SALT LAKE CITY — Settling into his seat at the Delta Center with the serene expression of a man who has made peace with a spreadsheet, local Jazz fan Dale Hutchings, 41, confirmed Friday that he has entered the new season “just enjoying the process,” marking the third distinct process he has enjoyed since the last one concluded without a parade.
“People keep asking if I’m worried about the record. I’m not watching the record. I’m watching the development,” Hutchings said, watching a nineteen-year-old learn, in real time and at full price, what an NBA closeout is. “You can’t put a price on that. Well — you can. It’s on the ticket. But still.”
Hutchings’ viewing habits have evolved with the rebuild. He now celebrates “good losses,” maintains a ranked list of draft prospects sorted by wingspan, and has strong, specific opinions about a teenager in Finland. His group chat, once a place for highlights, is now primarily a support group with a salary-cap spreadsheet pinned to the top.
Friends say the transformation is complete. “Old Dale would throw the remote in November,” said one longtime seatmate. “New Dale nods at a 20-point loss like it’s a wine. ‘Great process loss,’ he said last week. ‘You can really taste the development.’”
Team officials have embraced fans like Hutchings, noting the franchise’s timeline remains “exciting,” “deliberate,” and now entering its third act, a structure literary scholars point out is also used by tragedies.
At press time, Hutchings was explaining to his son that championships are “a journey,” a talk the boy — who has known only process — reportedly received with the patience of a tiny season-ticket holder who has also seen the spreadsheet.
Photo: Lomrjyo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons