My Top 5 Utah Jazz memories

5. Deron Williams' debut game - There was general shock around the fanbase when Jerry Sloan decided Keith McLeod would be his starting point guard, and the #3 pick in the draft was going to come off the bench. Williams came into the game with a chip on his shoulder, and the highlight was in the final second of the third quarter, he put up a 3-pointer from 60 feet away and nailed it. It was a sign of perennial playoff-appearances to come.

4. The first game after Stockton retired and Malone left, the Jazz were predicted to be the worst team in the NBA. Jerry Sloan had a patchwork team of Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Carlos Arroyo, DeShawn Stevenson, Jarron Collins, and a bunch of other leftovers and scraps. They opened against the Blazers, and this rag-tag group played as a team and won, and went on to an imporbable 42-40 season. It's the closest Sloan's come to winning Coach of the Year.

3. The Jazz are down by two in the final seconds to the best team in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James and company are providing lockdown defense and the only guy who can get a little space is D-League signee Sundiata Gaines. At the buzzer, over LeBron's outstretched fingers, Sunny-D nails the 3. Most players can go their whole careers without feeling that burst of joy Gaines felt.

2. The Jazz's two point guards are both in foul trouble in the third quarter in the playoffs against the Warriors. We keep hearing that Derek Fisher is on a plane heading back to Salt Lake, and Jerry Sloan left an active roster spot for him in case he made it back to the game in time. CJ Miles and Andrei Kirilenko are valiantly assuming point-guard duties, but it isn't really their position. I was at that game, and I'll never forget the ovation we gave Fisher when he showed up at courtside and entered the game. Combine that with him drawing the crucial offensive-foul on Baron Davis at the end of the game, and it was magic.

1. The Shot. That's what we call it in these here parts. Stockton-and-Malone have been a power duo for over a decade, but the Utah Jazz had never made the NBA Finals. I can still hear Greg Gumbel's call when John Stockton hits the game-winning three over Charles Barkley to finally get them there. The usually stoic Stockton jumped in the air for joy.

NBA Owners Deserve Most of the Blame

I acknowledge that the players may have become too powerful.  You look at how LeBron James left Cleveland in tatters, and how Toronto received nothing for Chris Bosh's departure.  Carmelo Anthony held Denver hostage while pushing for a trade to New York, and Utah traded away Deron Williams for fear he'd bolt in 2012.  Better get something for him now.  And the fanbases of New Orleans and Orlando have to be depressed about the odds of keeping Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, respectively.

But the primary reason there are no NBA games on tonight are the owners.  This is a lockout.  They are the ones forbidding their players from competing.

Here's a few columns I've found I agree with:

Money quote from the Boston Globe:

"In his memo to NBA players imploring them to make a deal, commissioner David Stern asked players to focus on the compromises owners have made. Then he mentioned backing down on a hard salary cap, roll-backs of existing contracts -- you know, the ones owners negotiated -- and the abolition of guaranteed contracts.

"How can you concede something you never had? It’s logic more twisted than a bread tie.

"NBA stars such as LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose aren’t just employees. They’re the product, and that’s the irony here. The NBA is trying to slay a monster it created."

Money quote from Sports Illustrated:

"If Jerry Buss, Jim Dolan and other big-market owners had been willing to share their revenues earlier and more comprehensively for the greater health of the league, could the division among owners have been headed off?

"Or look at it from the other side of the owners' room. If so many of these small-market owners had operated their teams more wisely and efficiently, might the bigger-market teams have been more willing to share money with them on good faith that they were investing in the health of the league?

"And then could the owners together have not inched forward on a few points of contention here and there in order to ensure agreement with the players?"

There's still time to get a shortened season, while the majority of the remaining fans don't hold the players to equal or greater blame (which was not true in the shortened 1999 season).  But the owners are willing to lose a full season, and many of them are, then they need to be prepared for the NBA to fall behind the NHL and MLS in attendance averages.  Do they really want that?

NFL Power Rankings 11/11/11

Going into the weekend.

NFC

1. PACKERS (8-0) - They look like they have a great shot at finally killing dethroning the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Aaron Rogers is the best quarterback on Earth.

2. 49ERS (7-1) - Alex Smith had been declared a bust by many, but with a better coach and an upgraded offenive line, hey, he's finally putting up the number that behoove a #1 pick. Frank Gore is able to do more damage when the passing game works, and they have the #1 defense in the NFL.

3. GIANTS (6-2) - Eli Manning's been up and down, but Brandon Jacobs is playing like his 2008 self with Ahmad Bradshaw out. Victor Cruz has been a great find.

4. LIONS (6-2) - They need Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford to stay healthy, and if they do, I foresee a Conference Finals in their future. Not the Super Bowl; sorry you're in the Packers' conference.

5. SAINTS (6-3) - They can put up the points, but Drew Brees needs to get his interception count down. Not to mention the Saints' D has allowed more points than the Dolphins.

15. RAMS (1-7) - They have the worst offense and defense in the NFC. Nuff said.

AFC

1. RAVENS (6-2) - Yeah, I'd have to say they're the favorite in the volatile AFC right now. They step up to the plate in the big games.

2. BENGALS (6-2) - They've been playing great, but can their star rookie quarterback/receiver combo keep it up down the stretch?

3. TEXANS (6-3) - The one-two rushing combo of Arian Foster and Ben Tate has covered for the absense of #1 receiver Andre Johnson.

4. JETS (5-3) - The ship appears to have been righted, but the real test is if they can knock down the wobbling Patriots. But the Jets tend to be the one team that can knock off the Pats when they're good, let alone when they're on a losing streak.

5. PATRIOTS (5-3) - I do think the Jets are going to beat the Patriots, but when you look at their schedule, I see them ending the season at worst 10-6, but after the Jets they could just as easily finish on a 7-0 run.

15. COLTS (0-9) - Peyton Manning hides a lot of flaws, but this goes beyond that. Their defense is porous, their running game is ineffective, and Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie can't do much if they don't have a quarterback that can get them a ball. Miami is praying they somehow find a place to win.