We did some spring cleaning at our house today--it's amazing how things can accumulate over the years. And hidden among all the stuff was the sports section of the Deseret Morning News from Friday, June 25, 2004.
Almost eleven years ago.
Thinking back, I believe I saved the paper because of the classic photograph on the cover. For those sports fans (and specifically Utah Jazz fans...) out there, you may remember why these guys look so downtrodden. You see, a person they really really wanted the home team to draft was picked by another team. Their faces tell the story.
The Utah Jazz drafted two other players instead, Kris Humphries with the fourteenth pick and Kirk Snyder with the sixteenth.
See what difference a decade can make? If you know your basketball history then you know what happened to Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder. One bounced around the NBA and other teams all over the world and even spent some time in jail. The other bounced around the NBA and even married Kim Kardashian for 72 days. He's still playing in the NBA.
So, you might think that those poor suckers gnashing their teeth and looking completely dejected were proven right--that the person they wished the Jazz had taken would have been a much better pick.
Wrong.
You see, those people wanted the Utah Jazz to draft the tattooed BYU center Rafael Araujo. The photograph was snapped as the Toronto Raptors selected Araujo with the eight pick. Oh, how their dreams were dashed.
Turns out Araujo was a bust, too. Those fans did get their wish. The Utah Jazz got Araujo (in a trade involving Humphries...) a few years later, and he didn't work out for Araujo or the Utah Jazz.
Hindsight tells us everything. Had those fans known what would happen, had the teams and the players known their eventual fortunes, different decisions would have been made. Then again, when you look at the faces on those fans, do you think they would have believed you if you told them how things would eventually work out?
I don't think so, either.
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