Fanatical

1984 was a great year, we drafted John Stockton, BYU won the National Championship, and I was born. As I continued to grow, my love of the Jazz grew as well. If you look at my journals as a child they are filled with statistics from Jazz games. (Who would have known the internet would have kept track of all of that for me...)

I remember joining Jr. Jazz and the excitement I had when I would get to go to that one Jazz game a year! Just as exciting was when a member of the team would come locally and we could meet them and they would talk to all of us. It was such a simple thing for them to do, to take an hour or two here and there, but it meant a lot to us.

The Jazz made it cool to pass, they valued hard work and dedication. Players would come here and have the best years of their career. It was team basketball. We weren't always the most talented, but you knew we were going to give our all.

I was able to meet every Jazz player during the finals runs. My dad even won tickets to the game that John Stockton broke the steals record. Later I was even able to get John to autograph my certificate from the game.

There are moments that you will never forget. John Stockton making the shot to send the Utah Jazz into the NBA Finals will always be one of mine.

My fond memories do not conclude with Stockton and Malone, but continue to grow today. I am as big a fan as ever. Technology has brought us together in ways I could never have imagined. I may be doing a Google+ Hangout with David Locke in the morning, tweeting during the game, and then listening to the @utahjazzpodcast after.

Not only do we have more access to other fans, but to the players as well! They might even wish us a happy birthday! (Although the RSL team had the edge on that one)

I love this team as much as ever. I love that when it would have been easy to follow the Warriors model and tank, our team would rather develop a winning culture and play in meaningful games. While many teams are unbearable for me to watch, we still play team basketball. Even with injuries, we haven't gone down without a fight. All of our players have weaknesses, but I feel like they are truly trying to work on them, and to use the strengths that they do have. Our end of games have been a little scary, but we have come through almost every time.

Those values that I loved as a child, hard work and dedication, are still just as important. It's team basketball, it has to be we don't have a star. We aren't the most talented, but you know we are going to give our all.

Is out team perfect? NO! However, I am still proud to call the Jazz my team. Our team is full of great guys, guys that play the game right. We have a coach that has been able to keep everyone together, even with contracts expiring, and playing time not always being where players would like it. We have an organization that scouts as well as anyone, and has put ourselves in a great situation this upcoming summer.

We should always want the best, we have the right to voice our opinions, but maybe we can enjoy the ride a little bit more and remember how lucky we are to be a part of such a great team. #WeAreUtahJazz

Dave Week 2

I may add some more to this later, but I wanted to post a few pictures from Monday's Jazz game.

Positive Thinking

You know that person that always seems to be happy? How do they always stay so positive? How is it that they can make you feel a little better, just by being around them? I don't have all of the answers to these questions, but I am very glad these people exist. I try to surround myself with as many of them as possible, because their enthusiasm  for life is infectious.

It is so easy to look for the bad in things, but why do so many of us spend the majority of our time doing just that? After a Jazz/BYU loss, people overreact like crazy. Even when we win, so many people find something to be unhappy about. In some of our jobs the only time our boss talks to us is if there is a complaint, or you need to improve at something. If you are doing your job, then you are doing what you are supposed to. Why  would you take the time to compliment, say thank you, or recognize the things others are doing?

I often wonder if I compliment my students enough. We work so hard at making sure what we are doing looks like, and sounds like it should. Then when they meet our expectations, we just say in our heads, finally, and move on without a second thought. Sometimes I think we are scared that if we interrupt it, we will ruin the moment.

I know the times I receive a sincere compliment it does much more to motivate me than when someone tries to tear me down. There is a time and a place for constructive criticism. If I'm doing something wrong I want to know so I can fix it, but how often we err on that side, and not on the positive. Last week I got a short e-mail from a parent thanking me for making this a good year for her son, and it brightened my whole day. It only took her a moment, and was a little thing, but for me, it meant a whole lot.

I was going to do two examples of how I could think about my life, and how it was going. One paragraph that was positive, and one that was negative. I wanted to show how your attitude can make the same exact thing very different. I had to stop though, because even after allowing myself to think negatively for just a moment, it got dark and depressing really fast. I can't let myself even think like that for a minute.

There is so much bad in the world, the news is full of awful things. Today was an especially hard day with the news of the shooting. However, there are SO many more great things going on out there. We can focus on the bad, and let it take over and paralyze our lives. Or we can make the best with what we've got, be grateful, and focus on the good. I can promise you that the positive one is a lot more enjoyable.

I hope that each of us will try to be that person whose infectious happiness brings joy to all of those around us. Life is never as bad as we may think. The sun will rise tomorrow, and if we learn from all of our yesterdays, we will have a lot of wonderful tomorrows.

I would like to challenge each of you to think positively today, compliment someone, and find a way you can serve and make the world a better place, even if it's just for one person. If all of us did these small simple things everyday, think of all the good we could do.

Mr. Above Average

There they were on the table, our 6th grade class yearbooks! Inside the contents were filled with all kinds of things, stories we wrote, what we did that year, but there was only one thing we were interested in, the awards!

Several weeks ago, we had all filled out who we thought was the best athlete, smartest student, class clown, etc.  I couldn’t wait to see what I was going to be, I really had no idea.  I was good at a lot of things, but what I looked forward to most, was being able to say I am the best at something!

I quickly sat down at my desk. It felt like the yearbooks were staring at me, begging to be opened.  The bell rang, we said the pledge, our teacher reminded us of the schedule for the final day, and then finally, began to pass them out.  

Why did I have to be in the back, I thought. I should have talked more this year, then I could have been in the front with all the kids that needed...a little extra attention.  Wait, I’m losing focus! One more row, two seats away, it’s here!

I flipped through the pages. Where is it? What am I the best at? How am I going to be remembered? I started at the beginning, for each category they had one boy and one girl. First on the list was Stephen and Melissa as the Class Clowns. Then Chris and Lindsay for Boy/Girl Crazy. I wasn’t smartest! Oh, that’s OK, those two were kind of nerdy. Most athletic? Nope...

All the good awards had been taken, I was beginning to worry if I had even gotten one.  Maybe they hadn’t been able to come up with anything. Do you think they had decided after all that I had no talents or special skills?  All of my worst fears were beginning to come true.

Finally, at the very end, I found my name! I was the only one not matched up with a girl, but at least I hadn’t been forgotten! I read it, David Horan -- Best All Around Student. Really? I wanted to cry, they really HADN’T been able to think of anything for me.  I don’t think I could have been more disappointed.  So I’m alright at a lot of stuff, whoopty doo!

While everyone else was winking at the guy/girl that was matched up with them, or smiling about their choice, I just wanted to sign have a great summer a few dozen times and get out of there. See you later elementary school, way to hold back one of the greatest minds of our generation! On to Jr. High, where I might finally be able to find that one special thing I could really excel at.

A little overreaction? Maybe, but sometimes a guy just wants to feel special.  You know how it is don’t you? *Spoiler* I did win an award in 8th grade, but only because a boy in my class was making fun of me, we’ll get to that later.