Seeing as how these things are becoming longer than R Kelly's "Trapped In The Closet" series (or is it his police rapsheet?) I decided to just condense the first four parts into one blog for our readers.
I became so intrigued by my own writings about the subject on noone caring that the Grizzlies were here, I decided to conduct an experiment.
I'm a pretty sociable guy, I talk to everyone I come into contact with without crossing the line into invasion of privacy, so I decided that on my lunch break and shopping excursion out in Memphis I was going to eek the Grizzlies into my conversations with people, just to see what they thought about the subject.
Jesus H, what a long sentence.
I knew that my experiment could not be biased, so I planned my day to be in several parts of town. I would have lunch downtown, since I like being downtown on my off days/no class days, I would shop Cooper-Young and East Memphis (two very different demographics) and then I would head out and pick up the fiance for dinner that night, picking over what I had learned.
With the plan set in motion, I was off to lunch.
I parked in the garage and set off to South Philly. (Quick pet peeve though: Why in the hell do we use tokens to pay for parking now? Seriously, can't I just give you my money?) I stop in there and decide I don't want a sandwich, so I just had a beer instead. ESPN was on the plasma screen and there was a man probably in his 30s craning his neck to watch the screen. I sit at the table next to him so I could see the television. A few minutes and a new beer later, I said "I wish they'd talk about some preseason, I want to see what they are saying about Mayo."
His response: "Yeah, that Mayo kid's something good. Who's he playin for?"
Wha??
I said "Memphis, man! He plays for us! We traded Miller, drafted Love and traded em both with Cardinal to get him, and Jaric...and Walker..."
I trailed off. He legitimately didnt know. To the right of this man in South Philly is a Hello Mayo poster.
I told him how Mayo fired off 26 points the other night in preseason, and how Rudy looks good this year, and by the end of the conversation he said he might try to make it to a game. I felt good. I drank the last of my second beer and headed off to Midtown.
I head to Midtown to do some shopping in Cooper-Young and have a cup of coffee. You've gotta love Cooper-Young. Skaters wearing socks on their arms, and all the counterculture you could ask for. George Carlin would be proud. Talking sports here would surely be fun.
I hadn't had any real lunch yet, just a few brews so I stop at Celtic Crossing to have this gouda cheeseburger. Try it, you'll love it.
That was my George Lapides shameless promotion moment.
The servers at Celtic are the friendliest around, so it is easy to get a conversation started up with them. I turned the conversation to sports and we began talking about how my Cowboys picked up Roy Williams and what that would do for our offense. I then said "Well I'm actually a basketball man myself, and I can't wait for the season to start. I love my Mavs, but Im a Grizz fan first."
Dude laughed. LAUGHED.
Then silence.
Like I had just told a big Jesus joke in Bethlehem.
He thought he had hurt my feelings so he was like "Uh, I don't really think theyre going to be that good this year, but man good for you if you can support a team that doesnt win a lot."
Thanks.
I just smiled and said "Well thats what being a fan is all about...Hell, I was a Mavs fan back in the days of Ced Ceballos and Reunion Arena, so I can tolerate grisly Grizzlies."
I asked him if he had ever been to a game and he said he had not. "They'd just lose," he said. "It'd be a waste of money."
Yikes. Why do so many in the city feel this way? A sporting event is a sporting event! It's fun to cheer and get into the game, and if you lose, so what?? You screamed, you drank some beer, you high-fived when they tried to make a comeback, you had fun! A waste of money, no sir.
We alternated the conversation back and forth from basketball to football, to music. Now there is something I can talk about for hours.
I inhaled my cheeseburger and decided to head to East Memphis. Ah, the "elite" of Memphis. The people who buy the season tickets and would at least go to the game for the social aspect, right?
I continued my off day-slash-experiment by trekking into East Memphis to do some shopping. I couldn't wait to discuss the Grizzlies with people here. These were the people who would go to the games just for the social aspect and to see and be seen...The people who have the season tickets and whos companies have the season tickets and skyboxes. Surely there are the most passionate of passionate Grizz fans to be found here!
Errr....Not really. I found one. The other 3 people I talked to weren't that big on the team. One even wished we had a football team instead.
The first person I met was in Macys at Oak Court. I needed some shoes, so I wanted to find a pair of Lacoste tennis shoes. Dude hooked me up with an all-white pair...nice. He started askin me if I played a sport and I said "Nah, these are just for jogging and shit like that." I told him I couldnt play basketball worth a lick but I enjoy watching it, and that I was a big Grizz fan. This apparently makes people stop in their tracks and ask you why.
"They suck bro...I wouldnt go if they paid me."
I go...and I pay them.
"Well why not man? Basketball is basketball...ya know?"
"Yea, but I like good basketball."
"Mayo and Rudy are pretty good man...you oughta give em a chance."
"Eh, they just gonna leave in a few years cuz noone goes to see em."
Well, with that attitude, yeah. But that someone who doesnt go to see them is you! Cmon man...
I thanked him for the shoes and went about my business. I headed over to Laurelwood and did "Good Man Duty" for the Mrs. and found her christmas present at Joseph. Ladies, respect my prowess. I love my woman AND I can put up with stuck-up snobbery to get my lady what she wants. Oddly enough, the salesperson ASKED me if I was going to the game against Houston because Joey Dorsey was coming back to town.
Since when was Dorsey a marquee player?
I told her that no, I wasn't going to the game but that I was a huge fan of the Grizz so I'd be seeing Dorsey during the regular season when I had tix and time. She goes on to say that she's not a Grizz fan per say, but she couldn't wait to see Dorsey tonight.
Great. Another "fan" not wearing blue and yellow and white in the Forum. Oh well.
I leave, wondering if I was going to ever meet a professional sports fan in this city....and I did.
Trouble was, he was a Titans fan, lamenting the fact that Nashville got them and we didn't get to keep them. I guess he was one of the hundreds sitting in the Liberty Bowl watching the Tennessee Oilers. What was the reason for them not going to those games? Oh yeah, they're just going to leave anyway. That's right.
He launches into why professional basketball would never work in this city, and why Nashville should have gotten the NBA franchise and we should have the NFL. It's more expensive per game, he said, but there are less games. Less games for people to go to when they werent winning, or when the team had one commercial per year perhaps. Basketball wouldnt work in this city? Tell that to the Tigers.
This experiment wasn't working out as I had hoped, but it was going all according to what I thought it would be. This city just doesn't seem to care. Alas, a glimmer of hope....A guy about my age comes up to me at The Grove and sits down and has a beer. ESPN is on. Gotta love bars and bar areas. Always a good sports crowd. They were talking about Elton Brand's potential impact on the 76ers and I said "Let me guess, youre not a basketball fan either."
"Nah, not really."
I knew it.
"I do like the Grizz though. I think they could get me into this stuff."
Hooray! I found one. This guy lamented the fact that noone seemed to care, and was going to be at the preseason game not to watch Dorsey, but the GRIZZ!
I told the guy what I had done today and I said "I know its a bit strange, but I just wanted to see if anyone cared that there was a team here."
The young gentleman, close to my age and I kept talking about the Grizzlies.
Yes, that guy. The ONE I have found so far who could hopefully be coaxed into the Grizz fold.
I asked this guy why exactly he was having to be coaxed...Why cant you just get a 5 dollar seat and see what happens. If you want a better view to enhance your time spent, then take the plunge, spend a bit more, yell until your hearts content (just don't do the Soulja Boy dance) and see what happens then.
**Due to the fact that upon hearing the length of his answer, I immediately said I would like to quote him verbatim. I needed his number since I was sans tape recorder, so now that I am over the shock and disgust of actually recieving a man's number at a bar, I will relay his answer to you via a telephone call**
"See Zac, the reason is simple. I've never been introduced to them. You might think that its stupid, or fucking lame, but I can't get behind something I know nothing about other than tickets are on sale now. Who are these guys? I know who Mayo is because I love college hoops, and I hear Rudy is pretty good. Why should I care? Before I take the plunge, I need to know whats going to be there before I go plunging off, ya know?
Another thing, since Im just getting shit off my chest to ya, is I like what youre trying to do with these blogs. It's like some public awareness type of shit and I can dig it. But Im sure a lot of people feel this way. They have no connection because yeah, maybe they havent tried, but some of these people who are fans of basketball didnt ask the team to come here. They were fine without one. We kind of fans like that dont have to do anything. The team has to make us feel like they want to be here and have us be a part of it, because people like that are indifferent one way or another. I guess apathetic would be a good word.Let me see some marketing. Let me see them try. Then I'll try. Then I'll market the team by being a fan, and buying up tickets and shirts and all types of shit."
I want his answer to be the last thing that you really read and remember out of this. I'd like to know what the readers think, of this whole blog or if you just catch this series. Im hoping for a flood of comments, perhaps even a friendly-spirited debate between the fans that read this. What can we do to win these people over? What is right or wrong with his statements? I spoke about the listless marketing that I believe this team and city as a whole has in another blog on this site but I think he raises some new and good discussion points. Dig in, Grizz fans.In the coming weeks, there will be new (thanks to demand) installments of Diary of A Mad Grizz Fan. Bartlett, Raleigh, Collierville, Southaven and South Memphis are up next. Who knows...maybe I will be talking to you.
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