Thank you vancouver canada

[Soundy]

I don't know if even having Steve Nash here would have kept the Grizzlies in town... I really doubt marketing potential had anything (or much) to do with it. I attended several games during their time here, and thoroughly enjoyed every one, despite most of them being losses. I remember one caller to a radio station in the team's third or fourth season even said he'd been a season ticket holder since Day 1 and would continue to attend even if every game was a loss, because it was such great entertainment.

No, the problem lay entirely with management, and ultimately ownership. In the end it was clear that Michael Heisley wanted the same thing as "Willie Wal-Mart" - to move the team - but had the smarts to play it better. I wouldn't be surprised if the league would have even let "Willie" (can't even remember the nob's real name now) buy the team in the first place if he'd just been more subtle about his motives.

Heisley put on all the right airs though, stating publicly that he didn't want to move the team, and so forth. It took him only one season to show that the team was hurting in the pocketbook and make the argument to move it, but it soon came out that there had been some odd stuff going on behind the scenes: in particular I remember stories of corporate sponsors who couldn't renew their seats and boxes even if they tried: where normally teams would be contacting the sponsors well in advance of the season to make the sales pitch, now the sponsors themselves were trying to contact Grizz management and were unable to. Other season ticket holders encountered similar problems and many just gave up... which just added to the illusion that attendance was plummeting and added to the argument to let Heisley move the team.

Granted, a half-season lockout in there didn't help matters either, but the fallout from that was hardly limited to just the Grizzlies.

[Rammer]

Funny how nobody has pointed out the obvious-the illustrious Mr. Nash is actually from Victoria, not Vancouver. You're welcome!

That would entail "Vancouver" Island wouldn't it?

At any rate, Steve didn't have to be the Grizzlies first pick IIRC, he could have been our second pick....and that he was available for a trade later on prior to his Maverick days for cheap. Who knows what would have happened to the Grizz had SN been on the team, but I do know it could not be worse than what did transpire.