Politics and sports usually shouldn't mix. In fact, sports is sometimes the one place where people with clashing political views can find common ground - whether you're a liberal or a conservative, we can all agree the Yankees suck.

(Feel free to replace "Yankees" with whatever group of overpaid thyroid cases you despise - Red Sox, Mets, Spurs, Manchester United, etc.)

However, a blogger for the L.A. Lakers fan site Lake Show Life has injected politics into the first round of the NBA playoffs, calling the upcoming series between the top-seeded Lakers and the 8th-seed Utah Jazz "The Prop. 8 Series.":

Not too long ago, it was Utah matched up against Los Angeles in another battle - California Proposition 8. Prop. 8, passed in last year’s general election, restricted marriage to heterosexual couples and eliminated homosexual couples' right to marry.

What the hell does this have to do with the Lakers-Jazz opening round NBA Playoffs series? Everything. In my opinion, the state of Utah was responsible for the passing of Prop. 8.

The blogger, who goes by "kareemadbuladam," notes that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (you know, the Mormons) and its members campaigned hard for Prop. 8 - and that 45 percent of the out-of-state donations to support Prop. 8 came from Utah.

The post goes on, accusing Salt Lake City of being "more close-minded than just about any other major city in the U.S.," and decrying late team owner Larry H. Miller's banning of "Brokeback Mountain" from his Megaplex theaters and what he perceives as discrimination in the Jazz organization's treatment of former player John Amaechi (before he came out of the closet).

"I am already a Lakers fan," continues kareemadbuladam, "but because of the bigotry of a lot of Utah I will be rooting twice as hard for my Lake Show to sweep, humiliate and obliterate the unjazzy Jazz."

Labels: Larry H. Miller, LDS, politics, Utah Jazz

The death Friday of Larry H. Miller - car magnate, entrepreneur, Utah Jazz owner, racing enthusiast - is going to leave a gaping hole in Utah's cultural fabric.

In so many ways, the idea of going out for a night on the town in Salt Lake City - whether it's a Jazz game, a concert at EnergySolutions Arena, or a movie at one of the Megaplex Theatres - wouldn't be the same without Miller's influence.

I interviewed Miller a few times about movies, which sparked his interest as an exhibitor - his Megaplex chain covers 70 screens in Utah - and, briefly, as a movie producer on "The Work and the Glory" series.

Movie producing was foreign territory for Miller, and it wasn't a good fit for him. In Miller's experience - selling cars and building an NBA franchise - quality means success; you put out a well-made car or a winning team, and people will buy.

Movies don't always work that way. "There can be some really well done stuff - cinematography-wise, story-wise, even acting-wise - and not have it do well," Miller told me in 2006.

Then there was that whole dust-up in 2006, when Miller pulled "Brokeback Mountain" from the Megaplex 17 because he was offended by the idea of gay cowboys. With that decision was the added hypocrisy that the theater, at the same time, was okey-dokey about booking a gruesome torture-porn horror movie, "Hostel."

"It's not my favorite business, just because it's one I'm not that engaged with like the car business and the basketball business," Miller said. "I don't understand it as much as the others."

Labels: Larry H. Miller, movies, Utah Jazz