My Utah Jazz news alerts often give me links to old news and stories. So I almost dismissed a link that said former Jazz man Kirk Snyder was off to play in China. After all, he was sentenced to three years in prison last year for aggravated burglary and felonious assault.
But doing some more research led me to this article that shows that he was playing for the Halifax Rainmen in Canada. He signed with them on January 23rd and has played in just three games for the Rainmen so far. He's on his way to China though now after receiving an offer from a team there.
He was released from prison sometime last month. His lawyers had originally argued an insanity plea given that Snyder was not taking his medication at the time of the incident. Shortly after that he was given a chance by the Rainmen to resume his career.
It seems odd that he would be allowed to leave the country as a convicted felon. There was some question as to whether or not he would be able to play in Canada because of their immigration laws concerning felons. I would assume he would have to be on probation. I'm not sure how being half way around the world allows for that process to play out.
Let's hope he makes the best of this second chance.
What I wouldn't give to be in the room when Sloan and the coaches met to cast the vote for All-stars. I would also like to know what criteria he uses for his choices.
We know he can't vote for his own players, so they're out. I also wonder if he had the other coaches helping because votes had to be cast electronically and he need help turning on the computer that has collected dust since last season.
In honor of Paul Millsap's dislocated pinky finger, here's my basketball injury horror story. Thankfully, it didn't happen to me but I did witness it.
If anyone has jammed a finger, and you likely have, you know the pain that causes. In just a pickup game I was in, this guy goes for a loose ball at about mid-court. I can vividly recall the play to this day in slow motion. He dives for the ball and his middle finger compacts into the ball just as the ball is hitting the ground. I loud pop rings out and everybody winces. The guy's finger now hangs, touching the back of his hand as he's unable to move it.
What would have elicited a scream from anyone else, this guy calmly states, "I think I need to go to the hospital."
Anyone else with any physical disfigurements from playing ball?
The Jazz are no doubt glad to see January come to a close. It's an overrated month anyway. Do you know who had a very good January? Andrei.
He shot 50% from the field and 40% from the arc. He had a season-high in assists, rebounds, PPG, and steals. Let's hope that continues through the rest of the season.
The Mr. Consistency award goes to Al Jefferson. He's putting up 16 & 9 on the year and if you look at his splits, he's putting that up every month. Kind of eery actually.
Really Raja? Have you missed the Captiol Building in Salt Lake all these years?
Jazz Citizenship Test (via OfficialUtahJazz)