The best thing Jazz fans can learn is patience. Get the Jazz healthy, let Jerry Sloan coach without mindless sniping, and the team will figure out how to win. That said, it's not easy to attend games this season.
Julie, my upper-bowl buddy, says giving away extra tickets this year is like "trying to give away leprosy." Utah fans are a fickle bunch. Give them a winner and not only will they jump on the bandwagon but they'll also saddle up the ponies to pull it.
Unlike die-hard Boston Red Sox fans, Utahns aren't willing to go the distance and accept the down years with the trophy years.
Of course, attendance in general is down at NBA games throughout the country. There are several reasons, but most could be traced to the "Kobe effect" in which spoiled, overpaid players are hyped and their behavior excused, making the game less appealing to mainstream fans.
This is the fault of David Stern and the NBA powers. Instead of promoting "good guys" like Tim Duncan, they make teen punk Carmelo Anthony their marquee player.
Hip-hop may sell music CDs, but it won't put fans in the arena.
Players like Dennis Rodman used to be considered clowns, but now his notoriously nasty attitude is cultivated.
(Not to detract from his obvious talent, but Utah's own Andrew Bogut also has difficulty controlling his temper and fans and coaches seem to delight in his antics.)
Thanks to Jerry Sloan, the Jazz have largely avoided this sort of on-court mayhem. Last year he was being touted as "Coach of the Year" and this year letters to the editor call for his head.
Thankfully, Larry Miller knows that all the Jazz need is time, good health, and patience. And it wouldn't hurt to have Sparky back either.
Raised in Davis County, Brandvold is employed in the financial industry-and proud to be a Utah Democrat.
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