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Utah Jazz: Iranian team finds support at Revue

God-bless the Utah Jazz and their kind hearts. This is a touching tale, considering the political strife between our two nations. It is good to see all feelings laid aside and the warm greeting for our Iranian brothers.

The Persian people are a noble and goodly bunch. I am glad that the Jazz made this kind and heart-warming gesture. I hope the Iranians do well and I hope eventually they can get rid of their psychotic leaders and restore freedom and prosperity to their land.

not living in utah the past several years, I do not get a lot of jazz coverage. This artical got me confused, am I reading the human interest section or the sports section. this was a great human interest story but I want my sports and Jazz coverage. Is the lack of interest in the review this year from lack of interest of the reporters? when I lived in Utah the review was one of the summer's main evens, is this a signal of the reviews demise? is it the lack of teams and tallent or the change of venue. What I want is to know what how the jazz prospects are doing. is Fesenko making progress? has Almond inporved his floor game, his defense, his intensity. are any of the draft picks making the Jazz brass look good? will the play in SLC or Orem what about the standout undrafted free agents. when wil the jazz find the next Byron Russel? undrafted players who not only make the team but play a significant roll on the team. but I guess at least this year I have to settle for human interest stories with and with out box scores.

go Jazz for a kind and wonderful gesture....

This just goes to show that regular people from whatever part of the world can live and get along fine with each other if the politics are left out of the equation. Our politicians are as guilty of this as any in the world. Let the people make their choices and lets get back to some world harmony.

Oh Wayne, lighten up. There's more to life than basketball.

Wayne, you obviously know nothing about journalism. That "news" about this game was the human interest story of the Iranian team and its fans, not the stats on a mostly meaningless exhibition game.

The game was a great game last night made all the more special by the recognition of the other teams lost player. Almond showed some of the talent he has with some great moves and good defense. Fez did a good job also. Probably the biggest concern for both is that they seem to be a bit laid back. I would think that if you are on the edge you would give your all every night. John Stockton used to advertise that you need to give 110%. I did not see 110% from either player. Maybe in the future. Faced with Brewer, Korver and maybe price ahead of him, Almond need to contact Karl and follow his advice regarding hustle. Same with Fez.

Wayne,
Here's your sports update: Jazz won. They're now 1-2 and probably have no shot at winning the RMR championship.

Since the RMR is so important to the success of the franchise, it's not looking good and I'm sure the team will most certainly miss the playoffs this season. Look for Atlanta to run away with the NBA title. They've looked unstoppable thus far.

Seriously, the RMR is basically a round of pickup games. No disrespect to them, but do we really want to know what Mike Efevberha or Haminn Quaintance did? And no, those aren't Iranians. Those are two of the Jazz players at the revue.

There are plenty of places to source Jazz info (like the official team website at NBA.com). The DN isn't the center of the universe. But judging by the responses, the majority of people who source the DN site like the combined human interest/basketball stories.

I think it's great to hear the Jazz organization cares about people and not just the bottom line. What a great gesture.

I saw part of the game I think it is very disrepectful to be in America and waving an Iranian flag, expecially if they are U.S. citizens. Wearing a Iranian Jersey is fine but not waving a flag in the U.S. Expecially because Iran has vowed to wipe the Israel of the map.

Hey, I'm with Wayne. I live way out east, and can't watch the Review games on KJZZ. I think this article was great, and am not complaining about it being written. I just want some feedback on how the young Jazz players played. Seems neither of the big guys are going to be able to help us this year, which is a disapointment...

Keep the love coming, but don't leave out coverage of the review.

How could you?

Get over yourself. There are other countries in the world and if you ever watch an event in another country that involves a national team it is natural that they wave the flag of that country. What's the big deal that they support where they came from. It has nothing to do with disrespecting the US, it has something to do with honoring their country and cheering them on. During the World Cup in 2006 in soccer, the American fans were waving American Flags in Germany, is that disrespectful? In your eye probably not because it is the US. No disrespect, just respect for where someone is from. And after all, it is an athletic event and not a political convention.

Devan: huh? It's disrespectful to root for the visitors? Surely you don't think this fan had some subversive political agenda for waiving the flag of her home country in support of these visiting athletes?

If watch the olympics in China this summer, and see someone--even a Chinese citizen--supportively waving a U.S. flag at an event, is that disrespect to the Chinese?

I don't think it is disrespectful to waive the Iranian flag as was done. It simply shows support for that team & for the country. While you could intend political commentary or disrespectful intentions, it isn't fair to assume such.
I'm glad there was some good flag-waving going on, as I think it is important for the people in Iran to realize that though our governments have some major problems with each other, that people in general hold no such animosity.

I flipped away from the game last night during the first half when the score was a little too close for comfort. Thanks to the Deseret News for doing this story and helping me see the game from a completely different angle. And thanks to the Jazz organization for showing a lot of class.

That's a pretty ignorant and cultural-centric statement. It's great the Iranian fans showed so much enthusiasm for their team. If we were in another country cheering for the U.S. team, I think it'd be appropriate to wave our country's flag. Watch the Olympics next month and I think you'll see a few non-Chinese flags. They aren't doing it to disrespect our country, simply to show enthusiasm and pride for their own.

What are you talking about? I'm an American from Puerto Rico, I take the Puerto Rican flag to sporting events and wave it. Its not anti American,its called pride. Don't be so insecure. I thought it was awesome that they had that much support here. Just because we live here doesn't mean we need to forget where we come from.

Congratulations to Utah Jazz organization, and the N.B.A. officials for having the vision to invite the Iranian National Basketball team to Utah. Utah Jazz proved one more time, beyond reason, why they are the class act organization of N.B.A. I wish for the day that the Jazz team go to Iran for some friendlies. The Iranian people would love the opportunity to return the favor in kind. Thanks Utah jazz.
Mansour

As an Iranian taht lived here for last 30 years I would like to say thanks to the Jazz Organization for such a great and friendly gesture last night