On the night of Feb. 7, we watched the Utah Jazz play against Orlando Magic. For the first time in over thirty years, I was ashamed of being a Utah Jazz fan. We were all excited to see the fresh players and really felt that the Utah Jazz could get on a winning streak and maybe get close to making the playoffs. In the fourth quarter three of the star players sat on the bench laughing with their mouths covered by their towels when the Jazz started losing. On “Talkin’ Sports” they saw the same thing. Dave Fox was upset about what happened but could not comment due to working for the Utah Jazz television station. I feel that Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith has lost any integrity.
When Gail Miller sold the team to Smith, I’m sure she thought he would continue the Miller values and the plan to win all games and not lose them on purpose. In the past when a sport’s team did something to cause a team to lose, they would have large fines or even jail time. In today’s NBA, nothing is done.
Smith needs to send a letter out to all the season ticket holders explaining the plan for the Utah Jazz to lose the rest of the games this season — or give up on them — in which he will give them a refund for their season tickets.
Smith also needs to explain to all the kids attending the games that they are not going to see their favorite team win because the plan is for them to lose. Then Smith needs to post on KJAZZ that they are no longer going to show the Utah Jazz games on their channel due to their plan for the team to lose all the games or give up on them.
These are all my feelings about what Utah Jazz is doing. Not sure what happened to “go out there and try to win every game.” I’m sure that there are a lot of fans who feel the same way after the Feb. 7 game.
Joni Flint, Brookside
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