Off-The-Court Issues

Posted by Joey Parker on September 14, 2009

There are many questions to be answered by the Jazz on the basketball court this year: Who will start at power forward? Who will win the backup point guard job? Will Deron make the All-Star Team and win the assists title?

Today though, I am wondering about  some off-the-court (but IN the arena) questions.

Will the Jazz retire a “microphone” for Hot Rod Hundley?

Let me rephrase this question:  WHEN will the Jazz retire the microphone for Hot Rod? If any announcer deserved this sort of honor, it’s Hot Rod. He was with the Jazz from 1974-2009. He did the play-by-play for every Jazz player from Pistol Pete to AK47. Plus, he was good! He had a very unique voice and numerous memorable catchphrases. (Million-Dollar-Idea for Fanzz: talking Hot Rod doll! You could pull the string and it would say “StocktontoMalone Slam Dunk” or “the cowhide globe hits home” etc.)

According to Insidehoops.com, only 4 others microphones have been retired. Most notably, Hot Rod’s former broadcast partner and mentor, Chick Hearn, by the LA Lakers.

Will the Jazz retire #19 for Larry H. Miller?

This, or some other major tribute this season, is another no-brainer. Whether you agreed with Larry all the time or not, there is no argument about this: without him, the Jazz would not be in Utah. We were unbelievably lucky to have an owner that REALLY cared about the team and was willing to spend money or do whatever he had to do to win. If you have any qualms about this, just take a look at the ownership situations in Memphis, Atlanta, LA (Clippers), Charlotte…. We were (are) very lucky to have him and his family as owners.

#19 was Larry’s jersey number when he was a professional softball player. He had a custom jersey made for himself that he, very memorably, wore to throw-back night a few years ago. The Salt Lake Tribune mentioned in an article just after his death that the Jazz were considering retiring the number as a tribute.

Since Raja Bell was the only other Utah Jazz player to wear the #19, I would say its pretty safe to retire it for Larry without stepping on any former player’s toes.

Do Jerry Sloan and John Stockton get golden Hall of Fame plaques for the “Ring of Honor” at the arena?

I’ve noticed that the “Ring of Honor”, or whatever it was called, has been moved into the rafters to make way for the “Ring of Digital Advertisements”. I assume the Jazz are still going to add plaques up there.  Right now, going from memory, I believe Karl has two for his MVPs, Stockton has one for the assists record and one for the steals record, and Pistol Pete Maravich has one for being in the Hall of Fame. (I don’t recall if they put one up there for Adrian Dantley’s HOF induction last year…) So, hopefully someone is hard at work crafting a couple of those plaques for John and Jerry.

I think these were pretty easy questions, really.  Next time I will think of some tougher ones.

3 Comments

Trevor on September 14, 2009 said:

I think it is a no-brainer “yes” to all three. The most important factor in building and maintaining a loyal fan base is glorifying the team’s history. If you walk into Candlestick Park in San Francisco, you will see murals and photos of “The Catch” all over the place. Fans want to remember these things because they were great moments in their lives.

David on September 15, 2009 said:

Couldn’t agree more on all fronts. Do you think they will add a Jerry Sloan statue outside of ESA when it’s all said and done?!

Boondock Saint (Zak) on September 15, 2009 said:

Definately YES to all three. And I would totally buy that doll (if it was reasonably priced lol).

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