One Thing We Shouldn't Have Forgotten

I can't believe we forgot to mention this in the Indiana game recap but the Grizzlies once again did something great during the game.

Military Appreciation Night was the promotion. They did the normal things like having tons of military kiosks available to give out information about the different armed services, the military band performing the national anthemn and honoring returning veterans from Iraq. While incredibly nice for the team to honor our military service that part wasn't really anything special. The Grizzlies have been honoring military servicemen for years (and should continue to do so in my opinion). For more information about the Grizzlies efforts to recognize military members and their families, go to Grizzlies.com.

What they did that was special was arrange for a live phone call for one family to talk to their son/husband/father serving in Iraq. I have no idea how they arranged that but it was truly special for the family and the fans. The soldier even asked how the game was going (his mother politely said we were making a run to win even though we were way behind at the time) and he gave a cheer for the team.

I just wanted to point out how the Grizzlies are doing things different this year. They really went the extra mile for that and it made an otherwise dissappointing night somehow better. I think it says a lot about the franchise that they would do this for a soldier working to protect us from enemies abroad. The Grizzlies deserve a salute for a job well done.

UPDATE: Memphis was visited by the committee members for the Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy. They awarded the 2007 Award to the Memphis Grizzlies in case you didn't remember. The Grizzlies have given over $19 million to charities and non-profits in our community since arriving in 2001. Everyone is very proud of the Grizzlies contributions in this area. If you are more interested in this please read the CA's cover story.