It's a learning process
It is 5:30 p.m. in Houston and, after my Salt Lake-to-Phoenix-to-San Antonio-to-Houston flight that got me out of bed at four o'clock this morning, I am sitting in my hotel room.
But tired? Not today.
It's only three hours before Game 7 of the Jazz-Rockets series - the second half of outstanding daily double for sports fans and sports writers.
Street Sense just ran the kind of Kentucky Derby that makes you think he's got a chance to be the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.
Cowtown Cat, who is co-owned by Lance Robinson of Spanish Fork, went off at 18-to-1 and finished dead last.
I'm sure Lance is disappointed because he had high hopes for Cowtown Cat going into the Derby. But the horse ran too fast too early. He chased pace-setting Hard Spun through a 46-second half mile and started backing up before the 20-horse field hit the far turn.
Cowtown Cat's early speed impacted the race, however. If Robinson's colt hadn't pushed runnerup Hard Spun through those quick early fractions, Street Cry probably would have had a much more difficult time getting past him in the stretch.
On to basketball . . .
This is the fourth Game 7 in Jazz history and my job has made me a witness to all of them.
I compare this one to the seventh game of the 1988 Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers because of the circumstances.
Nineteen years ago, the Jazz were a team on the rise, not the perennial 55-win team that lost Game 7 to Houston in the 1994 conference finals or lost to Seattle in Game 7 of the 1996 conference finals.
Against the Lakers, the Jazz were learning how to compete in a tough, hard-fought playoff series. A close loss to the Lakers in Game 7 provided a lesson - a stepping stone - for future Jazz teams.
I see the same thing happening tonight.
The Jazz are a team on the rise. The lessons learned over the last two weeks will pay substantial dividends down the road.
- Steve Luhm
But tired? Not today.
It's only three hours before Game 7 of the Jazz-Rockets series - the second half of outstanding daily double for sports fans and sports writers.
Street Sense just ran the kind of Kentucky Derby that makes you think he's got a chance to be the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.
Cowtown Cat, who is co-owned by Lance Robinson of Spanish Fork, went off at 18-to-1 and finished dead last.
I'm sure Lance is disappointed because he had high hopes for Cowtown Cat going into the Derby. But the horse ran too fast too early. He chased pace-setting Hard Spun through a 46-second half mile and started backing up before the 20-horse field hit the far turn.
Cowtown Cat's early speed impacted the race, however. If Robinson's colt hadn't pushed runnerup Hard Spun through those quick early fractions, Street Cry probably would have had a much more difficult time getting past him in the stretch.
On to basketball . . .
This is the fourth Game 7 in Jazz history and my job has made me a witness to all of them.
I compare this one to the seventh game of the 1988 Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers because of the circumstances.
Nineteen years ago, the Jazz were a team on the rise, not the perennial 55-win team that lost Game 7 to Houston in the 1994 conference finals or lost to Seattle in Game 7 of the 1996 conference finals.
Against the Lakers, the Jazz were learning how to compete in a tough, hard-fought playoff series. A close loss to the Lakers in Game 7 provided a lesson - a stepping stone - for future Jazz teams.
I see the same thing happening tonight.
The Jazz are a team on the rise. The lessons learned over the last two weeks will pay substantial dividends down the road.
- Steve Luhm
5:05 PM
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1 Comments:
Man up, Steve! Remind everyone that you picked the Jazz to lose - and you were wrong!!!
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