I’m a sucker for banners in a basketball arena. Probably started during my college days, when on rare visits to Boston Garden I’d stare up at 16 NBA championship banners. I always felt that was the first ingredient to any home-court advantage the Celtics enjoyed. (Tell that to the Celtic teams of the late Nineties, though.)
If you’re like me, you may have noticed a new banner at FedExForum on December 22nd (the Tigers’ seventh regular-season home game this season). There was no ceremony, no spotlight, no p.a. announcement, but the banner honoring the Tigers’ 2009 Sweet Sixteen team was in place before tip-off against Southeast Missouri State. (Honestly, could the raising of a banner be less ceremonious?)
- Larry Kuzniewski
There was, in fact, a ceremony during this rare Tuesday-afternoon game. And another banner was raised, honoring former Tiger coach Gene Bartow, recently elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame. You can now see Bartow’s banner hanging among the eight retired numbers of Tiger Greats, from Forest Arnold to Penny Hardaway.
But back to that 2009 NCAA tournament banner. This is the 22nd such banner to occupy a spot in the FedExForum rafters, one for every U of M appearance in the Big Dance. There are also 16 NIT banners, which I’ve long argued are excessive. (The equivalent of the Celtics hanging a banner for every division title.) When I’m named athletic director at Memphis, the four NIT banners representing appearances at Madison Square Garden (the event’s “final four”) will remain. So the Tigers have a total of 47 banners — take that, Bill Russell! — celebrating Memphis basketball history. Forty-eight if you count the banner honoring Antonio Anderson, Robert Dozier, and Chance McGrady for the most wins in NCAA history (still missing the big number: 137).
