Class Dismissed 3:24 PM

Two years ago (has it been that long?), about this time, I was enamored with an undersized Utah Jazz guard. He played like he spoke, with passion and class. Sadly, the gaudy purple and gold of Los Angeles can turn even Fine Derek Fisher into Douchy Derek Fisher.



Fisher later explained he was going to run through the pick and couldn't stop himself once he started going. Unfortunately for the Douchy Deuce (since he wears number 2, get it?), his dome got injured when he lifted it into Luis Scola's chin.


P.S. Dig Yao's Middle-school fu-manchu.

Why I like the Jazz...part 2 11:00 AM

During one of my one hundred and twenty three checks for Utah Jazz information during the day yesterday, I discovered that the team had called an impromptu press conference. Teams don't just call press conferences to thank 25-year old dudes for pulling for them. Teams only call press conferences for big deals - major trades, coaches getting hired, fired, or resigning, and all the big moves in-between. This was not a good press conference...

Derek Fisher (Who could forget him?) is being released from his contract in order to move to a city that not only has an NBA team but also has a retinoblastoma specialist to take care of his baby girl. While Fisher's on-the-court production (10 points per game 3 assists per) can be replaced, his off-the-court class cannot.

Fisher is a class dude to put his family before $21 million and the Jazz are a class organization to let a guy potentially go to a rival for nothing. In a world of professional sports where it is so easy to wonder where the good guys are, it is nice to pull for an organization full of them and one in particular.

I'll be a Fish fan no matter where he goes. (unless he goes back to the Lakers...kidding!)

I have a new hero... 1:54 PM

When I started this blog, I promised I would limit the amount of Utah Jazz action on it - lest I look like a complete whacko. But what happened last night absolutely cannot be poo-pooed. Derek Fisher, a backup point guard and sometimes starting shooting guard who missed game one of the semifinal series because of an undisclosed personal problem, returns to the lineup and saves the Jazz. Fisher's daughter, who is less than a year old, underwent a combination of surgery and chemotherapy in New York yesterday morning for retinal blastoma, a rare form of cancer with a high mortality rate. After the early morning surgery and five hours of recovery, Fisher flies back to Utah, arrives at the arena late in the 3rd quarter, immediately changes into his uniform and literally goes from the locker room into the game. The reaction of the players and the fans is overwhelming BEFORE Fisher causes an important turnover and then drains a big three point shot in overtime to push the Jazz past the Warriors.

After the game, choking back tears, Fisher reveals his daughter's illness and gives the rest of us words to live by: "This is unbelievable. God is so good....Loyalty is always with my family and my faith first."

The reality is Fisher's greatness was already established long before he became the difference maker in this game -when Fisher decided to sit game one out and miss most of game two to be with his family. It takes a special man to, in the midst of pressure to perform and produce, quietly and firmly choose to embrace ones primary role of husband and father over starter for the in-the-thick-of-the-playoffs Utah Jazz.

Mr. Fisher, you are the man. Not because of your forced turnover or your three, or even the way your presence rallied the team, but because of the choice you made to put your family and your faith first. Here's to hoping I learn from you.