The Downbeat #1687: The Modern Malone Pioneer Edition

Happy 24th of July to all the Utahn, Utah Jazz fans. I hope you are enjoying your holiday while the rest of us suckers are working (not that I work outside the home).

The 24th of July happens to be Karl Malone's birthday. Is there anything more fitting than having our most iconic player have his birthday on our state holiday?

Brad Rock of the Deseret News wrote an article about Karl Malone and the 24th of July.

"I remember picking him up from the airport and we were on a tight deadline," says David Allred, who was the Jazz’s vice president for public relations. "I guess I didn’t make it clear to him what the parade was about. I just said, ‘I’ve got to get you to the parade.’"

By the time they reached the Jazz float, across from Temple Square, the parade had begun. Malone looked wide-eyed out the window and said, "This entire parade is for me?"

Rock writes about the maturity that both the state of Utah and Malone have developed in the past thirty years.Thirty years?! Karl Malone was drafted thirty years ago!

Do you have a favorite Karl Malone memory? On/off the court? He is truly the only person I have met that made me feel starstrucked.

Which of our current players is closest to having Malone's work ethic?

Do you like the new mountain logo? The Jazz's primary logo? If you don't, you are not alone. I don't like it, the new colors and font make it look so awkward and ugly. I am not the only one who is not a fan, the Utah Jazz are looking to change it to make the note the primary logo.

Source: Utah Jazz to make logo changes this offseason or next. Likely looking to make the Jazz note logo primary, introducing new secondary.

— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) July 22, 2015

Right now, the mountain logo is primary, but the Jazz (like most people), are not fans. They want to change that. pic.twitter.com/xNsNTEAApD

— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) July 22, 2015

Andy's article had this as a possibility of how the note logo could include Utah. I don't like the yellow line or Utah being in green. I much prefer the Mardi Gras colors. If we keep the blue which I imagine they do, I don't know what they can do but something looks off with the color combination below.

What would you suggest?

Here is a history of the Utah Jazz logos. It included this chart of pics. Which is your favorite?

Do the Jazz study what the average Jazz fan is like? Yes they do. Randy Rigby had this to say in his weekly interview with 1280. Moni has us covered like always. Rigby mentions how the NBA does study and they do studies and exam game operations and from the basketball side thing of things. He also talks about social media and what kind of fans they are looking at:

And then we do a lot of market research, that now you can do, through social media, and get immediate responses as well on some interesting things. And we use all of that. The NBA has some very good analytics and information, that they measure all the teams, and so we can do some comparisons on how we’re doing.

One of the big areas that we’re really looking at is the millenial. We found that the millenial is really relating to basketball and the NBA and that’s an area of focus that we’re doing a lot in building as well, is that young fan base.

If you are not a millennial, how does it make you feel that they are focusing on millennials? If you are a millennial, do you feel they are doing a good job of reaching you?

Trey Burke is going to Africa! He will represent the Jazz and the NBA in the NBA's first ever game in Africa on Aug 1. The game air on ESPN on Aug 1 at 7:00 am MT.

Trey's comment about playing in Africa via utahjazz.com:

"I’m honored to be representing the Utah Jazz and Team World in the first-ever NBA game in Africa," said Burke. "I look forward to not only playing in the game, but also being able to give back during the community outreach activities.  This is without a doubt an experience that I will truly cherish."

My family and I got home about a week ago from an Alaskan cruise. It was absolutely amazing. I did not want to come home. I loved the cruise, I loved our stops. Everything was great.

If you could go on a summer vacation with a Jazz player who would it be? Where would you go?