Pro-Arroyo e-mails are pouring in

The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau Web site says, "Welcome to the New World."

What a coincidence. For Jazz guard Carlos Arroyo and his fans, it's a new world in Utah, too.

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Dear Mr. Rock:

I'm writing to you so you can investigate about the situation of Carlos Arroyo. He hasn't been played at all (the) last three games and has been benched, and in the last five games he has played only four minutes. I don't think Carlos signed with the Jazz for 4 million a year for sitting on the bench. The worst of all is that the front office doesn't say a word to him. If he isn't going to play, well, the team should trade him, so he can get another chance with another team.

NAME OMITTED

Las Marias, Puerto Rico

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True enough. The Jazz didn't sign him for $4 million a year to sit on the bench. Even Jerry Sloan, who put Arroyo there, would agree with that.

So what do they do now, turn him into a museum piece? Play him only at the end of blowouts? Try to trade him?

As the Jazz enjoy a rare four-day break in their schedule, the e-mails are coming in. Letters from fans in Puerto Rico and elsewhere, demanding that Arroyo play and hinting that Sloan get his head examined. Meanwhile, Arroyo sits at the far end of the bench looking sullen — which is predictable. Not even Greg Ostertag liked sitting on the bench.

Arroyo and Sloan don't often make eye contact. During timeouts, Arroyo stands at the perimeter of the huddle, appearing bored if not outright resentful.

After remarks in the media by both Sloan and Arroyo, they are apparently at an uncommunicative impasse. Arroyo says he is confused as to what Sloan wants. Sloan says he will play those who work the hardest.

So Arroyo, Olympic hero and former starter, is now the Jazz's fourth-string point guard.

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(Mr. Rock:)

. . . A coach with so much experience as (Sloan) labeled by many as the best coach in 2004? I think he has lost his bearings. . . . A team should do more than just slug it out each evening to win. A team should dress up and play the best and experienced players. To have Carlos Arroyo on the bench is a stupid act of self-destruction.

NAME OMITTED

San Juan, Puerto Rico

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