Utah sports has had an interesting year full of excitement, disappointment, and plenty of injuries. Between the Utah Utes football team, the Jazz, RSL, The Royals, and the new hockey team which has yet to be named, Utahns have had quite the fascinating year of athletics.
The Utes had high hopes for the college football season, but it was cut short as the season came to a lackluster end. However, all hope should not be lost in this team as they were missing their two most prolific players, Cameron Rising and Brant Kuithe, for the entire season, and they will be returning this coming fall.
The season featured some lowlights like getting blown out by Oregon 35-6 the day College Gameday came to town, or losing the Las Vegas Bowl 14-7 that ended up being a defensive brawl, or when Arizona dominated our defense for the second to last game of the season.
Despite these forgettable games and moments, this past fall also had some incredible headlines and games to reminisce on: “the pig farmer” Bryson Barnes going on a Jeremy Lin type run in the middle of the season, the thrilling win against Socal rivals USC that came down ot the last second, or Sione Vaki having one of the most unexpected breakout seasons on the defensive and offensive sides of the ball.
While the Utes season might have seemed rough, the Jazz season was not one for the record books, and would be better off if it were completely erased from everyone’s memories. Not only did the Jazz not make the playoffs or play in, they also dropped two spots in the draft lottery, ending up with the 10th overall pick for the upcoming selection date.
There really aren’t many moments to cherish from this season, with key players like Lauri Markannen, Jordan Clarkson, and John Collins being riddled with injuries throughout the whole season. The only positive from the season was when Jordan Clarkson got the Jazz their first triple-double from a player in the last 16 years. Another moment that will be seared into Jazz fan’s memories was John Collins being absolutely violated by Anthony Edwards in an all time great dunk towards the end of the season.
The final of the trilogy of disappointing seasons is still in progress, but boy boy is it a doozy. The Utah Royals women’s soccer team was recently brought back after Ryan Smith, owner of the Jazz, Utah Hockey Team, and co owner of RSL, bought them for 2 million dollars.
Although they had not been a team for very long before now, they were usually a middle of the pack team that could beat some good teams, but also lose to some bad ones, but this year is not the case. The Royals are dead last, and I would love to say its close, but its really not, with 10 games played they have only won once and tied once, leaving them with 8 losses and 4 points in the league table. The only glimmer of hope is that maybe Smith is able to put some more money into the team and they can bounce back next season, with this season basically being over.
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Now at this point you might be reading this and thinking – wow Utah has no good teams, they flat out suck – and you would be partially correct, with the exception of Real Salt Lake. This team has been absolutely outstanding, and to be frank, no one saw it coming. RSL currently sit top of the table with a considerable gap between them and second place, and show no intentions of slowing down.
Christian Arango, the club’s star striker has had quite an incredible season so far, leading the league in goals, ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on Inter Miami, and third overall for assists, making a strong case for Most Valuable Player in the MLS. Other stars like Diego Luna and Andres Gomez have also been a big factor in RSl success this year, with 7 and 11 total goal contributions so far.
The team has been hot lately, being undefeated in their last 10 league games, and they will look to continue this streak Saturday, May 25th against FC Dallas.
Now finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the brand new, yet to be named, Utah Hockey Team. Yes people of Utah, it’s true, Salt Lake City is getting a hockey team starting in the 2024-2025 NHL season. Once again to the credit of Ryan Smith, who bought the former Arizona Coyotes for a whopping $1.2 billion dollars this spring.To start the new campaign off strong, Utah has the 6th overall pick in this years draft and are projected to pick Zayne Parekh, a defenseman out of the Ontario Hockey League.
While the team is waiting for Smith to build a new stadium, they will share the Delta Center with the Jazz next season, similar to what the Celtics and Bruins do with TD Garden. Another thing Utah Hockey fans are waiting for is what the team will be named, which should be announced soon, with popular options including the Utah Yetis, Utah Venom, Utah Outlaws, and the Utah Mountaineers. However, much to the disappointment of the city, for the first season they will be named the Utah Hockey Team while designs and uniforms are being made for the 2025-2026 season.
Overall, it may seem like it has been a rather unexciting year for professional athletics in Utah, but do not lose hope. Players like Cam Rising and Christian Arango will continue to thrive and bring glory back to the state of Utah
