Max Hall has issued an apology for his post game tirade about the Utah Football team. I think that the lesson to be learned is that one bad experience with one or two people should not taint the entire organization. Especially if those people are sports fans. Comments like this are good for a rivalry, but in the big picture they say more about the person who says them. I personally would be proud to hire anyone who graduated from either BYU or Utah. It was a fun game to watch this year, no matter who won. I'm happy that the Cougars got to celebrate at home. (BTW--I saw my brother-in-law (sister's husband) and nephew in the crowd that rushed the field.)
I remember once being a fan of the team that received similar comments. It happened when I lived in Vancouver, Washington. They were comments I heard on the radio in 1999 as the Trail Blazers and Jazz were meeting in the NBA quarterfinals. As you may recall, this was the lockout shortened season. The Jazz were the two-time Western Conference champions and were fighting for a third. The Jazz and the Spurs tied each other for the best record in the league. But the Jazz were aging, and the regular season had taken it's toll. The first round series against the Sacramento Kings were not kind to the Jazz either, the Kings took the old Jazz the distance. While the Blazers cruised in their first round series, earning a sweep against the Phoenix Suns. As they were preparing in play game 6 in Portland, where the Blazers eliminated the Jazz, Blazer's radio broadcaster Bill Schonely was the guest on a Radio show, to urge and incite the Blazer faithful. He encouraged the fans to be loud and cheer hard. That is OK in my book, but he did not stop there. He spoke of his disdain for John Stockton and Karl Malone. He went on and on and on about what he disliked about the Mailman-who had just won his second MVP award. He concluded his remarks with something that I would never forget, "if there is one team in the NBA I hate, it is the Utah Jazz." Can you imagine what would happen if Greg Wrubell ever said something like this about the Utes?
I will add here, that one criticism that the newspapers in the Portland area lobby at the broadcasters of the Blazers, both TV and radio, is that they are homers--as if their team can do no wrong. This type of rhetoric is normal for Shonely. And that the 1998-1999 Trail Blazers were just a few months away from the beginning of the Jail Blazers. The Blazers beat the Jazz in Game 6, on a controversial no-call (A photographer would bump the basketball standard as Karl Malone was taking a potential game tying free throw.) but would be swept out of the playoffs by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs. And it was a tough off season for the Blazers that year that would begin when someone wrecked his Hummer in a tunnel.
As of today, three men who are associated with the 1998-1999 Utah Jazz are in the Hall of Fame. John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and radio broadcaster "Hot Rod" Hundley. Bill Schonely is not there, not even as a radio broadcaster. Karl Malone will likely join his former team mate and former coach next year. Larry Miller may end up in the Hall of Fame as well. As for the 1998-1999 Portland Trail Blazers: Scotty Pippen will be in the Hall, but not for what he did in Portland. Ten years later, I can laugh at Shonely's comments. So can Karl Malone, John Stockton and the rest. I can also add that Shonely never said anything bad about Utahans or Mormons, just Stockton, Malone and the Jazz.
Sometimes, the impact of comments like this depend on who is listening. On local radio, when the other team is about 800 miles down the interstate and everyone in your audience is for your team, you can get away with just about anything. I doubt there was nary a mention of Schonely's comments anywhere in or near Salt Lake. In fact, the only mention of the man I could find in the Deseret News archive was in an article about Lakers legend Chick Hearn. I doubt that there will ever be an apology to Jazz fans. I am sure that Schonely still feels the same way about the Jazz that he did ten years ago. And you can say whatever you want to in the locker room or around your family dinner table or even at the bar at the Rose Garden. But in a press conference, choose your words carefully!
This sort of thing happens in sports more than we realize. Even so, I do not think that Max should have said what he did about the "entire organization." I've been paying attention, and if you ask me it is time for Max to think about life beyond football. How about the NFL? It could happen, but there are several college Quarterbacks ahead of Max Hall. He may not even get a realistic chance to play at the next level. Hall's NFL career may only be a few pre-season snaps, much like Robbie Bosco. Some of those Utes he dissed may be across the desk from him when he determines it is time for him go pro in something other than football. These Utah Alumni are everywhere. This will not be the last time Max apologizes for what he said. Max will have to apologize for these remarks all his life. And do it over and over again.
The bottom line...do I agree with Max? It doesn't matter. I agree that he had the right to say what he said, but the venue was a problem. I agree with Coach Mendenhall. It is not what he said, it is where is said it. Shonely chose the time and place to make his comments carefully and suffered no consequences from it.
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