Yo…
At the end of 2022 I fired up My Summer Lair’s Spotify Wrapped.
From early on I’ve known when I started this podcast, it had international legs. This was never a regional podcast.
Across America (all the expected hotspots from NYC, Chicago to LA etc.), to the UK, to France…to Australia listeners listened. (Thank you!)
(This is a delightful life lesson I share with everyone one who creates and post something online. Once your work is online it will go places you’ve never been or expected. It’s surreal to see in real time. I’ve never been to Australia and yet there have been a number of people who bravely pushed play on one or more of my episodes and now they know who I am. What? Reach out…let’s connect. You know my story; tell me yours…)
However my 2022 Spotify Wrapped contained a special surprise. My Summer Lair was consumed in 14 countries and according to Spotify my Top 5 Countries are…
Like Philippines really?! I mean I enjoy Jo Koy but I’m surprised the Filipinos came out to support my show.
(Belgium makes sense; I’m constantly praising Into the Night a Belgian apocalyptic sci-fi thriller on Netflix. Belgian apocalyptic sci-fi thriller is not something I drop casually; it’s another international Netflix TV show I’ve enjoyed. Like Dark a….well: German apocalyptic sci-fi thriller. I also recently wrapped up the first season of The Rig on Prime Video…a Scottish apocalyptic sci-fi thriller. Err: I have a type.)
So the best way to say thank you for the fresh Filipino support was to have and celebrate a prominent Filipino on the program.
“Oh, you'll never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator.” Thank you Simpsons for that entertainment insight; it’s funny cos it’s true.
If this is what you dig; bring your shovel…here’s more of what you’re enjoying. Like a paperboy I deliver…(all of those expressions were brought to you by the 70s. Wanna see my Pet Rock?)
Welcome Kathleen Jayme to My Summer Lair; our conversation is attached. This is another NBA episode…or is it?
Why did the Grizzlies break up with Vancouver after 6 years? This is what The Grizzlie Truth by director Kat Jayme a diehard Vancouver Grizzlies fan is attempting to answer.
This is her second Grizzlies documentary; Finding Big Country came out in 2018.
Behold The Grizzlie Truth trailer:
The Grizzlie Truth is an investigation; it’s detective work to unpack and explore a number of factors that lead to the basketball team moving from Vancouver to Memphis. Having been to both cities I can assure you they are completely different vibes.
(Indeed my conversation with Kat starts by talking about yamming ribs in Memphis, I dunno what food Vancouver is associated with.)
Some historical context…
On November 1, 1946…shortly after World War II the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, in what was the first game played in NBA history. (Basketball of course was created by Canadian James Naismith in the winter of 1891; another notable bball Canadian connection).
The New York Knickerbockers defeated the Toronto Huskies 68–66.
The attendance for the inaugural NBA game was 7,090 with ticket prices ranging from 75 cents to two dollars and fifty cents. (You can’t even get a hotdog for two dollars at a current Raptors game.)
The Knickerbockers were led by guard Leo Gottlieb, who scored 14 points. While the Huskies had the game’s highest scorers: big men Ed Sadowski (18 points) and George Norstrand (16 points).
Once again it’s not how it starts; anyone can get in A in the first week of school.
The Huskies folded by 1947 and the NBA struggled to survive. Eventually the league merged with the ABA in 1976. Fast forward past Wilt and Dr. J and Magic and Bird and Kareem and Jordan to 1995 where the NBA expanded with 2 Canadian teams.
Basketball returned to Toronto; that team was now called the Raptors and the other team was the Vancouver Grizzlies.
The Raptors went on to win a championship in 2019 while the Grizzlies struggled. Vancouver won 101 games, lost 359 games and never qualified for the NBA playoffs. Oof! They subsequently moved to Memphis, Tennessee for the 2001–02 season.
So…what happened?
It’s never one thing, teams don’t always leave for one specific reason. Just as couples don’t always break up over one thing. Kat’s documentary The Grizzlie Truth about the Grizzlies’ departure underscores that.
For a broader Canadian sports context…I shared this with Kat as you’ll hear in this episode: like we know the Grizzlies moved in 2001, that’s the topic.
Yet right before that:
The Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995.
The Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996. (The Jets later got their team back when Atlanta Thrashers left the ATL in 2011. So Atlanta knows what that hurt is like.)
And in 2005 four years after the Grizz moved one of Canada’s two Major League Baseball teams the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals.
That’s a lot of Canadian loss and hurt and grief. (Even with the Jets getting their team back.)
A sports team transforms a city.
An arena takes up room downtown and maybe not so much post-pandemic but before people filled bars to watch games and consume chicken wings. Those are obvious benefits for small businesses and if your team has a prominent player here’s some bonus tourism for your city.
I’ve travelled to LA to see Kobe play live as well as enjoyed NBA games in Detroit, Cleveland, New York City (both teams). (And ironically I’ve been to Memphis to see a Grizzlies game. Never saw em in Vancouver.)
It’s not a simple breakup.
Even clothes…the jerseys and hats and t-shirts people were around the city…your city. Stores need to sell em. The friendships that are formed...fans are just a community. Teams spark social bonds. Memories of going to the game or complaining about about a terrible trade.
All of this is city life with a sports team. It’s vibrancy. (We know all this because sports shut down on March 2020. We know what that non-sports life was like and it lacked colour. It was dull and depressing; cold like a January morning. I don’t take any of this for granted after March 2020.)
Every city with a sports team…NBA or otherwise has local fans who blog and podcast about the team. (Have you listened to Talking Raptors?) Local designers will come up with funky uniform styles. All that dynamic creativity is unleashed in response to a local sports team.
Even if you’re not an NBA fan your city is being transformed by the team. In all kinds of ways.
It’s something we don’t really talk about or sometimes fail to recognize. It’s an emotional and a physical and a societal connection that transcends the games. It’s beautiful when you step back and see the entire ecosystem one sports team generates on their host city.
Think about it…appreciate it.
Those NBA player hospital visits to illing kids. Those goofy bets your mayor makes with a playoff team’s mayor. Vancouver lost all of that when the Grizzlies left in 2001.
That’s heartbreaking. Just like a relationship break up. One of the best parts of a new relationship is momentum; you start making plans. We’re gonna do this; let’s go on a trip, let’s see this concert, let’s stay in and I’ll cook and we’ll watch Netflix.
Momentum is incredibly romantic because you’re crafting a future.
That’s what an NBA team does…they draft well, they trade well or try to in order to win a championship. That’s why fans support a team…the romance of momentum; growth…joy. Hope.
All sports is about hope. Faith. And when that relationship ends…be it somebody you love or when a sports team leaves…hope dies. You don’t have a future together. There’s nothing to hope for.
You go from…
So…what happened?
to
So…now what?
You accept the reality you’re presented with; you step into a future you didn’t expect.
Maybe one day…Vancouver will get their team back. Maybe not.
For now there’s just the past with all these sharp memories and distinct emotions.
Lotta emotions; I don’t want to turn this into Feelings Thursday. (Might be too late for that…)
You can stream/download Kat’s documentary The Grizzlie Truth it’s available on demand.
And our My Summer Lair conversation which only hints at all this…is attached.
Still Using Van City and T-Dot in 2023,
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
Never Gonna Give You Up: Sing Rick Astley's hit for the Vancouver Grizzlies