Stop trying to make Hansbrough happen, it's not going to happen

Greg Ostertag plays hockey, makes cakes, and seems to want to hoop some more [azcentral.com]

Not only was Greg Ostertag a 28th pick in the draft, the Jazz got rid of a lot of dead weight when they brought him back for one more year.

Boozer was at Game 4 in Orlando. With CeCe. Divorce off, marriage on? [Salt Lake Tribune]


The Fesenko Question is answered -- he's coming back next year [Salt Lake Tribune]

A year ago, I would have wanted this and the Miles signing so bad. Both fellows are loaded with athleticism and talent, but neither seem like they aren't going to get it. With Williams, Okur (hopefully) and Boozer (please please) as the core, the Jazz need players who a) are going to work hard and b) know that they aren't going to be an NBA superstar.
What the Jazz need are hard-working, veteran role players. Players who are playing for championships, not contracts. (I know that is what Boozer's about, but he's too good, and I still have hope that he will change.)


The Jazz haven't given up the dream either (Hansbrough!) [Salt Lake Tribune]

But Siler doesn't quite get it yet.

I know Jazz fans hate white guys, but trust in me, this would work out.


Koufos honors his dad [Salt Lake Tribune]


Utah Jazz all-time draft history [Utah Jazz dot come]

Idiotic opinions about 2009-10 Utah Jazz starting line-up [Jazzbots or something]


How The Utah Jazz Should Spend Their Summer Cash [Bleacher Report]

By some dude who thinks that Boozer, Okur and Korver have already opted out and that Morris Almond is coming back next year.


Jazz Dunk Team auditions [Utah Jazz dot com]
Have you seen these dudes? They do some lame dunks and some awesome dunks. They celebrate like a flamboyant K-Rod after both.


Masha is releasing her English single this month [Salt Lake Tribune]

Not content with owning a store that is proud of providing Ed Hardy garb to Douchebag
Dads or once being the supposed Britney of Russia, MK-47 is trying to be a pop star in this country too. The best part is the article is titled "Stepping Out". The second best part is this accompanying photo:


If only she could hate Utah as much as Mrs. Booze allegedly does and CeCeBoo could like it as much as MK-47 does.

Here's MK-47's hit, "Sugary". I'd feel a lot more honest if I knew how to say 'hit' in Russian:

8 June 2009

It looks like my hopes of the Jazz drafting Tyler Hansbrough are fading (Chad Ford - ESPN Insider)
In his latest mock, Chad Ford still has Hansbrough coming to Utah, but that came before the above column. It makes total sense -- he had one of the world's best college careers in history, and he's tall, tough and athletic. He's the next Matt Harpring, only playing the position might be better suited for someone with the (barf) football geneology Harpring has.

I'm still allowed to be bummed that the rest of the country is finding out that he can jump, despite his skin deficiency. I guess Luke Nevill can wear #50 when the Jazz pull off a huge coup and draft their leading shot blocker.

Free Darko calls current Jazz nbadraft.net mock pick Wayne Ellington the "Most Likely to be the Barack Obama of Utah"
Not the western frontiersman that Karl Malone was (or is, as he's likely shooting at something out the back of his 18-wheeler right now), Wayne is, instead, the sort of mainstream (UNC-bred) African-American made for Utah: articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. He's also the sort of system scorer who could thrive in Utah, where NBADraft.net is projecting he winds up.

Kind of racist, no?

ShamSports is doing an incredible Where Are They Now on every draft pick from 1994 to 2008.
1994 Jazz pick: Jaime Watson (#47)
Watson played 102 games in the league over three years, before exploring a few other countries, such as China, Portugal, Lebanon, Cyprus, Columbia, Domincan Republic, Chile, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia....you know, all the usual haunts. His last stop came in Jordan (giggidy), when he averaged 17.8 points per game for Al Riyadi in 2006. He later played for the Jordanian National Team, believing perhaps rightly that his chance of joining USA Basketball had passed.
1995 Jazz pick: Greg Ostertag (#28)
Ostertag retired in 2006, and with him disappeared any Greg Ostertag news. If I were to guess, I'd guess that he's doing a lot of fishing right about now.

Greg Ostertag was the 28th pick. The Jazz got sure did get a lot out of a 28th pick, eh? (Comparison: 1994s 28th pick -- some fellow named Deon Thomas by Dallas)

Kirk Snyder's incompetence is declared on yet another court (San Francisco Chronicle)

Boozer goes to Africa (Deseret News)
Deron Williams doesn't seem to care where Boozer heads next season (Deseret Morning News)

It's like the words were taken right out of my mouth (Daily Utah Chronicle)

Re-asking the Fesenko question (SL Trib)
The only tougher question for the Jazz is how to trade Kirilenko, methinks.

Bette Midler, who also goes by the unfortunate stage name The Divine Miss M (which isn't quite as bad as Beyonce's 'Sasha Fierce'), is hitting her monumental 100th Las Vegas show performance. The Associated Press marks their worst line ever written in the story about Miss M's milestone:
Bette Midler admits it takes a little work to keep her Las Vegas Strip show fresh.
Yuck.

A beautiful sports/father-son piece (UniWatch)

And music:

Stern shouldn't worry about no LeBron-Kobe face-off

David Stern isn't worried about the cash he's missing out on due to the lack of a Kobe Bryant-LeBron James match-up in the NBA Finals. Not only is a Lakers-Magic Finals a better series, but Bryant v. Dwight Howard should be a better marketing situation.

Sure, Bryant and Howard won't guard each other like James and Bryant would have on a few possessions each game, but it doesn't really matter. In fact, Bryant doesn't really matter, because Dwight Howard is the NBA's most marketable player, whether the league knows it or not.

Howard not only defeated James on the court with his incredible Game 6 performance, but he dominates James off-the-court. Howard has more personality and more originality and is more fun than James. Howard also wasn't anointed as anything and has had to earn all the love he's gotten since he was drafted #1 over Emeka Okafor in 2004.

Howard has become one of the league's best interviews. He jokes around and has refreshing sense of humor. His cracks won't make him the last comic standing, but he isn't re-telling the same old same old NBA-player jokes.

Howard isn't afraid to be a little bit different than typical pro basketball players, either. Yes, the whole Superman bit was stolen from therealShaq, but Shaq can't even fly, and calling yourself Superman isn't exactly authentic.

It's not just Howard's words that are a bit different. Since the early 90s, dunk contest has been shunned by the big stars, except as an avenue to get some quality face-time by overreacting to a good-but-not-great dunk. Howard goes to perform, and after three years of watching Howard winning people over with his contest dunks, guess who wants in? King James, or at least he declared so in the heat of the most recent contest.

More than anything else, Howard seems like a higher-quality hang than probably any NBA player. A day with him would consist of more than talking about business deals and how he wants to be a billionaire. You might not eat good food, his body being as great as it is, but you'd still have enjoy your playdate.

Despite being silly, Dwight Howard is still respected as a basketball player. The skinny top draft pick with braces has worked his body into an unstoppable force. When he was drafted, scouts, coaches, reporters and analysts weren't making proclamations of deity, but were saying sentences that ended with question marks. We weren't "witnesses", we were non-believers.

The NBA seems bent on making James the next Jordan, it isn't even funny. Seriously, it isn't. It's boring. Howard is much more likable, so much more fun, so much more interesting than James. Not to mention more likely to win a title.