A Very Jerry Christmas

I was going to skip my blog this morning because of the holidays and all. Then I remembered the Jerry Sloan rules.

During the season, you don’t take days off.

I’m not saying Sloan didn’t ever observe Christmas; I’d be surprised if he doesn’t donate to several Christmas-related charities. But I’m also saying always observed work.

The Jazz had come home from a 10-day road trip on Christmas Eve, one year. I had booked the same flight as the team, which had arisen that morning in Miami and after a layover in Atlanta, arrived in Salt Lake in the late afternoon.

Next day, Sloan called a practice.

Seeing how I covered the team, and had to go to practice on Christmas, I told Sloan I thought there was an NBA rule that said if you aren’t playing a TV game, teams were supposed to get the holiday off. He said I was wrong – the rules stipulated Christmas Day or Christmas Eve.

CBS/Associated Press

“But we didn’t get home until yesterday afternoon,” I whined.

“We didn’t play a game, did we?” he deadpanned.

That’s one reason the Jazz have traditionally taken a pre-Christmas road trip. He felt the holidays were distracting for his players – with relatives visiting, shopping, etc. — so he’d take them on the road. That tradition continues.

In any event, that’s the only reason I can figure why I’m blogging over the holidays.

Jerry told me to.