Checketts says he won't own Jazz

Dave Checketts, owner of Real Salt Lake and the St. Louis Blues, said during a question and answer period with the Associated Press Sports Editors, Thursday, that he couldn’t see himself buying the Jazz.
“I think the Miller family will own the Jazz for a very long time. I think Larry wanted them to keep it,” said Checketts, a Bountiful native.
As for the Millers ever selling the team, he said, “I don’t see it.”
Addressing the sports editors’ annual convention at the Marriott at the Gallivan Center, he laughed about speaking to such a group.
“I never thought I’d be invited into this room,” he said.
That’s because Checketts — and almost any other high profile sports figure — is often questioned or criticized in the news media, and Checketts was no exception. He bucked heavy opposition to building Rio Tinto Stadium, before prevailing.
True to form, Checketts was full of interesting anecdotal stories, saying his parents didn’t follow sports. But after he became president of the Utah Jazz while still in his 20s, his dad — originally unbeknown to Dave — took a job as an usher at the Salt Palace.
He said he could look up on the concourse level and see his father doing body English, hoping to influence a few shots into the basket.
Checketts also said public opinion polls indicated Real Salt Lake should have been named the Utah Highlanders, but he thought it would be hard to distinguish the name from an Arena Football League team or some other team. So he directed that it be named Real Salt Lake so it sounded like a soccer club.