The 7-foot-2 Nevill might just be playing at the wrong time, as traditional NBA centers are disappearing in favor of quicker and faster players. You'd think if former BYU player Greg Kite could last 13 years and ex-Ute Michael Doleac 10 years, that Nevill would have a chance.

And why didn't the Jazz take a flier on either Nevill or Cummard? Because they're local players. It's easier to cut a Goran Suton than a Luke Nevill.

It's not like the early days of the Jazz, when they signed local players such as Greg Deane, Jeff Judkins and Pace Mannion in an effort to get a few extra fans out.

. . . . .

Turning to soccer, how about Real Salt Lake? After going 0-for-May with an 0-4-2 record, the team came back with an unbeaten June, going 2-0-2. With only three games scheduled for July before the July 29 all-star game at Rio Tinto, I'm betting on a 1-1-1 record for the month.

As for the United States' loss to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final Sunday afternoon, I'll take the blame. Although I'm not a huge soccer fan, despite coaching little league soccer for 10 years, I turned on the television set just as the second half was getting under way. Of course, I was shocked to see the score 2-0 in favor of the U.S., but within 30 seconds, the Brazilians scored a goal and from there, dominated the second half for a 3-2 victory.

If the U.S. had won, it would have been on the level of the U.S. hockey team defeating the Russians in the 1980 Olympics — Brazil is THE team in world soccer and the U.S. is still an also-ran.

However, even if the U.S. had pulled off the shocker, it would have hardly made a ripple in this country, despite the magnitude the huge upset would have been to the rest of the soccer world.

E-mail: sor@desnews.com