Editor column: Let's talk about the Utah Jazz

Utah Jazz fans love to talk about their team.

And thanks to new tools at our disposal, The Salt Lake Tribune is able to engage those of you who follow the team in conversations with one another — and with us.

In late January, sltrib.com entered into a partnership with Spencer Ryan Hall, of saltcityhoops.com, the Utah Jazz affiliate in the ESPN.com TrueHoop Network, to host a live chat with fans at sltrib.com immediately following each game.

Hall, who has written about the Jazz and the NBA as a credentialed member of the media since 2006, also hosts a weekly radio show on Jazz station 1280 AM/97.5 FM The Zone. He brings experience, insight and perspective to each chat, which we encourage you to participate in by visiting sltrib.com. Simply click on the game story we launch online in advance of each game, update at half time and writethrough for the Web and our print edition. You'll be able to see the chat begin in a column embedded in the story's text.

You provide your analysis of each game. Our reporting team provides its perspective.

If you'd rather not chat, we invite Jazz fans during games — and virtually at any time — to engage with our reporting team and one another on Twitter.

More than 12,000 of you already follow Jazz writer Bill Oram on Twitter @tribjazz. No other Utah reporter has more Twitter followers.

Following Oram on Twitter enables you to weigh in on his Tweets, ask him questions, make suggestions and generally comment on our coverage of the Jazz and the NBA — and many of you do.

The same is true for Twitter followers of other Tribune staffers who write frequently about the Jazz and the NBA. They include reporters Steve Luhm (@sluhm) and Tony Jones (@Tjonessltrib), along with columnist Kurt Kragthorpe (@tribkurt).

Before social media took hold, sports writers disseminated information with little expectation of engaging in conversation with readers about what they wrote.

Twitter is exactly that conversation starter, Oram said.

"When you only talk to people who are in the game, you lose an important perspective," he said. "Twitter is one way to connect with those who are not only reading but for whom the team exists."

We're grateful for this opportunity to hear you out in ways we never could before. It reminds us you're who we work for. Your perspective and the questions you ask improve our coverage.

So keep talking about your team, Jazz fans.

Lisa Carricaburu is a managing editor. Reach her at lisac@sltrib.com or on Twitter: @lcarricaburu.