Bottom line , Tigers can't be sold to another city when things are down!

(05-26-2015 11:43 AM)2tigers Wrote:  

(05-26-2015 10:04 AM)3601 Wrote:  http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/201...the-court/

Editorial: Grizzlies’ Impact Goes Beyond the Court
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You used to hear it about Tigers basketball.

These days, you hear it more about the Memphis Grizzlies. It goes something like this:

“Nothing brings Memphians together like the Grizzlies.” Or, “Memphians have their differences, but they come together for the Grizzlies.”

(With some on-court improvement for the University of Memphis next season, perhaps we’ll include the Grizzlies and the Tigers together in the adage.)

It’s a platitude many of us use to begin describing a deceptively complex city and culture.

There’s even been some pushback on the idea in recent years.

Critics say it’s an oversimplification that conveniently forgets one key fact: The basketball games that temporarily consume our attention are entertainment. They shouldn’t be used as a barometer of progress on the serious challenges Memphis continues to face, the argument goes.

And there is nowhere near a consensus among Memphians on the path out of a historically high poverty rate and long tradition of violence. If you really want to plumb the depths of our city’s divide, start a discussion about the link between poverty and violence. If you’re really feeling saucy, throw education into the mix.

Memphis’ well-documented problems are a lot for a winning season to overcome, even one with a journey to the second round (or the Conference Finals, as was the case in 2013) of the NBA Playoffs.

There is, however, a case to be made for allowing ourselves to be encouraged by what has happened among this current group of players. For the most part, they came as strangers to our city and will likely leave at some point to pursue their professions and lives in another city.

Let’s face it. We are not the easiest audience to impress. The worst thing you can be in Memphis is “not real.” We can smell it like fear. We don’t bluff.

This team of professional athletes passes the smell test in a professional sports era of impersonality as a defense mechanism. If we identify with them, it’s because they identify with us. They explain us and defend us throughout the season.

Where we go wrong with this is when we put too much weight on that chemistry.

It works both ways, too. A whole generation of athletes – professional and college – are now trained by their forebears against the temptations of believing the adulation and acclaim will still be there once the playing days are over. These are tough lessons.

They speak to heart and exposure in short episodes that last a season. They are played within the lines of a basketball court in an allotted time with plenty of rules.

If you can find something from that controlled environment to take with you when the game is over, we say use it to grit and grind your way through your own personal challenges.

But don’t be afraid to wave your growl towel next May.

Lets see what happens if they start loosing and don't make it to the playoffs.

Loose what? Their shoelaces?

(05-26-2015 11:44 AM)MemphisTigerPawr Wrote:  ....... the Grizz play together with effort, defense and hustle, which makes for a stark contrast.........

I don't know how the "Grizz" play since I have never seen them and, having no interest in pro sports (especially the NBA), I don't expect to, but I seriously doubt that they play with more effort or hustle. As a matter of fact, that is one of the reasons I prefer college athletics: the level of play isn't as good, but there is generally more passion. From what I have seen, pros don't play all that hard except in playoffs.

(05-27-2015 08:40 AM)Gray Avenger Wrote:  

(05-26-2015 11:44 AM)MemphisTigerPawr Wrote:  ....... the Grizz play together with effort, defense and hustle, which makes for a stark contrast.........

I don't know how the "Grizz" play since I have never seen them and, having no interest in pro sports (especially the NBA), I don't expect to, but I seriously doubt that they play with more effort or hustle. As a matter of fact, that is one of the reasons I prefer college athletics: the level of play isn't as good, but there is generally more passion. From what I have seen, pros don't play all that hard except in playoffs.

lolz

AAA baseball is a "pro" sport pops

I have been a Grizz season ticket holder since they arrived in Memphis. I have been a basketball and football Tiger season ticket holder since I arrived in Memphis (not an alum). Yes, I am a basketball junkie....

There are two different games being played by these two teams. I get disgusted when I see either team (or individual players) quit during a game. I realize that the Tigers can have the immature emotional hiccups that are always present at that age and hope it is a one time thing when they do it. However, when the Grizzlies do it, I get very frustrated because this is their job, they chose it, and they impact everyone one their team when they give a half a$$ed effort. Plus, as "professionals" I expect better. They are the elite of their profession and should act like it, even when things are always going great.

FedEx Forum was empty during the bad Grizz times, the <30 win seasons. The Fan advisory board that the Grizz mgt started tried to give all kinds of suggestions for a better game "experience". The best advice was "just win". That cures most attendance problems. Guess what, they really haven't had a fan advisory board for the last couple of years.

Winning is what will cure the the Tigers attendance issues. I do think that a better OOC schedule would also help some and that is something I'd really like to see as a change.

March Madness is one of the best times of the year across the nation, even when your team is already out of the race. The NBA is not as universally loved although there is a great amount of excitement during the playoff part of the season. Just ask a Philly or Orlando or Charlotte or Phoenix fan when they endure a so, so or bad season. They check out early and watch a few of the premier match ups.

The college game has a uniqueness with the time limited availability of players who chose to go that school. The emotion in the crowd and the bench is evident. You can't match that on the pro-level and you never will.

Just one man's opinion.

(05-27-2015 08:54 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  lolz

AAA baseball is a "pro" sport pops

It is true that I attend a few Redbirds games each season, primarily for the beer, nostalgia and relaxation and because I have access to free tickets (have never paid for any). Don't especially care who wins. Have also been to St Louis and watched Cardinals games 4 times in my life (even paying for tickets), for the same reasons (+ an excuse for a trip to St Louis), and did not especially care who won. The Redbirds and Cardinals don't play with as much passion as college players either.

(05-27-2015 08:11 AM)gotigers1 Wrote:  

(05-26-2015 11:43 AM)2tigers Wrote:  

(05-26-2015 10:04 AM)3601 Wrote:  http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/201...the-court/

Editorial: Grizzlies’ Impact Goes Beyond the Court
Print | Front Page | Email this story | Comments (0)

You used to hear it about Tigers basketball.

These days, you hear it more about the Memphis Grizzlies. It goes something like this:

“Nothing brings Memphians together like the Grizzlies.” Or, “Memphians have their differences, but they come together for the Grizzlies.”

(With some on-court improvement for the University of Memphis next season, perhaps we’ll include the Grizzlies and the Tigers together in the adage.)

It’s a platitude many of us use to begin describing a deceptively complex city and culture.

There’s even been some pushback on the idea in recent years.

Critics say it’s an oversimplification that conveniently forgets one key fact: The basketball games that temporarily consume our attention are entertainment. They shouldn’t be used as a barometer of progress on the serious challenges Memphis continues to face, the argument goes.

And there is nowhere near a consensus among Memphians on the path out of a historically high poverty rate and long tradition of violence. If you really want to plumb the depths of our city’s divide, start a discussion about the link between poverty and violence. If you’re really feeling saucy, throw education into the mix.

Memphis’ well-documented problems are a lot for a winning season to overcome, even one with a journey to the second round (or the Conference Finals, as was the case in 2013) of the NBA Playoffs.

There is, however, a case to be made for allowing ourselves to be encouraged by what has happened among this current group of players. For the most part, they came as strangers to our city and will likely leave at some point to pursue their professions and lives in another city.

Let’s face it. We are not the easiest audience to impress. The worst thing you can be in Memphis is “not real.” We can smell it like fear. We don’t bluff.

This team of professional athletes passes the smell test in a professional sports era of impersonality as a defense mechanism. If we identify with them, it’s because they identify with us. They explain us and defend us throughout the season.

Where we go wrong with this is when we put too much weight on that chemistry.

It works both ways, too. A whole generation of athletes – professional and college – are now trained by their forebears against the temptations of believing the adulation and acclaim will still be there once the playing days are over. These are tough lessons.

They speak to heart and exposure in short episodes that last a season. They are played within the lines of a basketball court in an allotted time with plenty of rules.

If you can find something from that controlled environment to take with you when the game is over, we say use it to grit and grind your way through your own personal challenges.

But don’t be afraid to wave your growl towel next May.

Lets see what happens if they start loosing and don't make it to the playoffs.

Loose what? Their shoelaces?

You are supposed to be a smart guy but I will give you a hint on what they will loose. It's called attendance. People on this board are saying they will give up their U of M seasons tickets because they want to spend their money more wisely on better entertainment. They can go to the Levitt Shell concerts for free and really save money.

(05-27-2015 09:07 AM)Flugel Wrote:  I have been a Grizz season ticket holder since they arrived in Memphis. I have been a basketball and football Tiger season ticket holder since I arrived in Memphis (not an alum). Yes, I am a basketball junkie....

There are two different games being played by these two teams. I get disgusted when I see either team (or individual players) quit during a game. I realize that the Tigers can have the immature emotional hiccups that are always present at that age and hope it is a one time thing when they do it. However, when the Grizzlies do it, I get very frustrated because this is their job, they chose it, and they impact everyone one their team when they give a half a$$ed effort. Plus, as "professionals" I expect better. They are the elite of their profession and should act like it, even when things are always going great.

FedEx Forum was empty during the bad Grizz times, the <30 win seasons. The Fan advisory board that the Grizz mgt started tried to give all kinds of suggestions for a better game "experience". The best advice was "just win". That cures most attendance problems. Guess what, they really haven't had a fan advisory board for the last couple of years.

Winning is what will cure the the Tigers attendance issues. I do think that a better OOC schedule would also help some and that is something I'd really like to see as a change.

March Madness is one of the best times of the year across the nation, even when your team is already out of the race. The NBA is not as universally loved although there is a great amount of excitement during the playoff part of the season. Just ask a Philly or Orlando or Charlotte or Phoenix fan when they endure a so, so or bad season. They check out early and watch a few of the premier match ups.

The college game has a uniqueness with the time limited availability of players who chose to go that school. The emotion in the crowd and the bench is evident. You can't match that on the pro-level and you never will.

Just one man's opinion.

Yeah, winning doesn't hurt BUT...

I would add one intangible to this - the tony allen / randolf era grizz are endeared to the city because they reflect the city back to itself. The charity work that zbo and others do in poor communities in the city, Zbo saying that he wants to live here after he retires, the hard-hustling all-heart TA, and other factors have made this particular team special and embraced on a different level in a mostly blue collar city.

These factors can't be understated and they are only things that someone who has or currently lives in memphis would understand.

(05-26-2015 09:22 PM)MtownTigers916 Wrote:  The Tigers are just fine. As a 20-something, I can attest that there are plenty of young Tiger fans. The hipster-Grizz crowd doesn't appeal to everyone-- and I am not sure we want their bandwagon fans. Many of the newer Grizz fans know nothing about sports and just enjoy attending the games in their witty t-shirts and Buddy Holly glasses. It won't last.

The Grizz will be hard pressed to replicate this year, and I don't see the Tigers repeating their performance from this past season.

Baahahaha. So freakin' true!

People who hate basketball will never follow the grizzlies. People who hate basketball will follow their alma mater.

Simple

(05-27-2015 09:14 AM)Gray Avenger Wrote:  

(05-27-2015 08:54 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  lolz

AAA baseball is a "pro" sport pops

It is true that I attend a few Redbirds games each season, primarily for the beer, nostalgia and relaxation and because I have access to free tickets (have never paid for any). Don't especially care who wins. Have also been to St Louis and watched Cardinals games 4 times in my life (even paying for tickets), for the same reasons (+ an excuse for a trip to St Louis), and did not especially care who won. The Redbirds and Cardinals don't play with as much passion as college players either.

I prefer the beer over the passion of the players. Are they selling on the south campus yet?

(05-27-2015 12:07 PM)shere khan Wrote:  People who hate basketball will never follow the grizzlies. People who hate basketball will follow their alma mater.

Simple

I don't hate basketball. I just care nothing for professional sports (except for a mild interest in baseball). That's also simple.