Site Notes
SLC Dunk is growing
by Basketball John on Dec 16, 2009 3:11 PM MST
in Site Notes
6 comments
Sorry to keep you in suspense all day. I'm not going to ESPN or SI or anything like that. But as your waistline normally grows during the holidays, SLC Dunk is going to grow a bit, in a good way. Not in a "I plan on getting rid of you after the New Year" kind of way.
You may have noticed already some articles from clarkpojo and moni lately. That's nothing really new as they put up quite a bit of stuff. What I've done though is to bring them and others on board officially to write for SLC Dunk. Most of them already have their own blogs and they'll keep posting there. Without further ado, they are,
There's a few reasons why I wanted some additional people for SLC Dunk. First, I really like their blogs about the Jazz.
Second, I think they each bring something different that will make SLC Dunk great. They all have specialties but aren't limited in that scope either.
Finally, I've found that when I try to do SLC Dunk along with some other things (like VoteDeron), nothing gets done at all.
The main difference you'll see is that their stuff automatically goes to the front page and they'll be listed in the footer at the bottom of each page. I'll also call on them (or they'll just notice) if I forget to put up a game thread or something like that.
So thanks to them for accepting. You'll get a lot more content this way and won't always have to rely on me. I'm not going anywhere of course and I'll still be posting a lot. These guys (and girl) will be great additions.
Of course that doesn't preclude anyone else from posting FanShots and contributing. That's what's made this the best Jazz fan site/community.
Thanks for continuing to read and participate.
BBJ
Jinxing Guidelines
by Basketball John on Dec 12, 2009 3:57 PM MST
in Site Notes
17 comments
[Note by Basketball John, 12/12/09 3:54 PM MST ] I should have posted this to start the season. While we're waiting for the Lakers tonight, here's a quick refresher
The topic of jinxing comes up a lot in SLC Dunk threads, mainly game threads. As much as I've tried to downplay a jinx, there have just been too many coincidences where I've stated something in a game preview/recap, or only to have the Jazz do the opposite. I've toyed with fate too many times.
The latest example was my Magic 8 explanation. Over the 12-game winning streak (which will now be forbidden to talk about), the Jazz were closing out games right and left. The last 8 minutes of the streak showed the Jazz either pull away in that time or come back for the win. I also included Deron Williams in that talk because his number is 8. Actually, I was going to label it the Magic 5 or 6 but 8 sounded better and the Williams connection was too much to pass up. I could stretch it to 8. Plus, at the 8 minute mark is normally when he comes back in to finish the game.
That came after the Indiana game back on March 10.
What happened after that? Well, the Jazz went on to lose the next three in a row because THEY COULDN'T CLOSE OUT A GAME including one of the worst losses in the team's history to Miami. While they never had a chance to close out the Orlando game, it was directly related to the 3OT loss to the Heat the night before.
Thankfully though, Deron seems impervious to jinxes as he's averaged 20 & 10.6 since then. Sorry about that. Strike that, reverse it.
So at this request, I give you the rules of jinxing. While this may cover some Jazz-specific things, they probably apply to most teams.
This is by no means an all-inclusive list. Leave your comments below and I'll update this document. The comments will be open forever and this post will appear permanently on the sidebar. I'd like to have a section called counter-jinxes as well. What are some of your best counter-jinxes?
And don't worry about any potential jinxes in this post. I was worried that an entire post on jinxes would jinx the Jazz forever. I spoke with the basketball gods about this. The gods have given me one free pass so that the rules can be set. At least that's what they told me. I hope it wasn't a trap.
The do-nots
- The biggest rule of all seems to be that jinxes only apply when they are written or spoken. If you keep your thoughts in your head, the basketball gods cannot read your mind.
- Do not mention a streak of any kind. Whether it be winning, consecutive games without an injury, consecutive free-throws, etc. They will come to an end at the next opportunity.
Examples
"I would love to see the Jazz extend this winning streak to 13!"
Unnamed announcer: "Deron Williams is 8/8 from the free-throw line tonight."
- Do not comment on how well someone is playing. They will now turn to suckitude.
Examples
"Memo scored 21 points in the first half! He's going to end up with 40!"
"Brewer has been playing out of his mind over the last two months."
- Do not state anything as fact before it happens.
Example
Ross Siler: "There's also no doubt that the Jazz will win out at home - - they have Phoenix, New York, Minnesota, Golden State and the L.A. Clippers left - - and take an 18-game winning streak (one shy of the franchise record) at EnergySolutions Arena into the playoffs."
Thankfully, there are counter-jinxes.
The dos
- You are only allowed to say something good about the team once it becomes fact. You can comment on a 40+ point game and be excited once it's in the box score. Though you now risk jinxing that player for their coming game(s).
- If you would like to comment on scores of other teams, state the scores as fact without bias as to any one particular team lest the basketball gods know which team you favor.
Example
"Houston - 90, Minnesota - 106, 1:06 left in the fourth."
- Reverse jinxing works. It seems as though unintended reverse jinxing works better than intentional reverse-jinxing.
Example(s)
From the PHX game thread, "With the Jazz down 88-81, I pretty much gave up hope and sent the following text to one of my diehard Suns fan friends: You guys deserve to make the playoffs. We do not. This is a completely ridiculous performance."
"Yao Ming always kills us. He's probably going to go for 40 & 20 tonight."
And to the extreme (in a good way)
Counter-jinxes
-
Leave your thoughts in the comments and I'll update.
17 comments | 2 recs |
SLC Dunk on Twitter
by Basketball John on Apr 21, 2009 8:34 AM MDT
in Site Notes
16 comments
If you're not following me already on Twitter, now's the time to do so. You can find me at http://twitter.com/slcdunk. SBNation is having a contest to see which blog can get to 5,000 followers first.
The reason is pretty transparent from a business standpoint. But occassionaly I will post stuff there that isn't here. Sometimes it's Jazz related, sometimes it's not. I've also put a feed on the sidebar that will show my tweets.
Anyway, there's a prize for one of the followers of the winning blog along the line of tickets to a game. The blog owner also gets something, though I don't know what it is yet.
Click on the pic above to see the list of SBN blogs and then head to Twitter to start following SLCDunk.com.
2009 NBA Playoffs Hub
by Basketball John on Apr 16, 2009 9:45 AM MDT
in Site Notes
0 comments
You can follow all of the action on the playoffs around the SBN blogosphere in one place. I'll try to remember to put this at the end of every post that's related. Just click on the pic below to go there.
If you scroll down, there's a list of stories on the right sidebar as well. If you're posting a fanshot about the playoffs, use the tab '2009 nba playoffs' and if I promote it to the front page, it will appear in the hub. I'll check to see if it is tagged of course and put it in there if it isn't.
Dunking on a 12-foot hoop
by Basketball John on Mar 31, 2009 11:09 AM MDT
in Site Notes
3 comments
The bar has been raised a bit.
Some new features were released today for all of the SBNation sites and I'm pretty excited about them. So let's go over them and how they will help you.
- First, I'll be able to post official pics from the AP & Getty. I've used some before but have had that fear of retribution. No more. For you, you'll be able to click on the pictures to get a full shot of it plus a gallery of pics from the game. There are just a few now but will build up over time. Click on the pic at the top or this link to see more.
- New Team Pages - This is probably the coolest feature that's been released on SLC Dunk. The team page before was just so-so before. Click on the Jazz link at the top of the page to go the the new team site. Here you'll find all of the stories, Fan Posts, and Fan Shots from around SBN concerning the Jazz. You'll have the standings, schedule, stats, and everything else. You'll also notice a top-contributors box. Those that have the most posts concerning the Jazz will show up here.
- New Player Pages - The player pages were in sore need of an upgrade and were revamped as well. Check here for Deron's page. You'll see that it looks a lot like the team page except everything here is for Deron including a scouting report, transactions, stats, etc.
- Game Day - Each game now will be an event. This has always been on SBN but also got a makeover. It will now show all relevant posts related to that game. When you create a Fan Post, there's a green button to the right that has Attach Event. Click on this to add your post to a game event if it applies. I will also be putting up a link to this for game threads and previews. Here's the one for tonight's game.
The only thing that makes this better is you. When you're adding Fan Posts or Fan Shots, take a second and add the player in the Players section of your post. That way they will show up on their respective pages. Utah Jazz should now be getting put in automatically. In the future, any reference to a player in the text of your posts will automatically add them.
And of course, if you visit other SBN sites, all of these features will be there as well.
Thanks for reading and visiting SLC Dunk.
SBNation & SLCDunk partner up with Yahoo! Sports
by Basketball John on Feb 24, 2009 9:30 PM MST
in Site Notes
7 comments
It's a big announcement for SBNation & SLCDunk.
We've begun a partnership with Yahoo! Sports to expand SLC Dunk's reach. This won't be just for SLC Dunk of course, but will be for all blogs on SBNation.
How's it going to work? Here's a quote from the official release,
Today we want to welcome some new members to our flourishing communities. SB Nation and our friends at Yahoo are partnering to give Yahoo Sports audiences one click access to our sites and content. In addition to being the largest sport property on the web, Yahoo Sports is known for some of the best general sports blogs including: Ball Don’t Lie, Puck Daddy, Dr. Saturday, Big League Stew and others.
Relevant pages of Yahoo Sports will now feature contextual links to specific SB Nation communities. Many other pages of Yahoo Sports will feature SB Nation content and links. The great news is that more sports fans will be introduced to SB Nation sites.
So when you visit Yahoo! team pages, you'll see a container of relevant stories on SLCDunk. Click here to check out the page for the Utah Jazz.
In the future, there will be links to game threads on SLCDunk and some other integration.
So what does all of this mean? First, welcome to all of the visitors from Yahoo!. I hope you'll stick around and participate here. You'll find some of the best discussions on the Jazz here that can be found on the net. It's simple to sign up and start posting by using your existing Yahoo! ID.
What about all of the existing users? First, thanks to everyone for reading SLC Dunk and more importantly, thanks for your contributions. Things will go on just like they have. We'll (hopefully) gain a lot more quality contributors that will add to our discussions.
You can also associate your SBNation login with your Yahoo! ID by visiting your settings page at http://www.sbnation.com/users/YourUserName/account and clicking on the "Associate a Yahoo! ID with your account" link. It's not required of course.
Anyway, that's it. If you have any questions, feel free to email me, basketballjohn @ gmail.com.
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