Look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane . . .

Sophie and I at the airport

It’s a Grizzly mane! The family in front of us made up that cheer on the spot as we waited to welcome back the Grizzly team to Memphis after a long-fought series with an extremely talented Oklahoma City Thunder team. I wrote two Grizzly articles during this playoff stretch, but in typical style, I did not publish them in time for them to be relevant. Here goes my last shot.

Crowd at the airport welcoming home the Grizz.

Last year, I wrote a blog post called “Is Amazing Actually Happening?” as we made a hopeful push to the playoffs. As I would find out later, amazing was certainly not happening that year, but there was hope. This season started slow for the Grizz, but it never stopped accelerating as we moved to the end. We lost our star player in the chase, and that could have been the end. Instead, we found new stars hopefully burn just as bright with Rudy back next year.

And let’s talk about the fans. Whether a good team or fans come first is a chicken-or-the-egg argument. Memphis is a town that requires you to earn its trust. I was at the first game the Grizzlies ever played in Memphis and have been a fan ever since. It really not easy at all to continue to support the team. Fans doubted team decisions. The team resented Memphis’ lack of involvement. The teams that made runs early in the playoffs did not match up with our city.  Memphis is a gritty town, and this season we have finally found a team that matches that tenacity. While some may be snide towards bandwagon fans, I wholeheartedly welcome them. Now, you just have to stay.

My yellow growl Towels will be family heirlooms.

Getting to go to four playoff games was awesome, but I may have enjoyed seeing the daily manifestations of the run even more. I always got comments whenever I won Grizzly shirts. For the first time EVER, people could say “THE game”, and people knew which game they were talking about. Not the Lakers, not the Heat, it was the Grizzlies that were mentioned in conversations all over the city.

In Memphis, we are used to being undersold, underpromoted, and overdoubted, but this team proved people wrong time and time again. I am so excited about having the chance to support this team for years to come. Thanks for the season, players, coaches, owners, staff, and fans. To the fans, teams need fans that support unconditionally, so let’s try to live up to our end of the bargain. Here’s to a season that was truly 10 years in the making.

Please don’t trade OJ.

In the car after the triple overtime. Thanks to my wife for her enthusiasm about this post season. No one said the Grizzlife is easy.

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