Royalty catches up with Eric Hasseltine & Elliot Perry of the Memphis Grizzlies at the Barclays Center!

Eric Hasseltine, me & Elliot Perry 

Royalty always shows loyalty to special people. Back on December 4, 2006 I met up with Eric Hasseltine who is the radio announcer of the Memphis Grizzlies. He's done every Grizzlie game since they moved to the Bluff City in 2001. I've met up with him on a number of occasions since then. He's always treated me like royalty when he sees me. He's given me media guides and pocket schedules which I like to collect. They're educational & I get to follow up on the Grizzlies who have had their share of bad teams over the years. Nowadays they have arguably their best team in franchise history.

Since the Grizzlies play in such a small market they barely get noticed in the media which is a shame.
They recently made a trade that forced them to get rid of one of their best players in Rudy Gay. They needed to do so because they need to be fiscally responsible going forward to sustain long term success. In the NBA, there's a salary cap and you can't be successful spending freely especially in a small market like Memphis.

As a result, the Grizzlies made a trade to put them in position to succeed for many years to come. Since the move, they've played together as a team which is what they need to do to compete on a daily & nightly basis. With that being said, the team is reaping the rewards and it shows. They're in the midst of an eight game winning streak right now. They use their grit grind style which is their formula for success. It may not be the most entertaining style of basketball but all that matters is the bottom line. As long as they win, people will take a liking to it.

With that being said, Eric who has his own sports talk show in Memphis on 929 ESPN radio weekdays M-F 2-4PM central time has told his listening audience he has become a fan of their style. He said you usually prefers to see a high powered offense but he loves the way this team plays defense. He sees every minute of every game so he knows that their style can be successful when they play as a team. As long as they keep doing what they've been doing, the Grizzlies can be a force in the playoffs. Hard work pays off.

Speaking of hard work, Elliot Perry aka Socks who played in the NBA from 1991-2002 with a number of different teams including the Suns, Bucks and Nets made a living on his sharp shooting and his heart and hustle. He started in the old CBA back in the day which as he said was true grit and grind.

I had the privilege of meeting him a few years ago when he was doing a game on the radio with Eric at Madison Square Garden when the Grizzlies came to play the Knicks.

He's such a good guy & a true class act. He took a picture of Eric & I after we talked for a little while.
I got to see these guys together again on New Year's Eve when I went to Indianapolis to see the Grizzlies play the Pacers. He told me that he will be in Brooklyn with Eric to call the Grizzlies game against the Nets.
With that being said, Sunday night we all reunited at the Barclays Center. It was great to see these guys again. As usual, they made time to talk to me and we were able to catch up. In addition, I got to take a picture with both of them.

I told Eric that I've become a regular listener to his show which is appropriately titled the Eric Hasseltine Show online. He's a great host and I love hearing his opinions and takes on sports. He usually talks about basketball but he sprinkles in other sports from time to time.

When I heard his show on Monday he caught me off guard when he mentioned my name on the air. Like Eric, I prefer high scoring basketball games. I told him it was painful to watch but he made some great points on the show which has me believing in their style too. Like I say, teamwork makes the dream work. The Grizzlies have been following that mind set lately. Hope that trend continues so they can go deep in the playoffs. We'll have to wait and see as it unfolds the rest of the way.

I plan to see them again at the end of March when the Grizzlies make their only visit to the Garden.

In the meantime, I strongly suggest that you tune in and listen to him. I promise you won't be wasting your time.

In addition, you can follow and tweet him on Twitter. His handle is @EricHasseltine. The same goes for Elliot. His handle is @ElliotPerry34.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman