Jazz FANS to Blame for Lack of Championship

Brace yourself for the following statement:

The FANS are to blame!

What? The fans? No it can’t be! The fans are the victims. Cheated out of a championship year after year, the fans spend more dollars each year to be loyal. They are the victims of either the greedy billionaire owner or the selfish, ball-hogging, no-heart player demanding a trade.

So how can the fans be to blame? Well, I will tell you.

As the last game of the 2012-13 season draws near, the Utah Jazz have one last chance with a little help to make the playoffs. They need a win, and a Lakers loss to secure the eighth spot and a chance to play Oklahoma. All of the Jazz fans and press are hoping for a chance at the playoffs. But they shouldn’t be. They really should hope that the last game is the last one for a while.

The culture of Jazz fans is an expectation of a playoff caliber team year in and year out. Not only do the fans expect it, the Jazz organization relies upon the revenue of a playoff series to offset the expenses. It can mean the difference between ending in the red, and seeing a profit.

Although the Jazz went three seasons without reaching the playoffs in the mid-2000’s, there was an element of the cycle of sports that went missing. They never really reached rock-bottom.

The fact is sports are cyclical. What goes up will eventually come down. There definitely are other elements at play, such as proper management of resources and making sure that when you’re down you don’t remain down.

But even the most storied of organizations, the Yankees, have had to endure the low’s en-route to 27 championships.  The 1991 New York Yankees can attest, things had to get bad before they could get better.  In 1991 the Yankees finished 71-91, twenty full games behind first place. The year before that, 1990, they were in dead last in their division with 67 wins and 95 losses. 

What most didn’t know at the time, due to the futility of the team, opportunities presented themselves by way of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte. Rivera, Posada, and Pettite were drafted in 1990 and began playing in the farm system. Jeter came along in 1992. All of them made their debut with the Yankees in 1995. These four arguably brought about a massive influx of talent and ability which begot five more titles, winning four of those in the span of five years.

The Yankees went to the bottom, but came back almost better than ever. Only the teams of the late 40’s and early 50’s were larger behemoths in terms of back-to-back championships.

The same can be said for other franchises such as the Boston Celtics which were downright horrible in 1977-1979, which afforded them the ability to grab Larry Bird, and then went on to win three championships over the next six years. They did it again in 2007 when they were a dismal 24-58 only to win a championship in 2008. 

The Miami Heat were 15-67 in 2008. Through draft and some help from being financially in the right place, were able to acquire the right pieces to make the Finals two years later, and then win three years later. (And possibly tack on a repeat.)

So Jazz fans, you might say that you’re not up to the same caliber as such storied franchises as the Yankees or Celtics. An interesting stat to consider, is among active basketball franchises only the Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, and Suns have a higher lifetime winning percentage. Out of that group only the Suns and the Jazz do not have a title.

The difference though is that the fans of the Celtics, Lakers, Yankees, etc. all continue to support their team even in the tough times. They still buy tickets and attend the games. They still buy the merchandise. Yes, those teams have brands that sell worldwide, but why couldn’t the Jazz?

The Jazz have spent too long with merely making the playoffs as their goal. It may behoove them to not worry so much about what this year may bring, but rather what 2016 could bring. Oklahoma City wouldn’t be where they are without Kevin Durant. It took the combined Sonics/Thunder going four years without going to the playoffs to now be in a position to win a title.

Sure, there are more pieces to the puzzle to consider that take wise leadership from an owner and general manager. Not to mention a coach that knows how to develop the talent. But fans and the team have to be willing to take a couple of seasons of downright awful basketball to reap the reward of a potential world championship caliber team.

So who do you blame for the mediocrity of the Jazz? You can’t blame the market, thinking that none of the players want to play in Utah. (Tell me what is sexy about living in Oklahoma City?)

You can’t blame the coach; his job is to win games with the talent he’s given.

You can’t blame the organization; either the Millers or the fans have set an expectation of playoffs. If it was the solely the Miller’s expectation then fans would support the team no matter the record. As you may have seen by watching any game this year, EnergySolutions Arena isn’t screaming at capacity.

So that leaves the fans. Maybe the fans need to let the organization know that it’s time they want a championship. Not just a playoff series. If that means having the worst record in the league, so be it. The fans need to still show up and understand that a greater potential is on the horizon.

Think about that as you watch the last game of the regular season.

After all, sport is cyclical. What goes up must come down, and what goes down most certainly can go up.