Here's what ESPN.com's users had to say in response to the news that the Vancouver Grizzlies have chosen to relocate to Memphis, Tenn., where the team apparently will be renamed the Memphis Express.

Remember the (Memphis) Titans?
I think that it is a huge mistake. Memphis has a horrible track record when it comes to supporting its professional teams. Just look back 4 years ago when the Titans played in Memphis and barely averaged 30,000 fans a game.

Phillip Morrison
Nashville, Tenn.

Welcome to Graceland
I think it is a great move. I live two hours from Memphis...and for Sports Fans in the Mid South, your choices are Nashville to the East, St Louis to the North or Dallas to the Southwest. ALL are six hours plus. The Memphis franchise will be the only game in town, and with Memphis being such a basketball rich area anyway. Well, it just might work.

Jeff Matthews
Conway, Ark.

Go, Fightin' Fred Smiths!
Makes perfectly good sense to me. Memphis is and always will be a basketball town. We support our Tigers and Coach Cal and will now support the new NBA team. As for the name, why not the Express. If Fed Ex is shelling out the dough, they can call them the Memphis Fred Smiths if they want. Makes as much sense as the LA Lakers (lots of lakes in LA?) and the Utah Jazz (lots of Jazz in Utah?)

Steven
Memphis, Tenn.

How about 'Pharaohs'? Sign Moses (Malone)
What could be better for a basketball town that an NBA team? Memphis has been struggling for years to obtain a professional franchise and has only been awarded second-rate leagues with Canadian and Arena Football and most lately the ABA and XFL. While all these examples have failed or are in the process of doing so, the city has the capacity to embrace and support a "real" sports organization. The Memphis Redbirds built arguably the best park in AAA baseball in the heart of downtown and are setting attendance records for their league. The University of Memphis also plays downtown in the Pyramid and draws more than 15,000 a game. The NBA will enjoy the same success. In regard to the name, the old Arena Football team had the best idea: The Memphis Pharaohs.

Ryan Jensen
Nashville, Tenn.

An incompetent marketer remains in charge
It's a real shame that the franchise has to relocate. It seems that Michael Heisley's intentions from the get go was to relocate. He bitched and complained that he was losing money, yet the franchise made no effort to make any. What franchise does anyone know of that wouldn't market the game they are offering to the city's largest ethnicity? The team should be left in Vancouver with competent owner(s) who know how to properly run a team.

Michael Greaves
Toronto, ONT

Take the Grizzlies, special delivery
Memphis, thanks for taking the Grizz off our hands, best of luck. May they post a 30-win season this decade.

Wayne Kenoff
Vancouver, B.C.

St. Louis boos
I think Bill Laurie should sue the NBA over this deal. He had bought and paid for the team and then was informed he couldn't move them to St. Louis. Then to get out of the deal it costs $25 million. And to add insult to financial injury this character comes along and is allowed to move the team and within a couple hundred miles of St. Louis no less. Not that anyone in St. Louis wanted this sorry team, but someone owes Laurie $25 million in my opinion.

Ken Polley
Farmington, Mo.

High on the Niagara frontier
I don't think they will be able to draw a crowd in Memphis. I think Heisley should take a look at Buffalo. We would love a NBA team here. Maybe next time.

Joe
Buffalo, N.Y.

Vancouver deserves better
I think it's rather sad. Vancouver is a first class city with great fans. They, however, have been priced out of their seats to where only corporations can buy tickets. The excitement level there when the Grizz came to town was huge. It's just too bad they couldn't afford to keep up their enthusiasm.

Bill Benedict
Allen, Texas

'Fat Country' doomed the franchise
I grew up near Vancouver and basketball was a reasonably popular high-school sport, but well behind hockey and even baseball in popularity. There was never any public groundswell of support for an NBA team, the owner just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The team had to win to keep fans interested, but sign Bryan "Fat Country" Reeves to a monster contract doomed the franchise.

Good luck to the team in Memphis, at least they won't be number two to a hockey team. The Canucks drew 3.5 times as many viewers for their broadcasts. The NBA could find a better market than Vancouver. Beautiful scenery isn't going to cut it.

Dave
Calgary, Alberta

When it fails in Memphis, then what?
I feel sorry for the fans in Vancouver, the fans in Memphis and the fans of professional sports if the team moves. What happens if the Memphis Express is the same lousy team with a different name and uniforms? Will fans be willing to plunk down $25 a ticket (at least) to see a .298 team in a league that is losing popularity? Of course not. Will owner Michael Heisley then move the team and try this stuff again?

Michael Heisley makes the fans suffer by blaming them for lack of support and moving the team, rather than take accountability for not providing a quality product that people want to see. All you have to do, Mike, is put a successful team on the court (something you have never done), and you'll get the "fan support" (read: money) you want. Ask Jerry Krause or Jerry Reinsdorf how much "fan support" you get when you put a bunch of scrubs on the floor.

Sid Conway
Chicago, Ill.

A word of warning to Memphis
Us Grizzly fans in Vancouver are a bit confused right now. From day one, we have provided incredible support to a truly laughable franchise. In response, we have endured poor draft picks, snubs from players (see Francis, Steve; West, Doug; Harrington, Othella), questionable management (Big Country's contract extension; trading a first rounder for Otis Thorpe), and a team that lacks any heart or pride (1-51 all-time in March on the road). The players have no interest whatsoever in being a part of the community and they're at the airport the day after the season ends.

Then Heisley enters the picture a year ago and promises that he'll turn around the franchise and will not even consider moving the team for 3 years. He does nothing to improve the club except trade for Ike Austin and sign Tony Massenburg. His marketing plan is non-existent. Season ticket holders weren't called about renewing their tickets. Corporations were calling about luxury boxes but not getting called back.

Now, he's decided that he can't make a go of it here. And he blames the city of Vancouver for not supporting the team, as if 6 consective years of .200 ball didn't ever happen. It is obvious that he never had any intention of keeping the Griz here. Take note, Memphis...get his promises in writing.

It will be sad to see the Grizzlies leave town, but not a tear will be shed if we never see Heisley again.

G. Conrad
Vancouver, B.C.

Louisville the ideal place
I think they should have went to Louisville. Louisville is a basketball town in a basketball state. The people in that area eat, sleep, and breath basketball. They have strong college teams in the area with Louisville and Kentucky. I believe they have the strongest fan base of any of the cities that were up for consideration by the grizzlies. Especially since Pitino was hired at U of L, basketball interest will be rekindled in this area at a new level.

Nathan McAfee
Corydon, Ind.

Doomed to become Kentucky-defied failures
Is it not amazing that bad teams continue to make bad moves? Memphis has always wanted to play in the big time sports market but has failed miserably at each opportunity. How many people showed up the season that the Oilers/Titans played there? Louisville would have been a much better choice. John Y. Brown still kicks himself for not moving the old ABA Kentucky Colonels into the NBA back when that league folded. Maybe FedEx came up with more money to stuff into Heisley's pocket but it won't help his team win or put fannies in the seats. Memphis wants it but it won't support it.

Russ Arnold
Nashville, Tenn.

Memphis fine, but New Orleans would be dandy
I think New Orleans would have been a better move. True I am biased because I am from Louisiana, but New Orleans already has a first class facility (The New Orleans Arena) and the state was going to build the Grizzilies a new practice facility. A lot has been said about New Orleans being a poor community, but the Superdome sells out for the Saints with tickets at $40-$50. Louisiana is a sports-starved community and I think Heisley would have been very wise to relocate in New Orleans. On the other hand, I think the team will do fine in Memphis.

Will Landry
Baton Rouge, La.

Any place but Orange County
Heisley made the right choice. Although I live in Orange County, it remains a sad fact that this community has not adequately supported a single professional sports team (e.g. Rams, Angels). Louisville will get Rick Pitino; Memphis deserves the Grizzlies (Express).

Mark Malovos
Newport Beach, Calif.

Dixmoor over Dixie
Whatever happened to possibility of the team moving to Dixmoor, Ill., a Chicago suburb? It appears to me the Grizzlies' management should be looking for the best possible location. Sports in Chicago will always succeed. This is a great market area; a team would survive in this city. I give 'em three-to-five years (in Memphis) before they'll be looking for another city! It ain't gonna work!!

Fred Williams
Hammond, Ind.

Cash now, regrets later
I think it stinks that they're going to Memphis. They are going to being playing in a college arena for the next five years. Here in New Orleans we already have a NBA-ready arena. Memphis is too boring a town for an NBA team. It all came down to who could put more money in Heisley's pocket. He'll be regretting it when he averages about 2000 fans per game for the next 10 years.

Kevin
New Orleans, La.

From the 'other' Vancouver: Good move
Great decision. Look at some other NBA teams that have a entire city to themselves: Portland, which has some of the best fans in the league and has the longest sellout streak of all time. Sacramento, Salt Lake City. The teams that are the only show in town have the best fans.

Justin Bruner
Vancouver, Wash.

Another victory for Big Business
While I think Memphis is a decent basketball city, I think it is sad that this decision is being driven solely by Corporate America. There used to be a time in sports where fans where what mattered. Polls have shown that the fans support for a team in Memphis is lukewarm at best. If the NBA Board of Governors approves this deal, it will be a new low for shameful corporate antics in professional sports. I guess the fans really don't matter too much anymore, as they say, it's all about the dollar.

Bobby
Hattiesburg, Miss.