Gordon Monson

1 month ago | sltrib.com | Gordon Monson

Is a fight over the design of a holy place worth having? Or is neighborly peace a better course for a church bent on building big, beautiful, bulbous houses where it says the Lord can dwell? Those are questions that appear to be rising as high as some temple steeples erected by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2 months ago | sltrib.com | Gordon Monson

I did something last week that I haven't done in a long, long time. I connected with you, the fan, by going to a game that I wasn't - technically, at least - covering. I just went - with no notebook, no pen, no computer, no column in mind, no deadline to meet, no nothing. Just an idea to do what most normal people do - enjoy a sport for that sport's sake, and for my own. My wife, Lisa, and grandson, Brody, went along. It was, in part, a celebration of Brody's 13th birthday.

2 months ago | sltrib.com | Gordon Monson

It's not easy being what the Utah Jazz are. And what exactly are they, what's the right word? Pick out your favorite. Lousy. Awful. Horrible. Pathetic. Terrible. Lame. Brutal. Dreadful. Wretched. Inferior. Abysmal. Crappy. Atrocious. Odious. Ugly. Sad. Bad. Miserable. Maybe that last one is more what the fans are, but it probably fits most of the players' and coaches', too. Nobody likes to lose. Even worse, nobody likes to try to lose. Nobody, at least, with any self-respect and pride.

2 months ago | sltrib.com | Gordon Monson

In the past, I've chided and maybe even ridiculed some of the peculiar cultural aspects of my religion, a religion in which I mostly find rock-solid faith and good comfort in spiritual matters. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, indeed, has its standards and its weird adorning quirks, even a few that have leaned with harder edges toward doctrine.

Mar 28, 2025 | sltrib.com | Gordon Monson

What do you tell a group of players that tried - and badly failed - to ascend to a height that only one other team in school history has reached - namely, the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament? You wrap them in your arms, like a puppy that had been hit by a truck, hold them and heal them, and tell them exactly what BYU coach Kevin Young told his Cougars on Thursday night in Newark, NJ. "I'm extremely proud of my guys," he said.