Banker's Bites

Ah, I can feel the lethargy settling in like a thick fog on my brain. We’ve officially entered the doldrums of summer in the sports world. The Jazz season came to a crashing halt in Los Angeles two weeks ago and all we have left is to sit and watch while the Jazz face a reconstruction period, possibly equivalent to the size of the I-15 reconstruction pre-2002. Does Boozer opt out? Do they try to keep Millsap if Boozer stays? What about Memo, Korver, and the other five players currently in the final year of their contracts?

Football is on hold now till the end of summer. The draft is past, spring camps have opened and closed and now all we have to hold on to is how does BYU prepare to face the Big Time in OU in Jerry’s New House and how does Utah plan to maintain the same level they played at last year. Fantasy football is approaching, but you can only mock draft so many times before you want to rip your face off just to change up the monotony.

RSL is in full swing and despite Scuba Steve’s belittling of soccer on this very blog last October; I’m a big fan. (For those who may also be fans, but haven’t found where to watch the games, I’ve found them on 2.2 on the new digital channels.) But you can only hold on to so much soccer.

So what does that leave us? I’ll tell you what’s piling up on my radar screen: lots and lots of outside time. Yard work, swimming pools, park playgrounds, camping, hiking, backpacking. It’s a great thing to live in this state where we get to enjoy seasons because there is so much to do. So shake off those cobwebs, put the Jazz, the Cougars and Utes, and the rest of the I-don’t-care-who-wins-it-all NBA out of your mind and get outside and enjoy the weather.

(By the way, does anyone know of any great, lesser-known or unknown camping spots here in the State that are good for families?)

Fry Sauce is Always a Recipe for Success

Would you like this?

Or this?

What’s the difference you might ask? Well, it’s as simple as this?

Struggling to tell the difference?

If you ask most people who have had the opportunity to taste a burger of any proportion from In ‘N Out Burger (I personally recommend the 3x3 with extra cheese) they will tell you they either love it or hate it. Until recently, I hated it. But I digress. A few years ago a new company moved into American Fork that served a similar menu called Chadders. Set side-by-side, the burgers are nearly identical, but in my opinion, there are one or two little things that make one better than the other. Comparing these pictures of the Utah Jazz’s Mehmet Okur seems unsubstantial; in fact, they were taken only two months apart. The first one is Memo hitting a huge shot in the dwindling minutes of a game against the Lakers just before All-Star Weekend and the second is Memo getting scored on by a short-handed Golden State team in a game we should have easily won.

I’m still struggling to see much difference myself. They are both tasty and delicious and writing this makes me want to drive to West Valley or American Fork and grab another hat trick with double cheese, fries, and a Coke. The differences are so negligible as not be noteworthy. One huge difference in my esteemed opinion is the fry sauce. What? I said fry sauce.

Fry sauce makes everything better. It’s awesome and it makes a world of difference. What goes into fry sauce varies, depending on the maker. I usually prefer a little Miracle Whip (gotta love the zip), BBQ sauce (its tangier than ketchup), some limejuice, and a little pickle juice if available.But the subtle differences between the Jazz of the longest win streak in more than a decade and the one that couldn’t even beat an eight man rotation of a lottery-bound Warriors team are more glaring and obvious. Several that come to mind include defense (or a serious lack of it), a lack cohesiveness stemming from all the injuries, Sloan says they need “nastiness,” and a not-so-apparent lack of commitment to the overall goal. So what is the recipe for getting back to that team that beak Los Angeles barely two months ago? Let’s just call it fry sauce. You mix in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and you’ll have fry sauce. This fry sauce needs some “nastiness.”

What recipe might you suggest for the Jazz’s secret fry sauce?

By the way, I prefer Chadders . . . in case you were wondering.

...And we'll find a way.

This song is dedicated to a special group of people in this world. Right now it seems like there are three types of NBA fans with regards to our beautiful Jazz team. They are the Jazz-Faithful, the Jazz-Undecided and the full blown Jazz-Haters. I, a Jazz-Faithful, am dedicating this song to all the Jazz-Undecided and a few select Jazz-Haters with a soft heart. I extend this song to you with a stretched out hand and an olive branch. I have a dream that all Jazz fans can join hands and say, "Jazz, amidst all the Jazz-Hatred and Booze-Hatred and Sloan-Fairweathering, you do still have fans that love you. We’ll Stick with you baby...and together...we’ll find a way."

It's a commonly accepted principal of the NBA that the playoffs are a different beast than the regular season. Remember the year the Jazz went to the Western Conference finals they limped into the playoffs like a sick puppy, licking it’s wounds. In this desperate time the team needs us more than ever. We'll be faithful to Jazz, through thick and thin, sickness and health for richer or for poorer as long as the Jazz's slump shall live. I guarantee when the rain stops and the sunshine shines on this beautiful team again, you won’t be disappointed. You will be joyous and happy that you stuck it out with a defenseless, and lazy, stagnate, slum of a team. It’s always darkest before the dawn so stick with them baby. They’ll find a way.

Cut-throat Cutler to Da Bears!

So the divorce is final huh? Too bad for the Denver, they lost a great tough quarterback. Too bad for Green Bay, because Bret Favre II is about to roll into Chicago and start slapping Green Bay around. This guy is tough, accurate and a flat out competitor. He, like Brett, negotiates like he plays - very very tough. Good luck talking to him down the road!
Who knows if he is the real deal, but he's one player that doesn't play soft, then talk tough. He talks tough because he plays tough. For that reason, he'll fit in well in Chicago.
And thumbs, you should give this one a double thumbs up. Pedro mustache Orton is out, Cut-Throat Cutler is in.

Cinderella is HOT!!

Every year I cheer for her, the ugly duckling that has hardly a chance to score with Zach Morris. But don't forget, Cinderella did score with the Prince! The great thing about this tourney is she DOES have a chance. Which ugly duck will I pull for this year? Hmmm. Utah State is definately on the list. The fact that BYU hasn't passed the 1st round since I was knee high to a grasshopper puts them on the list, IN BOLD. Utah has a good chance of advancing, but it all depends on Lucas de Neville. Baseline. Baseline.

Cheers to spring time temps and Luther's "One Shining Moment" song with CBS's recap. I shed a tears every year. "The ball is tipped....."

I'm off to Vegas to put all my economic stimulas money on an ugly yet very confident duck. Have a great tourney and may your team's dream come true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLsS0ek3IM8