Our older readers will appreciate the Hank Williams Sr. reference.
I was going to call this "Tears of a Clown," but Geoff Calkins is no clown. He is a good sports writer, an enthusiastic writer with a wry sense of humor in some of his articles, and a friend to the three Shades of Blue blog.
That being said...I take issue with this article.
I know, I know. It's from Oct 9. Get with the program, Zac.
The truth is, I am slowly getting back into Grizz news. After taking a vacation with the fiance down to Miami where I *looks around for the government* partook in an illegal cigar despite Cuban embargos, and had too many drinks at Trader Vic's, this was the story that caught my attention.
Meet New Grizz, Same as Old Grizz.
Really? We wear putrid uniforms, start a revolving door of WTF cares players like Batiste, Archibald, Chris Owens, and Ike Austin, and our coach has a shinier dome than the Hubert H. Humphrey in Minny?
Nah...They aren't the same old Grizz players. The same old Grizz marketing mentality and the same old Memphis is more like it.
For an article that claims its optimism by saying that the way to look at FedEx Forum on that night as 1/16th filled, this article is not very optimistic. However, he goes on to basically give statements that show why the arena was not very full on that night. The caliber of players, it was a middle of the work week game, etc. The article closes with the statement "All they (fans) need is the team."
Geoff, my friend, we have a team. A much improved one. You're exactly right that no one seems to notice or care. You are also right when you say the city feels alienated from the team. However the tone of your article makes it seem like its the players' problem. It is not. We have more talent, and I will tell you why they are not noticing.
Marketing.
Marketing has been the achilles heel for the Grizzlies ever since they got here. They didn't feel the need to market because it was new and fresh. When that wore off, we had the new arena smell to market the team.
Then, it was three playoff appearances and three straight sweeps in the first round with no wins. There has never been a long standing effort to connect the team to the city other than the great, and I mean great work they do with St. Jude Children's Hospital. When are the talking heads going to realize that two panels on MATA buses and a couple of billboards just don't cut it?
Advertising has been a long-standing problem in this city, as long as I have lived here. Unless you see the one billboard (which seems to be the solution in this city, one billboard will do it) for Mednikow or Laurelwood, you will not know where it is, or what is there unless you are a longtime resident.
Another fun fact about that: The billboards are located in the part of town Laurelwood is in, the area where yes most of their customers come from, but already know it is there. How about one in Germantown, or Collierville, or downtown? Settling for the status quo will surely win you that area, but how about expansion?
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