Being a fan of a team that plays in a different country is difficult. It’s even more difficult when that team is one that hardly ever gets national recognition in their own country, let alone half way around the world. I know from personal experience. Thankfully global communications have continued to evolve and expand, and it’s not as hard as it used to be. It’s because of these methods that we, Jazz fans, are able to enjoy the great thoughts, words, opinions, and artwork being produced by Mizuho Nishio. You may already familiar with some of Mizuho’s work (Jazz Blog – Artwork Blog). If you are not, then you are in for a treat.

After the jump, an exclusive interview with Mizuho Nishio! (@jashin_mizuho)

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As part of Gordon Hayward's promotion with Subway and March Madness, I had the opportunity to shoot him a few questions about that and about the Jazz.  Thanks to Don and Subway for setting this up and to Gordon for taking time out of his day for this.  This took place on March 31st.

For those that don't know about this promotion, what does it entail?

If one of the five seeds was going to win [the NCAA championship], I was going to buy 5,555 of them (Meatball Pepperoni Subs) for the first fans that I saw. Arizona came kind of close.

Did Arizona make you nervous?

You know what, I was really kind of rooting for them. It's never been done before (#5 winning NCAA tournament), so it would have been kind of cool to see. Even though that would have been a lot of subs, it would have been really cool for them to win.

I'm sure you've been told, or have done the math, that's almost $28K. Was that going to come out of your pocket or was Subway going to front some of that?

Yeah, I would have had to pay for that.

Would that have just been in Utah or nationwide?
I think it was going to be in Salt Lake... it would have just been at a Subway store somewhere. It would have been cool if it would have happened.

So, are you on Jared's level yet? Do you have a black Subway card where you can just go into any Subway and get anything you want?

I don't think so. It's funny, he actually works out at the same place that I work out at. I got to meet him before the draft and I got to talk to him a little bit. I guess he went to Indiana University.

Did you fill out a bracket then?

No, I didn't know enought about college basketball. I'm the type of guy where I want to win, so I didn't want to just guess.

I know you won't predict whether or not Butler will go on, but if they do move on, who do they match up against better, Kentucky or UConn?

I haven't watched enough, but I know that both teams are very good. For me personally, if I had to choose one, I would want them to play Kentucky just for the fact that they're not as experienced as Butler. I think that's something that you can't teach. That's something that would be really good for Butler, to have that advantage.

Would you give up this season to be back with your boys back at Butler going through the tournament?

I'm happy with my decision here. Although I miss it, the thrill of playing in the NBA and playing against the best every day and saying that's my job, that's pretty cool. No regrets on my end.

[Jazz stuff after the jump]

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You don't have to read SLC Dunk for long before seeing a link to one of Ross Siler's columns, blog posts, or many insightful or news-breaking tweets. 

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Siler is one of the hardest-working beat writers out there.  That's no knock on the other beat writers by any means.  He's become one of the best in the country.  

For a small glimpse into what his day consists of, check out the NBA TV profile of him

 

So with his departure from the Trib, I don't think it's an exaggeration that we're losing part of the Jazz family.  That family consists of the Jazz organization itself, the fans, and the news organizations.

It's never easy making decisions like this one you've achieved so much but I think it's a noble one on his part.  I wish nothing but the best for him and his family.

Thanks to Ross for answering a few questions for SLC Dunk

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Video Courtesy of KSL.com

 

Prior to today's pre-season matchup with the TrailBlazers, the fine fellas at the Rip City Project and I swap questions about the upcoming season and the potential for a Jazz./Blazers rivalry.  Check at my answers to their questions here.  And here's what I wanted to know about the Blazers.  (Also, make sure to check out True Blue Jazz's swap with BlazersEdge).

Game thread coming in a couple hours.

Coup: 46-36. As early as a week ago I would have said 48-50 but Martell Webster's injury (stress fracture in his foot) will hurt more than people are realizing. Martell is one of our two best shooters and without him, either Travis Outlaw (who I like but not as a starter) or Rudy Fernandez (looks great in preseason, but he might need some time to gel with our half-court first unit). Couple some early chemistry issues with our B-R-U-T-A-L October – our first five games are Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Jazz, Rockets – and I think this team is going to go through a month-long warm up period.

Everyone remembers that 13-win streak of last year, though, and I expect some runs in December and January to get us back into the playoff race. They will look great some nights against good teams but will also play down the level of lower talent, not because of "youth", though, as we have a great collection of mature young players, but that's just the pattern they established last year. Oden will be able to bail them out of some Spring games simply by being bigger than smaller centers, but the season will largely depend on how we perform against the middle-run Western Conference teams. If we are winning our series with the Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets and Mavericks (or Suns, depending on who you think dropped off) and avoid any sweeps (which our home crowd does a great job helping with) then we should be in good shape.

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More thanks to Mark for this interview.  Here's the first interview about his career as a motivational speaker and his upcoming movie.

Up next is Mark's thoughts on the Jazz and his career in the NBA.  So without further ado...

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Part 2 is here

First of all, thanks to Mark for taking time out of his schedule to answer some questions concerning his NBA career, his current business ventures, and his upcoming movie.  Also, a big thanks to Mark's rep Cathy for setting this up.

Mark Eaton is one of the most intimidating defenders in NBA history.  The NBA Defensive Player of the Year for 1984-85 blocked and astounding 456 shots, the league record.  He finished his career with 3,064 blocks and averaged 3.5 blocks per game.

These days when he's not running his successful restaurants, Tuscany & Francks, he's out on the road as a motivational speaker.  I was lucky enough to be able to email him some questions to which he promptly replied.

Part one of this interview will deal with his career now and also an update on the movie being made about Mark's journey to the NBA.  Part two will run Monday and will cover the his career in the NBA and other Jazz related items.  So here we go...

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