A championship year9 RYAN MCCRACKEN F
It’s the ultimate achievement in sports. Winning the title. Earning the ring.
or former professional baseball player and Medicine Hat Mavericks owner and general manager Greg Morrison, watching the gloves fly when the Mavs stormed the diamond as champions on Aug. 16, 2014 was hard to believe.
“It was one of those things where it almost felt dreamlike, which is ironic. I know we're not doing amazing things, and there are more important things in life, but it was really the feeling of six years of blood, sweat and tears, and a lot of sacrifices coming together at one point over that day,” said Morrison, who spent time with the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations for 12 years before retiring in 2006 and becoming owner of the Mavericks in 2009.
“It had been a very unique feeling, because I'd never had that feeling since I've owned the team. As a player I've won a couple of rings and a couple championships, but not as an owner.”
The Mavericks got their shiny championship rings in December. Complete with a Mavericks logo, “WMBL Champions” and a maple leaf, the ring stands for all that the Mavericks organization has achieved.
“It’s a symbol,” said Morrison. “That's really what it is for us, and for me personally it's something that no matter what happens with the team or the league — hopefully it's the first of more than one — I'll know that I'll have that championship.”
The Mavericks have made the playoffs every year under Morrison but it wasn’t until last summer that the Mavs earned the title of champions. It was a long road to the top but the message of Medicine Hat’s rise to success has resonated. Since hoisting the WMBL grail, the Mavericks have attracted more attention than ever.
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“The feeling and the response, we've been contacted by the most players and coaches ever. It's hard to measure specifically ... but I don't know what it would cost to get the kind of exposure and reach that we had by winning the championship,” said Morrison. “We had Canadians from as far east as you can get, we've got Canadians from as far west as you can get and we've got American guys contacting us. We've had pretty good growth yearly but it's different. I kind of get it now, that goal and what it can do.”
The growing trend of success has also brought a rising number of new fans to Athletic Park, on top of the team’s “300 diehard season ticket holders” and regular supporters.
“We're getting a lot of folks that we see once or twice, and then we see them again the next year … That's what is exciting for me, we've been winning over a lot of fans over the past three or four years,” said Morrison. “I played in the Florida State league where you'd think there would be more fans, because there are more pro ball
41156706•03/31/15
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