I went to three Grizzly games while they were in Vancouver (free tickets).
Here are some reasons why the franchise did not work in Vancouver:
- It was hard to really become a fan of the team as they were blocked from being able to draft any good players.
- The GM (Stu Jackson) came off as being snobby acting like he knew infinitely more than anyone in Vancouver about basketball and the NBA etc. Basically he acted like we were uneducated children never exposed to basketball.
- Players and members of the organization constantly were no shows for interviews on TV and the radio. It was bizarre.
- Players whined about the weather and having to go through customs.
- The team "never" won.
- Stu Jackson acted like he knew what he was doing... but it turns out he was horrible.
- The players/organization mocked fans by saying we didn't know how to support the team during a game. We're too quiet? Don't cheer at the right times? Why is it a good idea to publicly mock your customers?
- There were only a handful of games on TV.
- Bizarre bias by the refs against the Grizzlies favoring the good teams. This wasn't any every game thing, but when it did happen it made the league look like a bush league.
Not only can it not work in Vancouver... it didn't work in Seattle for some reason. Trust me... you don't want this league near Calgary.
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