Jazz Names - Now vs. Then (1997)

Posted by Andy Larsen on October 22, 2008

‘Remember When?’ (Kent Horner - NBAE/Getty Images)

When I want to pump myself up for a Jazz game, even preseason ones, I turn to youtube.com to find old clips of Jazz games from the “championship” years. True, I was only 7 years old, but that Jazz team is the one that inspired me to become the fan that I am today. One of my favorite clips is of the player intros in the 1997 NBA Finals Game 5 in the old Delta Center.

The next clip is really perfect: the Jazz are coming off a huge game 4 win in the 1997 series, but are down with 2:30 left to go, when John Stockton declares “There has got to be some way we can win this game.” He made a gigantic 3, stole the ball from MJ, and fired a perfect full-court pass to Karl Malone. NBA on NBC was really brilliant. They then put a decibel meter during the intros, and the stadium shakes, maxing out the decibel meter at 110 multiple times throughout the pregame.

Then, the player intros start. It’s the familiar voice of Dan Roberts, PA Announcer for the Jazz. He announces the Bulls, everyone boos. It’s our turn. He announces the Jazz, everyone screams. Loudly. Of course.

But it got me thinking: the current Jazz player names are far, far cooler than the old Jazz player names. This isn’t really the old Jazz’ fault, but the new ones lead to much better player intros. So we’ll go one-by-one through the Jazz lineup, and compare each position.

AT CENTER:

Greg Ostertag vs. Mehmet Okur

Greg Ostertag is an above average name. It’s interesting, Dan Roberts puts all the emphasis on Greg, but clearly, Ostertag is the far cooler part. He rolls the R in Greg, but imagine if he had done that with the R in Ostertag? That would have been exceptional.

Did you know Mehmet is the most common boy’s name in Turkey? As for our Okur, he has a fantastic nickname, which is worth a lot. However, Roberts chooses not to say Memo, but Mehmet. He extends the last part of Okur, which is a pretty cool effect.

Verdict: TIE

AT FORWARD:

Bryon Russell vs. Andrei Kirilenko

Bryon Russell is a pretty average NBA name. Dan Roberts calls him “flyin’ Bryon Russell”. No special emphasis or anything beyond that.

Andrei Kirilenko is a pretty fantastic NBA name. Dan Roberts is sure to say “from Russia with love” before every game. That’s pretty cheesy when you think about it, but it works. The best part is that both of Andrei’s names end in vowels, which is pretty special.

Verdict: Andrei Kirilenko, easily.

Karl Malone vs. Carlos Boozer

Karl Malone is an average name, but again, he has a spectacular nickname. Roberts mentions it, but doesn’t put any emphasis on “the mailman, Karl Malone”, other than slightly extending Karl’s last name.

Carlos Boozer is, IMO, the best name in the NBA today, and Dan Roberts takes full advantage. He slightly elongates Carlos, but he can extend “Booooozer” to three full NBA quarters. The fans, of course, play along. Boozer’s name is now a local pop culture icon in itself.

Verdict: Carlos Boozer, easily.

AT GUARD:

Jeff Hornacek vs. Ronnie Brewer

Dan Roberts has a fairly mediocre name to work with in “Jeff Hornacek”. Given Utah’s demographic, he really can’t use Hornacek’s nickname. He does pretty well given that, impressively lowering his voice during the last part of “Hornacek”.

Ronnie Brewer is a good name, especially in tandem with Carlos Boozer. Again, Roberts has the option to extend both the first and last names, which is key. He also usually follows Boozer and Okur, leading to some impressive end-of-last-name starting lineup alliteration.

Verdict: Ronnie Brewer

John Stockton vs. Deron Williams

Though we all know his greatness, I think Jazz fans can agree that John Stockton is a below-average NBA name. Like most things about John, his name understated his game. Roberts doesn’t really do anything with it, but we can’t blame him.

Deron Williams is, I think, an average name, mispronunciations aside. Dan Roberts does some pretty great things with it, though. He manages to extend both names, and fairly impressively too. Fans always cheer the loudest for this one.

Verdict: Deron Williams

So I think it’s clear: the new Jazz have better names as a whole. I also think that Dan Roberts has become better in recent years, although maybe his talent has just improved.

Audibly, the Jazz player intros have improved. Visually?

I’ll let you know after Game 1 against Denver.