MASS PSYCHOSIS – How an Entire Population Becomes MENTALLY ILL

SME Steel Contractors, Inc. -- A company with balls!
Utah Jazz
Attn: Gail Miller, Owner I Chair
301 W. South Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
September 9. 2020
Re: SME Steel Contractors, Inc. Suite -- Vivint Smart Home Arena
Dear Ms. Miller:
This letter is sent by the owners and management of SME Steel Contractors, Inc.(“SME). Our company has a long-established record of support for the Utah Jazz.
Indeed, SME has licensed a full suite to all Utah Jazz games since 1992. Over the 28 years that SME has licensed its suite, our company has paid approximately $6 million inticket/licensing fees for Jazz games alone. SME’s total expenditures at your arena are at least $1 million higher than that figure when food, beverage and other non-Jazz events are considered. Historically, SME has been proud of its affiliation and relationship with the Utah Jazz. Indeed, several of SME’s employees were personally involved in the fabrication and erection of steel for the venue now known as Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Even for those of us who were not involved in the arena’s construction, the Jazz and have been a source of camaraderie, community pride and top-tier sports entertainment (regardless of the wins and losses).
Our disappointment and disillusionment with the recent actions of the NBA including the owners, coaches and players of the Utah Jazz-are almost beyond expression. We have been stunned to see the entire Jazz team kneeling during the playing of our county’s national anthem. Like other fans throughout the country, SME was disappointed that the 20I9-20 season was disrupted by the COVID pandemic. That disappointment pales, however, to the feelings we experienced when NBA games “restarted” on what appears to be a billboard for the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
The final evidence of NBA disregard for its fans and customers was the recent wild cat strike engaged in by NBA players- resulting in the frivolous disruption of scheduled playoff games.
Performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” at the commencement of sporting events has been a tradition in this country for nearly I00 years. Standing quietly and respectfully during the anthem is not merely an antiquated or courteous tradition, it is a way of honoring the many thousands who have protected this country and its unique freedoms-through their service and sacrifice. To say the least, it is ironic that pampered and exceptionally well-paid athletes cavalierly exercise the freedom bought for them through the courage, and sacrifice of this nation’s servicemen and women by disrespectfully kneeling during the country’s anthem. By the same token, it seems odd and inappropriate for NBA players to adorn their jerseys with names and tributes for felons and politically-divisive slogans from Black Lives Matter, when true heroes like Chris Kyle and Pat Tillman go unnoticed and unremarked.
As noted above, our Company’s Jazz suite has long been viewed by SME as a place where our company’s employees and guests can join together to cheer on their favorite teams and enjoy watching exceptionally-gifted athletes compete. The recent actions of the NBA-including the owners, coaches and players of the Utah Jazz-have converted a beloved entertainment venue into a forum for dissemination of political propaganda which is divisive and completely out of step with our company and its values.
SME assumes that other patrons, both in Salt Lake and elsewhere, may have similar feelings. NBA franchises, and players, like all others in this country, certainly have the right to freely express their views. They cannot, however, force paying customers, to be subjected to their ostentatious acts of disrespect for our country and its values, without any consequences. Perhaps when the arenas are empty the NBA, its franchises, and its players will rethink their present course of action. Regardless of how other patrons react, please be advised that unless and until the NBA and the Utah Jazz put a stop to all disrespectful actions during the anthem and remove the Black Lives Matter logos from the arena, SME’s suite at the Vivint Smart Home Arena will remain dark and unused. Moreover, SME will not renew its licensing agreement or make any further payment for its suite until the NBA and its franchises again offer sports and entertainment rather than divisive political propaganda.
Thank you for your serious attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Jerry Moyes, Owner
Craig Moyes, CEO

Thank you for the HT!