Gone Fishin'

There are days when the commute seems to last for two to three hours, and there are days when you wish the commute would take just a little longer; yesterday was the latter. As I drove home yesterday the local sports radio station interrupted to announce that the Utah Jazz had a big announcement to make. Instantly my mind began to race. I had to confirm with myself that they said "big" right. I mean this isn't that we have come to terms with Dee Brown. That's not to say that signing Dee Brown isn't big, but it certainly wouldn't cause the kind of commotion that I was hearing on the radio.

My mind darted from possible sign and trade of Giricek to the Raptors; or maybe a deal worked out with New Jersey to bring in Mikki Moore. Somewhere thoughts drifted toward a possible deal to move Andrei Kirilenko. Since his comments in the Russian papers; I've been expecting the Jazz to deal Kirilenko to whatever suitor would take him. During all of this, the Jazz remained no help, as the scheduled news conference failed to begin on time. To my disappointment, traffic seemed to move much faster than I wanted; and I soon found myself in my garage.

With some family matters to take care of, I had to abandon the radio; but not before I made sure that someone would call me the second the press conference happened.

When the phone rang my heart raced with eager anticipation; what could possibly be the big news. It was hard to comprehend what happened next, Derek Fisher is leaving the team. After hearing the news, I knew that a post to the blog was in order.

So what do you say about a Derek Fisher? He will never make it to one of the greatest to play the game status. He'll barely make mention from so called experts; they'll look at his stats and tell us how he was a good complementary player. They'll insist that he was an okay shooter, physically strong, and a good locker room guy; but he's no Kobe.

You can turn to his teammates, those that have gone into battle with him; and they will likely tell you that he's one of the best, that he's concerned about the welfare of the team more than his own shot, that he's a competitor; and that he loves the game. With any luck those same teammates will also say that he's no Kobe. I've had the privilege of watching Derek Fisher for eleven years now, and the only thing he has in common with Kobe is the fact that they came out of the same draft class.

As Derek prepares himself for life without basketball; we as fans must prepare ourselves for basketball without Derek Fisher. Even though he only had one year with us; I will always consider Derek Fisher a Jazz player. I will always remember watching game two of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Watching Derek come up the tunnel in his T-shirt and jeans, rushing to get into the game. I'll remember the chills that came across my skin. I'll remember the defense that he played on Baron Davis to help send that game to overtime; and how he may have possibly changed the course of that series. However, the biggest contribution that Derek made that night was his ability to remind us how sports and athletes can change lives.

As Derek takes a step back from his career to focus on what is important to him; we are once again reminded about how athletes can change lives. He's reminding us that athletes, the right ones, can be role models.

Thank you Derek!!!