Boldly Ride

Have you ever been so excited for something to happen, and then when it finally does it ends up being a let-down? The excitement building up to the event created such high expectations in your mind that when it was all said and done you were left feeling a little bit sad and perhaps slightly depressed. Well the Utah Jazz Season begins tomorrow, and this won't be anything like that!!! For me that sad and slightly depressed feeling has existed since our Game 5 loss to the Lakers on April 27th. That Monday evening loss meant it was time to press the "mute" button in my head that constantly blares Utah Jazz excitement. 178 days have passed since that somber Monday evening, but now my friends, the time has come to turn off that mute button and turn the volume up on the excitement that will surely follow.

There are some who may say, "But how can I possibly get excited for a Jazz team that didn't make any off-season moves to get better, still has Boozer, and is starting off the season with injuries." I believe my response to those who have cowardly bought into these excuses could best be summed up in a poem I wrote with the help of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Title

GAILY bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of The Title.

But he grew old --
This knight so bold --
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like The Title.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow --
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be --
This land of The Title?"

"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied, --
"If you seek for The Title!"

(It is true that Edgar Allan Poe helped me write this; he just didn't know in 1849 that he was helping me. The parts I contributed are in Red.)

So as my buddy Edgar and I wrote, we must "ride, boldly ride, if [we] seek The Title. We cannot begin our journey "Over the Mountains and down the valley" with doubts about our knightly team. We must be bold as we ride. Can you begin to feel it? Is the excitement volume beginning to increase? Is it almost deafening now? Well if it isn't, then something is seriously wrong with you because it is so loud in my head that I can barely think.

Look to the horizon, or tomorrow night, and you will see the beginning of the 82 game regular season. I look forward to crossing the mountains and valleys along with you. It will be one exciting journey.