Take a minute and read the review of Larry H. Miller’s autobiography, Driven by the BlogFather, Henry Abbott. Media members were given copies of the book, written with the help of long-time Utah sportswriter and columnist Doug Robinson. I haven’t had a chance to read it, but I’m planning to get into it in the next two weeks, at which time I’ll weigh in with a few more thoughts.

I’ve long been fascinated with Larry Miller. He was a complicated man who continued to change and grow and adapt to his world until the day he died. At the same time he left an unmistakable legacy in Utah that goes far beyond the Jazz. Henry points out some of the famous scenes that made Miller infamous as an outspoken and emotional NBA owner, but also discusses the moments of growth and learning that were always so public and to me, so interesting.

Through it all, the portrait that emerges is of a man who had his moments of ugliness. He flew off the handle more than a few times. But that relentlessness of spirit saw happy endings most of the time, even in those cases.

The Denver Nuggets fans he had argued with are quoted in the book as delighted at how Miller apologized repeatedly for his actions that night, and made them his guests at a later game.

Even the “Brokeback Mountain” controversy, after more effort, achieved some resolution. Miller called a meeting with protesters which he opened by saying “I want to hear what you’re feeling. What have I done to hurt you?” I don’t know that the riddle of homophobia was solved that day, but by their words and actions, it’s clear both sides were pleased with each other’s efforts towards reconciliation. Miller seemed genuinely surprised at the hurt gay Americans feel and it affected him.

“Yes, I would do it differently,” he writes. “I would either not procure the movie and not discuss it, or, if we had booked it, go ahead and run it because we were showing worse movies than that …I wouldn’t intentionally hurt someone unnecessarily. Even my own secretary was upset. I regret that I caused people pain or made like more difficult for them.”

Let me know what you thought of the book and your opinions on LHM’s legacy.

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Enjoy Fesenko’s exit interview from last week. Here are a few more from the team.

Now that the Jazz have gone fishing (and team president Randy Rigby fittingly lists fishing as one of his interests on his Twitter account), all that’s left to do is tease us with new uniform changes.

Here’s a look at Randy Rigby and Deron Williams holding some wrapped gear with just enough of a corner poking out to give us some flavor:

Image from the Twitter feed of Jazz owner Greg Miller (@GregInUtah)

It’s tough to tell exactly what’s going on, but some color sampling shows a dark blue, gold, and dark green:

So what do you think? I’m expecting some good mockups of potential jerseys out of some of you.

Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

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It would be nice to be thinking about basketball right now. Here’s the ESPN recap if you’re into that. The Jazz were eliminated by the Lakers for the third straight year but all I can think about is all the nonsense and negativity that went along with this series. I said my piece about Fisher in a previous post, and hoped basketball would take center stage during Game 4. Instead, the focus was on two ridiculous fans with matching t-shirts reading “FISHER” “LIED” – leaving me speechless as I attempted to defend Jazz fans to the world in the ESPN Daily Dime live chat during the game.

Meanwhile, the Salt Lake Tribune was busy throwing their best sportswriter under the bus with 90 point font and “All Hope Is Lost” splashed across the front page.  Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the losing, but the general negativity in the air was almost palpable. That very Tribune writer said it best:

All Hope is Lost newspaper headlines. Fisher Lied T-shirts. Bob Bennett’s Senate seat. Utah is a harsher state than America realized.

It may not be all about Utah either. I came home after the game to find myself attacked by a Laker fan on this site as “despicable” and devoid of “any semblance of a soul” — and that’s AFTER I DEFENDED DEREK FISHER. The night was even worse for Carlos Boozer, whose SUV was apparently hit by the bus carrying the Laker broadcast team after the game. Just a bad night all the way around.

Nobody has to go all Magic and Isiah kissing at midcourt before the game, but there’s room for every fan base to be a little more enjoyable. Am I asking too much?

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After the game I asked a few of the players about their summer plans and was stunned to discover that Sundiata Gaines has never played in Summer League and has never been to an NBA training camp. He won’t be able to say the same thing next year. Fellow D-League call-up Othyus Jeffers played on the D-League Select team in last year’s Summer League but neither he nor Gaines has heard anything about the Jazz’s plans for the summer or what their role might be. Sundiata poured in 7 points in less than 2 minutes of play. It would have been 9 had he not bricked two free throws with about 20 seconds left.

Fesenko said he plans to spend the summer in Ukraine and work on his game. When asked what he was planning to work on specifically, he said “Free throws, obviously. And a lot of other things. Maturity. I need to be able to be on the floor at the end of games.” Both Fesenko and Kosta Koufos are possibly going to play for the respective national teams this summer, depending on the schedule.

Several Jazz players besides Boozer may have played their last game in Utah, including Ronnie Price and Kyle Korver. Price talked a bit about his strong, if erratic, play against the Lakers this year and mentioned getting healthy as his main goal for this summer. “I played through a lot of little injuries this season,” he said.  Check out hoopshype.com for a table of salary and contract obligations for the Jazz.

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Ok, I’m exhausted and it’s time to move on. Let’s cleanse the palate with a great piece on the best part of this season and a reminder why we watch: Wesley Matthews.

I’ll have more to say in a minute, but in the meantime, here’s ESPN’s @kevinarnovitz and @ESPNLandOLakers looking at the final 2:47 of Lakers-Jazz Game 3 in Utah: http://bit.ly/d5m3Fh .

Excellent work by these two, and still makes me feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. What a game, just with the wrong ending.

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Just to cheer you up, here’s this:

Utah Jazz fans mock Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant as they dress like him from a recent fashion photo shoot during Game 3 of their NBA Western Conference semi-final playoff series in Salt Lake City, Utah, May 8, 2010. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)