photograph by Larry Kuzniewski
I moved to Memphis in 1991, just in time for Penny Hardaway’s two brilliant seasons as a Tiger. I began covering Tiger basketball for the Memphis Flyer in 2001, just as John Calipari was getting acquainted with barbecue and the blues. I’ve been around my share of Tiger players and coaches, but I’ve spent far more time — during basketball season or otherwise — with Tiger fans. And I’ve developed a theory.
As attendance has dwindled to uncomfortably sparse crowds on game nights at FedExForum, three distinctive types of Tiger fans have made their presence (or lack thereof) felt. The classifications can be defined by how each group sees the basketball program in their lives.
A) “The Tigers are our team.” These are the fans you see — with plenty of elbow room — on a Tuesday night in December when Samford is in town. They don’t miss the Siena game. And a late tipoff with 10-degree temperatures and slick Memphis streets? No problem. It’s the UConn game!
The Tiger A fans consider the program part of their city’s functionality. They pay attention to the roster’s composition and they follow recruiting reports (and rumors). They obviously prefer the Tigers winning lots of games, reaching the NCAA tournament, and playing after St. Patrick’s Day. But winning isn’t the reason they follow the team or, importantly, why they attend games. Memphis Tiger basketball is how these fans see themselves. And this is an important component to remember. What makes any of us Memphians? The zip code on our mail? Our high school alma mater? Our workplace? What about the college basketball team we call our own?
B) “The Tigers are my team.” For lack of a better (or kinder) term, Tiger B fans are selfish. They are passionate — many of them outwardly emotional — about the Tiger program. They are the most frequent voices you hear on local call-in radio shows. And they are extraordinarily hard to please. Whether it’s memories (or stories they’ve heard) about 1973, 1985, and 2008, or Penny highlights, or Calipari’s coming-and-going, Tiger B fans place the program’s standard of excellence beyond the reach of nearly every program between Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Tucson, Arizona.
Not that long ago, Memphis won an astonishing 64 consecutive conference games. Trouble was (for Tiger B fans), each of those games featured an opponent from Conference USA. So what’s the big deal? That level of play won’t help the Tigers come March. (Memphis reached the Sweet 16 four straight years during this stretch, the Elite Eight twice, and played for the national title in 2008.)
McDonald’s All-Americans are the desired recruits among this group of fans. (At least those left over when Duke is finished making calls.) And when a local talent chooses to play elsewhere (see Leron Black or Chris Chiozza), it’s verifiable proof that the Memphis program has “lost the city.” So get rid of the coach. Tiger B fans will boycott games, convinced their empty seats will somehow convince that McDonald’s All-American to sign with Memphis. Bless Tiger B fans for their visions and dreams. Sympathize for them as reality continues to unfold, one winter after another.
C) “The Tigers are a team.” I’ve never witnessed a basketball crowd like the one I was part of on February 23, 2008, when an undefeated Memphis team — ranked first in the country — hosted second-ranked Tennessee (second-ranked Tennessee!) at FedExForum. There have been Grizzly playoff games (particularly in 2011 and 2013) when the building actually shook. But no more than it did during pregame introductions of that Tiger-Vol showdown, when — for two hours — FedExForum was the center of college basketball’s universe. The arena was packed that night, and the 17,000 inside the arena were boosted by a few thousand more watching in clubs on Beale Street.
Memphis Tiger basketball in 2008 was a happening. Games were events, particularly once the team topped the national rankings in late January. If you didn’t know the previous night’s score (and the team Memphis had beaten), you weren’t paying attention to Bluff City life. Happenings and events draw crowds. Tiger C fans stir when the games matter in a larger context. And games against Mercer, Samford, and Bryant in December don’t matter beyond a coaching staff’s mission to teach and develop players. Tiger C fans will return, and they’re critical to selling out FedExForum. But it will take the program becoming, once again, a happening. To the casual eye — perhaps even those of current coach Tubby Smith — this seems a long way to climb.
