy the “powerful” University of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl after BYU couldn’t defeat a 7-5 Arizona team in a “home” game at the Vegas bowl, THEN watching BYU losing to No. 6 Wake Forest at the Marriott Center in typical keep-it-close-until-the-final-two-minutes-only-to-get-your-hopes-up-then-have-your-heart-ripped-out-in-the-final-two-minutes-Jazz-playoff-fashion, I’ve had enough...
So now I am campaigning for a new college team that I can be a fan of: One that actually has a shot a delivering me a basketball or football championship in the next 3-5 years. Utah, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan, anything from Texas, Duke and North Carolina are out.
Or I could be like Sports Guy from ESPN.com and not even have a favorite college team and just stick with pro sports since the BCS doesn’t even play fair.
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5 comments:
my vote? byu.
not because of any "shot" they have or anything, but because there's a word for someone who cheers his team on -- even when the team loses. The word is FAN.
There's another word for someone who cheers for a team because of the team's hypothetical chances of "winning it all." That word is POSER.
there's no shame in having a secondary team, though.
you could always go get a graduate degree somewhere other than the byu/utah jazz school of choke...
Amen Jon!!!
Joe we have had this argument on several occasions and Jon finally put it into perfect words. I will always go for my Cougs and Jazz. I am a FAN, I even consider myself an ultimate FAN. Its funny how so many can consider a 2 or 3 loss season a wash. Sure, its not what we were hoping for at the beginning of the season but all in all, it was still a pretty good season. Losing to a team that won the sugar bowl and losing to a team that should have been in the sugar bowl if it were not for a few missed chip shot field goals is nothing to be that upset about. I will admit, the loss to Arizona hurt, but the way I see it BYU had the same let down that Alabama did and Arizona had the same motivation that Utah did. I dont think the better team won in either case, just the better prepared team. Thats whats great about sports, the underdog can always win.
Look at it this way Joe, you could be a Clippers fan, or a Detroit Lions fan, or a Utah State fan. Utah State may stink but I have seen some of the most devoted fans coming from Logan. Being a fan is about a love of a team no matter what. Heck, at least the Jazz have made it to the playoffs 20 of the last 23 seasons, or something like that. How many teams can say that, in all of pro sports. And how many losing seasons has BYU had in the last 30-35 years? They may not give me the ultimate prize but at least they always compete and always give me entertainment, cause after all, thats all it is, its entertainment, not life or death!
Oh, here are a few more thoughts, Utah winning a championship in the next 3-5 years? Where did that come from?? And as far as the Utah-Gonzaga, BYU-Wake Forest comparison, that is a joke, Gonzaga had already lost the two games leading up to that and are quickly falling out of the top 20 even withouth the loss to Utah while Wake Forsest is a strong top 10 team playing in one of the top, if not the top, basketball conferences in the country. BIG difference. You have to put all things in perspective.
Dude... you are starting to shake my faith in you as a fan. The same guy who worked for BYU athletics, threw his favorite Jazz hat on the floor at a BYU-U basketball game because of a terrible call, and travels to see them play in bowl games?
Don't be a tool. BYU will bounce back. The Jazz are successful in the smallest market in the league. And at least we don't live in detroit.
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