The withdrawal pains should be kicking in, along with the sense that this is really happening.

The Utah Jazz did not play their season opener Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets, and they won't be playing the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night. EnergySolutions Arena, awash in light and sound on game nights, is dark and quiet.

The ongoing NBA lockout, and the labor dispute between the game's millionaire players and its billionaire owners, has already seen the cancellation of the first month of the season. If no agreement is found, perhaps the entire season will be cancelled.

For Utah Jazz fans, the lockout means missing out on the experience of watching a game — whether in EnergySolutions Arena, on TV from the couch or at a sports bar. There's no way to duplicate that experience, but maybe we can (to paraphrase Brad Pitt's Billy Beane in "Moneyball") re-create the experience in the aggregate.

Watching a Jazz game isn't just one thing, it's a combination of lots of little things that make the experience memorable. Some things can't be duplicated (such as the concentration of Utah legislators being schmoozed by lobbyists in luxury boxes, or the maroon vests of the EnergySolutions Arena ushers), but with some imagination we can approximate the excitement the NBA won't be providing for a while.

If you miss... • Athletic young men in shorts running up and down the court.

Then try ... • The Runnin' Utes basketball team kicks off its season with an exhibition Friday against the Grizzlies of Adams State College (a small college in Colorado), at the Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus. They play three more games in November — at home against San Diego Christian College on the 14th, at Boise State on the 16th, and then home against Montana State on the 19th — before taking off for the "Battle 4 Atlantis" tournament in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving break. (Visit utahutes.cstv.com for details.)

If your passions run blue rather than red, the Brigham Young University Cougars play Dixie State College on Friday at the Marriott Center in Provo. (Visit byucougars.com for a full schedule.)

If you miss... • The green plastic seats of EnergySolutions Arena.

Then try ... • The annual visit of Disney on Ice brings the "Treasure Trove" show, featuring Rapunzel and Flynn from "Tangled" as well as the other Disney princesses, to ESA Nov. 9-13. Or cut out three sides of a Rubbermaid storage bin, and sit on what's left.

If you miss... • EnergySolutions Arena's hardwood floor.

Then try ... • BYU's game against the Oregon Ducks at ESA on Dec. 3.

If you miss... • The antics of the Jazz Bear.

Then try … • The Jazz's full schedule of community events, which haven't diminished even though there's no basketball being played.

"We're still engaged in the community on a regular basis," said Linda Luchetti, senior vice president of communications for the Larry H. Miller Group, which owns the Jazz.

The team is still fielding the same number of requests for public appearances of the mascot Bear or the Jazz Dancers as ever, Luchetti said. Those include the team's charity Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 23, and the annual effort to build a public basketball court in a Utah community (this year, it's in Saratoga Springs, and the grand opening is sometime in November).

If you miss... • The choreography and Lycra-wrapped curves of the Jazz Dancers.

Then try ... • One of Salt Lake City's major dance troupes, where the dancing is just as sharp — and the costumes don't have NuSkin logos emblazoned on them.

Repertory Dance Theatre will present "Snapshots," with choreography by Zvi Gotheiner and RDT dancers, Nov. 18-19, while Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company's show "Prism" runs Dec. 8-10 — both at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City.

The University of Utah Performing Dance Company finishes its fall concert with performances Thursday through Saturday at Kingsbury Hall.

If you miss... • The soothing voice of Craig Bolerjack doing play-by-play.

Then try ... • Listening for Bolerjack calling Pac-12 football games most Saturdays on Fox Sports Net (Root Sports).

If you miss... • The glory days of Stockton-to-Malone.

Then try ... • NBATV, the channel owned by the league (Channel 439 on Comcast), is filling its many empty hours with "Hardwood Classics," rebroadcasts of playoff games from past seasons. On Friday night at 8 p.m. Mountain time, you can see Game 5 of the '98 Finals, when the Jazz played the Chicago Bulls. (Spoiler alert: The Jazz win, 83-81.)

If you miss... • The snail's pace of traffic on game night.

Then try ... • For the I-15 crawl, just drive through Utah County on any given day. For the downtown snarl of cars, drive to the city on the Friday after Thanksgiving — when shoppers heading toward The Gateway and the crowds going to see the Temple Square lights annually converge.

If you miss... • Breaking into a sweat over a hard-fought basketball game.

Then try ... • As one of my colleagues put it, "How about people getting off their duff to play a little basketball themselves?" Or go find an aerobics class and ask if the instructor can slip "Y.M.C.A." on the boom box.

If you miss... • Paying too much money for cheap beer.

Then try ... • Open two Budweisers. Pour them into the largest available container. Then light a $10 bill on fire.

spmeans@sltrib.com

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