Smoke from the California wildfires makes the Oquirrh Mountains barely visible in the background as Paul Gruber, of Salt Lake City, runs above the Avenues on Popperton Parkway on Tuesday, July 8, 2008.

A few weeks ago, Tribune reporter Ross Siler and I hit the road with Utah Jazz rookie Morris Almond as he traveled to small towns across Utah to teach mini Jazz basketball camps. The Jazz have continued this tradition every summer for the past 24 years in order to put, in the words of team president Randy Rigby, “the Utah in the Utah Jazz.”

Ross and I hung out with Almond and Jr. Jazz Coordinator Nate Martinez for two days and visited six different communities from Tabiona to Castle Dale. The first two towns had populations of less than 200 people. Almond joked that the last time he’d seen a town this small was in the movie “Napoleon Dynamite.”

The routine was the same at each stop. Almond would talk about his background and what it was like to play for the Jazz. He then had the kids practice their dribbling and free throw skills while demonstrating the proper technique for both.

I think the kids were most excited when Morris attempted to make a half-court shot. He had three chances to make it and the kids split up into two groups — those who thought he would make it and those who thought he would miss them all. Whichever side was wrong had to do push-ups or run laps around the gym. In the six schools we visited, he made the half-court shot three times.

The final big event of the camp was when Almond played one-on-one with five different kids. In order to be chosen, the kids had to correctly answer trivia questions about Almond and the Jazz. Morris would usually take it easy on the kids to start, then wow them with a fadeaway, crossover, pump-fake, or even a reverse dunk. The kids seemed to have a great time and Morris finished the camp signing autographs and taking pictures with all of the kids.

In terms of access, Morris was great to work with. There was never a time when I felt he was annoyed with us being there and of me taking pictures. If anything, I think he was a little sad to see us go after two days. (He still had two more days and four schools to go.) We also had some common ground for conversations because both he and my older brother went to Rice University in Houston, Tx.

One of the highlights for me was after the clinic in Duchesne. When all of the kids had left, Morris took some time to shoot around with Nate rebounding the ball. It was amazing to watch as he swished basket after basket, rarely missing a shot. At one point, there was an invitation to play some 2 on 2, which Ross and I politely declined. I am pretty sure we would have been destroyed by Almond, who last season, tied the D-League record for most points scored in a single game at 51.

I am looking forward to see Almond play next season with the Jazz. I think he will be a big contributor and help the Jazz make another strong showing in the play-offs.

If you are interested in reading Ross’s story on the Tribune’s website, click HERE.

This is the piece I produced for the paper:

I shot some features in the the Museum of Modern Life at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. This bad boy is a Carcharodon megaldon. It became extinct about 1.5 million years ago and could grow up to 60 feet. It ate whales for dinner.

I spent some time yesterday photographing California artist and musician Bill Close as he assembled his Earth Harp at the Salt Lake City Library for the Utah Arts Festival. It took two days and about 3,000 feet of brass musical wire to build. Here is a multimedia piece my coworker Jim Urquhart and I produced.

Salt Lake City, UT –6/24/08–
Beth Arnett, left, and Lisa Langford, right, hold up Dan McKean, of Salt Lake, as he is tazered by Peter Jones, 27, during the Citizen’s Police Academy at the Pioneer Precinct. Officer Aron Landry is supervising at back right.

Gawain Snow is an alfalfa farmer in Jensen, Utah. With gas prices above $4/gallon, Snow said he spends about $400 every day on gasoline and diesel fuel for his trucks and farming equipment.

Here are some pictures from the 2008 STIHL Timbersports Professional Series at Thanksgiving Point.