The Starting of RA

Life is a funny thing. It is so cyclical. Things will be going well for a while and then poof...something will happen to knock you off your course. As it has been said, the only thing constant in life is change. On the other hand, when things are bad, sometimes it seems like things will never get better. In my life, this has also proved to be false, things always do get better. Realizing that this has been the case, I am very grateful for the ups and downs of life. Life takes many twists and turns, but every way it takes us can be for our own good.

I wanted to write a little bit about my latest bump in the road...rheumatoid arthritis. My symptoms began earlier this summer. I developed a stiff neck. At first it would only occasionally bother me. I didn't think much of it because this had happened before when I slept on my neck wrong. However, the strange thing this time was that my neck problem wouldn't go away.

The other symptom I had during this time was my thumb. It had begun to hurt and was very tender. However, I just assumed this was from typing too much and that it would get better as well.

These issues weren't very problematic so life continued on as normal. During the summer I had been playing basketball every Wednesday. This was one of the highlights of my week. During this time I developed three more mystery injuries. I felt like I had a pulled groin muscle, my left lower outer leg hurt, and my right ankle felt like it was sprained. I couldn't recall a specific instance when I had hurt any of these parts. Also, my right ring finger became swollen.

Now, it seems obvious that something was systematically wrong, but at the time these injuries just seemed a little strange. I began to see a chiropractor and physical therapist to try and improve my injuries.

As I was going to physical therapy, my knees began to swell up. One morning I also woke up and I could hardly walk. My ankle hurt with every step as well as all of my feet bones. My whole body would wake up very sore and stiff. At this time, I knew something bigger was wrong.

College Football Week 1: Success (mostly)

BYU was able to take care of Division II Northern Iowa. However, the win was not completely satisfying as BYU lost 4 fumbles in the 3rd quarter! Turnovers are the difference in many college football games. I guess that is one reason you play an easier team the first week so you can work out your wrinkles. Hopefully BYU will learn from these mistakes. I'm afraid of how much hype is surrounding them and afraid it will make things more difficult for them. As I mentioned in my previous blog, it is not easy to go undefeated in college football no matter how good your team is. There is a lot of parity these days.

Utah looked very impressive against Michigan, especially in the first half. They dominated both sides of the ball and the only reason the score was close was because of turnovers and penalties. However, they began to sleep walk through the second half and ended up letting Michigan back in the game. If they continue to play consistently their best ball, they are going to be a very good team. It would be amazing to see a BYU vs. Utah showdown where both teams are undefeated and trying to get into the BCS. However, lets not get too far ahead, only week one is complete!

College Football Season is Here!!!

I had to write to let out my excitement for the start of the college football season! It starts in two days...it seems like work is dragging a little bit as I anticipate Saturday's game. I'm a huge BYU fan and this year they have some big expectations. That is one of the nice things about this time of year you can just dream of greatness and the harsh realities of losses and injuries have not come into play yet. Many people are predicting BYU to go undefeated and to make it to the BCS. Although I believe this will be another great year, I am trying to keep my expectations in check. It is nearly impossible to go undeafeted, even for a very good team like BYU. Playing on the road, playing against rivals, losing key players to injuries, losing focus, turnovers, and just having a bad game are all very likely roadblocks to perfection. I'm even a little nervous about our first game against a division II opponent! We play Northern Iowa, which has basically been one of the best teams in division II. Last year they beat a division I team and this year they are looking to emulate Appalachian State. I sure hope that the players are not overlooking them. The University of Utah will also have a big game this week against Michigan. As a fellow league member, I often logicially feel that it would be good for the conference if they were to win. Then my heart always rejoices when I see them losing! That is what a rivalry is all about. I'll have to check back after the games on Saturday.

Jazz Follow Up

Well it is has now been a couple of months since the NBA season has ended. I thought I would do a follow up on my first post, since it is always interesting to look at how your predictions fared. First of all, New Orleans never wavered. It looks like they are for real and will be competing in the West for a long time. Houston continued to survive the regular season without Yao Ming. San Antonio had some shaky spots but finished pretty solid. Phoenix seems to be past their peak, but still a very good team. Dallas? They seemed to have fallen pretty hard after the Jason Kidd trade. It will be interesting to see if they can become an elite team again. The Jazz did fairly well down the stretch to get really close to having homecourt advantage in the first round, but ended up missing it by one too many losses. However, they received a favorable first round match up with the Yao less Houston Rockets. The Jazz were also lucky that Houston was missing Rafer Alson the first couple of games. This led the Jazz to steal two road games. Houston ended up fighting back by winning two games, but in the end they just did not have enough fire power for the Jazz. The second round pitted us against the most hated team by all Jazz fans, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Jazz fought hard in many of the games, but in the end, Kobe was too much for them along with his long cohorts, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom. Carlos Boozer disappeared when increased attention was put on him by the Lakers while Deron Williams shined in every game.



With that quick recap of last year, the focus now turns to the future. The Jazz's future looks bright. They will be returning the same young team with one more year's worth of experience. Deron Williams will unquestionably continue to shine, but can Memo, Boozer, and Kirelenko show consistency? Most likely we will be one of the top four teams in the West. However, can the Jazz win road games this year? I think with the addition of Kyle Korver and one more year of experience the Jazz should be able to be more consistent. However, I am very wary of what will happen if we have injuries to any of our key players. The other major question I have is how are the Jazz planning on improving their defense? There is no question that they can excel on the offensive side of the ball, but how do they clamp down on the defensive end to give themselves a real chance? Two of the most glaring weaknesses against the Lakers were Memo and Boozer. Both have very slow footwork and seem to lack intensity at times. I guess I can't forget the 2 spot. The Jazz have been burned by many 2 superstars...Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Gibert Arenas just to name a couple. We seemed to have improved this year, but it was still a major weakness. Hopefully we can improve again. Looking outside of the Jazz I'm very afraid of the Lakers. They beat the Jazz, but now they will also be one year better, will have had more time to bond, and will once again have the service of the monster Andrew Bynum. The New Orleans Hornets look to continue to excel, and how will they not? Chris Paul is looking like he may be one of the best point guards of all time. Throw in San Antonio, Phoenix, and Dallas and it looks like the Jazz have a tough road ahead of them as always.

Predictions: (Seeding in the Western Playoffs 2009)
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Utah Jazz
4. New Orleans
5. Houston Rockets
6. Phoenix Suns
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Dallas Mavericks

Wow, I didn't realize how difficult it is to predict this. LA Lakers as the favorite is an easy one. After that I think the Spurs, Jazz, Hornets, Rockets, and Suns are really close. Are Phoenix and San Antonio on the downhill slope? I just don't think you can count the Spurs out yet. They have won the championship every other year. The Suns...they will need to prove themselves again to me. Steve Nash is always amazing, but one year older. Amare Stoudemire is unbelievable, but what about the rest of the team. I don't believe Shaq will do much. He is just getting too old and too injury proned. I think he gave his best sprint in the playoffs, but I just don't see him being very effective over a long period of time. The Denver Nuggets will still be a mess defensively. The Dallas Mavericks could rebound and even be a top three team in the West again. Howard and Nowitzki are definitely amazing. However, I have never felt the love for Jason Kidd. You can't argue when he gets triple doubles, but most games I have watched he seems to be such a terrible shooter. He fits under the one year older crowd losing his game. Good luck Jazz, my goal for you would be to be in the top three of the west!

The Utah Jazz March 2008

I am a huge Utah Jazz fan. However, even though they are playing fairly well, they only have the 7th best record in the West. The West is unbelievable this year. If Utah has a small losing streak, they could easily slide out of the playoffs even though they are currently 16 games over .500. It would be extremely disappointing for the Jazz to not make the playoffs after reaching the Western Conference Finals the year before. The Jazz are currently 2.5 games ahead of Denver in the Northwest Division. This would give us the 4th seed. However, as a Jazz fan I would not be satisfied to only make the playoffs. I want the Jazz to at least win the first round. At this point, I am afraid that the only way the Jazz will win the first round this year is to have home court advantage. To do this we must have at least the 4th best record in the West. This will be extremely difficult to do considering the 6 teams that are ahead of the Jazz: San Antonio, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, Phoenix, and Dallas. I believe that San Antonio and Los Angeles will be nearly impossible to pass. However, I am still not a believer in New Orleans. I believe that they will begin to slide as the season wears on due to their lack of experience. I also think that Houston will begin to slide with the huge loss of Yao Ming. This would just leave us with the need to pass Phoenix or Dallas, both of which have been incredible the last few years. However, both teams chemistry seems to be falling apart this year which may offer an opportunity for the Jazz to sneak up on them. Phoenix seems to be struggling since the trade for Shaq which seems like an awful trade to me. I understand that they took a gamble hoping to shake things up for a run to the championship, but Shaq is just not what he used to be and does not fit into their style of play.

My last thought is regarding what the Jazz must do to make this run. They have been dominant at home, but on the road they have been horrible. The Jazz must simply put all of their efforts into figuring out how to win on the road. I don't know what the answer is...but it seems like they lack energy and intensity on the road. If they can learn to overcome this challenge, than look out for the Jazz as a dark horse for this season's playoffs.