Amazing is actually Happening?

Memphis was made to have a basketball team, and I could not contain my excitement when I attended the first ever Memphis Grizz game against the Pistons. Yes, that team still had Bryant Reeves on their injured reserve. Yes, they last played in Vancouver, and yes they were notoriously bad drafters. But they were an NBA team(conceivably at least).

You have to give the Grizzlies management in Memphis credit for at least trying to get something started. Big guns like Jerry West were brought in. Hubie Brown was brought in on life support to try and rouse the Grizz. There were bright spots. Sometimes Pau would not immediately lose the ball as he tried his triple-threat pivot move along the baseline. Sometimes Stromile Swift would throw down a dunk that made the Sportscenter newscasters spend more than 5 seconds recapping the game. These victories were fleeting, and one thing that we never really saw was resolve. We just could not find the right personnel to fit the team as the signed James Posey and Shane Battier Grizzlies jerseys in my family’s playroom show. It is almost comical to look how many players we have gone through, but changes must be made to have a shot at ok-ness.

I am using the past tense because this year the energy around the team is totally different. So maybe the 6 game loss season opener was not the best way to start the season, but the grizz did not stick their heads in the sand like past squads, but made a choice to get better. The Grizzlies are not going to win every game. Change is supposed to take some time. The awesome thing is that they do not walk on the court expecting to lose. There is some pride in our city about this team. Geoff Calkins wrote a great article about the team’s new swagger. This movement has a grassroots feel to it that can be seen in the stands and on the blogosphere.The team is willing to fight for each other and their team. Our team has never been finishers, but with new life and new blood from an athletic cast, we are winning close games. With some help on the bench, this team has huge potential.

I did some searching around the internet to try and find some existing Grizzlies’ blogs (before this year), and very few came up (3). The posts came seldomly, and let’s be honest, there was not much to write about. A newcomer on the scene is Grizz life, which can be found on my links section. The contributors are friends of mine, but even as an unbiased observer, the articles are insightful and full of heart. This kind of project is a perfect example of those leading the charge to Grizzly pride. Even my Facebook and Twitter are full of supporters for the Grizzlies after each game.

Anyone in Memphis can attest to the difference among the citizens about its team. The previous night’s game is talked about at work the next day (win or lose). Attendance is way up with recent sellouts. I was at a friend’s house the other night, and the group turned on the game at actually watched as we lost to the Rockets. This may seem like nothing to most NBA towns, but these are big steps for this team. My brother and some friends are en route as we speak to Minneapolis to watch the Grizzlies take on the T-Wolves. When was the last time that anyone heard of someone traveling more than two hours to a game(excluding some of the players)? Win or lose, things are different. In a good way.

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