No One Realized what "REALLY" Goes Into Free Agency

Today I read something from Steve Aschburner of Sports Illustrated in their Inside the NBA segment. Although I can't take the credit for actually finding this thing, Colin Cowherd was the one who brought it up. However, I am glad that someone finally brought up what I have been saying to my friends for years,
NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY HERE BECAUSE IT IS FREAKIN COLD AND FREAKIN EXPENSIVE!

Now when I say here, I mean Salt Lake City, I currently live here in Utah, enjoy it somewhat, but would like to show why we'll never have free agents come to Utah without continuing to overpay for them.

Now how did we arrive at this well there are a number of things. Steve Aschburner, Sports Illustrated said, "My methodology: I identified a dozen separate categories allowing for both objective and subjective evaluation, among them Climate, Night Life, Tradition, Marketing Potential, Facilities, Local Economy, Lifestyle (schools for kids, diversions for spouses), even Tax Implications. A few were hardcore hoops stuff: Readiness to Win, Teammates, Salary-Cap Space, Coaches. I consulted with statisticians at a local community college to concoct a point system, assigning scores ranging from plus-5 down to minus-5, and then calculated weights for each category, mathematically prioritizing them."

1. Los Angeles (Lakers)
2. Miami
3. Phoenix
4. Houston
5. Orlando
6. Dallas

Now I put Dallas in my top of the list because it is also a big city, warm, lots of stars to go to your games most of them athletes, and because well it's my home town. Even though the Mavericks are worse than the Cubs just because they can't win the big one. At least the Cubs have one in the last 100 years right?

So there must be a point to all of this, well here in Utah we have none of those things. Our true celebrities are playing basketball unless you want to consider Ralph Becker a celebrity. Although, newscasters, sportscasters, broadcasters, and anyone that is in our state's public eye comes in at an almost celebrity. We don't have a night life unless you want to consider hanging out at the Gateway Mall, but I guess you could go up to Park City for a laugh or two. It's only too bad you have to go a mile up to get any decent entertainment around here for athletes. Sales Tax for food Utah is 3% in Texas it is 0%. For restaurant food it is 7.85% and on everything else it is 6.85%.
In Oregon unlike here in Utah it is 0%! Holy Cow, even the Blazers have that leg up on us.

In these other cities mentioned it is warm pretty much all the time, in Utah not so much I mean this past winter is practically extending into this Summer just because it has rained here more than it has in Oregon for goodness sakes. Who wouldn't want to play in Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, and even Dallas or Houston. Especially if you have aging veterans they like it warm too, John Stockton of course is the exception, but I got to believe they kept that locker room like 180 degrees to keep him and Karl Malone warm for all those years. Just think if Jerry West had to play in Minnesota it would be the NBA logo with a fur coat and an Elmer Fudd hat all brought to you by Thermaflu.

Then let's not forget the state income tax, ours is 5%, in Florida there is none, now yes I know it is more in California, but Florida is a much nicer area. So Florida if you were to do an overall best place to play Florida is probably it.

Finally, Utah has odd laws regarding the consumption of alcohol. Now of course being a member of the predominant religion here in Utah of course I don't really care what the rates, costs, etc. on booze really is. However, maybe we should consider changing them a bit with stiffer penalties for for drunkenness. If laws are violated i.e. drunk driving then let them suffer the consequences ten-fold. If a person, celebrity, or athlete wants to drink stronger wine, beer, vodka, or whatever, then let them. There isn't any problem with this anywhere else. Another thing against any athletes better than the ones we have playing here.

Now the Miller Family is a great family who has put their hearts and souls into this Utah franchise. They have had and continue to have a great coach in Jerry Sloan, they have a good flagship station for the Jazz games, and they have a good fan base. It is an overall great organization with the President and Vice-President of the team down to the people who bring us nachos. We just need to change a few things here in our state in order to possibly get some of these bigger named free agents out here. The Utah Jazz are a big part of our economy, they employ a ton of people, they are our major league source of entertainment. So if that is the case why not change things a bit? It might help them stay here for another 30 years like are just recently retired voice of the Jazz, Hot Rod Hundley.

Yet, today heard on "Locked on Sports" on 1320 KFAN the Jazz were able to keep Carlos Boozer, Memo Okur, and Kyle Korver. This is definitely an enigma of epic proportions if you ask me. This put the Jazz in the hole as was said by Randy Rigby on that same program. Not only are they past the luxury tax threshold but at right around 73 million with everyone still being here says the Deseret News, but no chance at landing someone who could help improve this team. Let's just hope it was all worth it for the 2009-10 season. By the way Utah landed 24 on this list of Aschburner's which is about right for them, if you were dying to know.

Mo's Gotten Better With Age While the Mets Struggle

The Yankees just swept the Mets and to be quite honest the Mets are more like their ailing CITI Bank sponsors and they're going no where fast. I didn't catch much of this game because I had more important things to do like eat dinner with the family. We had lasagna, but there is no doubt about it Mariano Rivera is the best closer of all-time.

He already has 17 saves this season, had 39 last year, and oh yeah just got number 500 for his career against these same lowly Mets. He also had his first career RBI. To add insult to injury the RBI came against K-Rod the 3 year, 37 million dollar man who last season as an Angel set an MLB record for saves in a season with 62. You know if the Mets wanted to walk the pitcher with the bases loaded Jerry Manuel should have pitched himself. Could have
saved K-Rod for the Brewers tomorrow night.

Yankee manager Joe Girardi called on his ace closer to finish off the 8th and as Rivera had done so many times before come into save the game in the 9th. Just like he had done on May 17, 1996 in which his current teammate Andy Pettite got the win and Rivera recorded his first save. Derek Jeter and then teammate now manager Girardi had a pair of hits with an RBI in that game on route to winning the World Series. Who would have thought 500 saves later it would have come against the Mets.

Congratulations to Rivera and the Yankees for getting the win and of course number 500. Only Milwaukee's Trevor Hoffman has more saves with 571 and the only other player in league history with at least 500 saves. Oh and if anyone cares the Boston Red Sox lost to the Braves which puts the Yankees 3 back of the Red Sox in the AL East.

Scottie Hottie Was Smokin On Saturday

Today's featured game was between the White Sox and the Cubs, North and South if you will for a moment. So it wasn't the Civil War, but you could definitely tell there was about the same kind of hate. Now of course, the game had no real significance right now with the all-star game right around the corner. However, there was one thing that completely just stood out.

Scott Podsednik, or as I thought of him as the one of the old guys for the Sox went 4-5 with two singles, a double, and a homerun, scored twice and had two RBI to boot. Yep, you guessed it one hit away from the cycle in today's 8-7 win against the Cubs. I understand it was the Rookie Gordon Beckham that won the game for the Sox in the bottom of the ninth, but I think Podsednik earned that pie in the face as well.

Drafted back in 1994 in the third round by the Texas Rangers I remember thinking this guy will never play with guys like Juan Gonzalez and Jose Canseco on the team. However, the White Sox were sure glad the 33 year-old was available for them today. Yet for whatever reason, he was written off.

Playing for the Rockies last season he only played in 93 games, hit only one home run, and batted only .253, and only had 15 RBI. Seems to me if you can't play in Colorado where the balls fly out almost as much as I change socks your career should be left for dead.

The Sox decided to give their 2005 World Series hero another chance and now they are only 5 back in their division and 6 back in the wild card. Ok, so not exactly in the heat of things, but this might just be the win that starts something. It isn't like they have waited 100 years to win a World Series or something like that Northside team. All I can say is that I am glad they call themselves the Cubs because they certainly haven't been playing like Bears!

Finally Dallas Got Things "T.O." Right

I decided I couldn't pass this up now that former Cowboy Terrell Owens is a Buffalo Bill. All apart of the

Boy
I
Love
Losing
Superbowls

Buffalo Bills.

In fact if it weren't for that stupid ABC show "The Superstars" and T.O. and his partner losing yesterday I needed to comment on his being the loser Cowboy fans already knew about.

It was also time that more than just football fans found out that the Dallas Cowboys found out at the end of the 2008 season. For those of you who are "reality junkies" I feel sorry for you that you were watching the show "The Superstars." In fact after what I have heard about how T.O. and his partner supermodel Joanna Krupa performed it just proves that both of them don't deserve anything that they have. In fact anyone who just sits there and runs without catching footballs doesn't deserve what he has. The same can be said of anyone who looks like this lady, in fact I don't usually say this about models unless they are on Top Model but she needs a paper bag over her head with a capital P, maybe P and T.O. should continue to be partners they would work well together. In fact they would work so well together that there would be no real work being done.

Yet I can't help but remind everyone that who looks good in all this. Yep, you guessed it, The Dallas Cowboys, they look great. Now let's be realistic here just like all of the "reality junkies" would like to think that they are. The Cowboys and Roy Williams must not only have a better year without T.O. but they need to make the playoffs and go far. Now one thing that is not in T.O.'s favor is the fact that historically any player who leaves the Cowboys who was a star on the team usually doesn't do well after leaving, i.e. Alvin Harper, Deion Sanders, Kelvin Martin, Herschel Walker, Troy Hambrick, Brock Marion, and the list continues. Even Emmitt Smith wasn't really the same after leaving, still good, but not the same.

Since the Cowboys are like the Yankees there is only one thing left TO say. Good Riddance! Oh yeah, and TO get your popcorn ready one thing for sure is Cowboy games should at the very least be more like the way football should be played.