The Team Without A Face

It was only a blurb in a satire publication, The Onion, but it did point out the Jazz’s national image is almost nonexistent since the departure of John Stockton and Karl Malone.

“Majority Of Utah Jazz Players Have Never Heard Of Themselves” said a February headline in The Onion http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/report_majority_of_utah.

Maybe the team’s most famous personality is coach Jerry Sloan, who was recently voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

A good case could be made that many of the Jazz players are better known than The Onion. Still, the Jazz do suffer an image problem. Otherwise, Deron Williams would be an All-Star by now.

Besides, it’s nothing a couple of trips to the NBA Finals wouldn’t cure.

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Holding a business conference in the near future? Looking for a motivational speaker?

Look no further than former Jazz center Mark Eaton. He’s ready, willing and available. And besides that, he’s 7-foot-4, which is pretty impressive when he’s standing at the rostrum.

Eaton does motivational speeches and can be reached at mark@7ft4.com. You can also see a video clip of him speaking at www.7ft4.com.

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It’s commendable that Mehmet Okur is willing to play for less so he can live in Utah. He said on his website that he’s willing to play for $3-$5 million less, over the term of his new contract, in order to stay here.

But when you think about it, that’s not a huge concession. His current deal is six years, $50 million. Under those terms, he’d still be playing for $45- to $47 million.

It’s not like he’ll be on food stamps anytime soon.