Earlier this week, Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer was on his annual circuit of radio appearances, jockeying for free agency position. He did it last year when he thought he was going to opt out of his Jazz contract, extolling the virtues of him in a Miami Heat or Chicago Bulls uniform. Well, our favorite player is up to it again, but thankfully, he is not needing to insert his foot into his mouth.
Well, he was interviewed by a Miami sports-talk radio personality, WQAM 560-AM's Sid Rosenberg, a so-called shock talk radio host. I've included the link above if you want to hear it, but he goes on to call Utah a "horrible place to live," and also said "But those Mormon people are crazy, aren't they." Boozer, to his credit, stuck up for both Utah saying it's a great place to raise a family and that the Mormons are "not bad at all." Rosenberg has since been reprimanded by the station and asked to stay away from religion. The manager Lee Felman said, however, "that this whole thing has been blown way out of proportion" and that he "asked the question if Mormons were crazy in a very tongue-and-check manner and absolutely no malice was intended." So basically, he reprimanded him, but defended him at the same time.
Now, I'm not overly offended by this, but I do think that his comments were uncalled for. Many worse things have been said over the years, which leads me to my biggest gripe: why are Mormons an easy target? Why can things like this be said about Mormons? What if Rosenberg or ESPN's Ric Bucher (back in 2007 said that Utah Jazz fans are so rabid because "they're Mormons...they don't have anything else to do.") cited other religious groups like Jews or Baptists, a race like Latinos or Blacks, or a group like gay and lesbian individuals? The uproar would be huge and most likely would cause them to lose their jobs. It would be national news. But because it's the Mormon church, it's seemingly benign. Frankly I think this double standard is ridiculous and unfair.
Anyways, I'm not losing sleep over this, but merely wanted to express my opinions. I know that this is our family's blog, but just wanted a few moments on the soap box! I am proud to be a Mormon. Everything good in my life has come as a result of my membership in the Church. My wonderful family, knowledges of truths that mean the world to me, the opportunity to serve a mission to Japan, eternal relationships with my loved ones, the scriptures, the temples, the values, and so forth and so forth. If these things make me "crazy," then so be it!
Falling asleep kneeling after a long day at Disney!
Tayah learned how to pedal her bike finally last week, so the next day we decided to celebrate by going to the Children's Parade here in Springville. The kids go about 2 blocks and circle back the same route, and they can go on scooters, bikes, strollers, etc. We didn't get their bikes decorated, but luckily not too many people did, so they weren't sad about it. In fact, I think their favorite part was the otter pops they passed out at the end. The girls thought it was great that they were in a parade-they didn't even seem to notice that there were only about 5 spectators (a few grandmas cheering on their grandkids). Stockton tagged along with me and was happy as a lark in his stroller, just watching all the kids around him. We then headed over to the Springville Art Museum for a Childrens Art Festival. They had lots of different booths set up where the kids could make different crafts. We opted for the most young kid friendly, and the shortest lines. They made kites, glue globs (paint with glue and colored sand sprinkled over that), "Stained Glass pictures" (with markers, coffee filters, and a spray bottle), and lots more that I can't remember. 
midly trying to get some candy. They would run out to a piece of candy, then bend down slowly, and more often than not, as they started reaching for the piece, someone else that was quicker would snatch it right up. They finally started getting quicker, but didn't really understand that they could pick up more than one piece at a time. It was fun to watch them be so excited. We came home with lots of tootsie rolls and happy kids. That afternoon, we drove up to Sandy and attended the Utah Asian Festival. There were lots of booths selling their wares and several booths even selling asian food. They had various performing groups, some craft activities for kids, and the highlight of course was the face painting.
