As traumatic as the NBA lockout was for many Utah Jazz fans, most seem to have recovered nicely.
Oh sure, the loss of 16 homes games and an autumn that came and went without professional basketball sent some fans into shock. Some even attended hockey games.But at the halfway point of an abbreviated 50-game schedule that is the 1999 season, they're back in the fold.
"I remember (the six-month lockout). It gave me ulcers," said Helen Runner of Salt Lake City, who attended the Jazz's 84-81 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
"I got a little upset that they couldn't settle in time to save the whole season, but I never stopped loving them."
Jazz management figured the team's bond with the community, built up over the past two decades, was strong enough to survive the labor strife. But they haven't taken fans for granted.
Since the moment the lockout ended, the club has tried to make it up to them -- first by offering free admission to a rare intrasquad scrimmage game, then by selling tickets to a group of four February games for the price of two. And just last week, more than 5,000 season-ticket holders and sponsors received $25 Fanzz store gift certificates in the mail.
"We continue to try to communicate with them and try to let them know how much we appreciate them," said Jay Francis, the Jazz's senior vice president for marketing.
"I don't know that our feelings on that will go away after this season. I think we've got to be sensitive for years to come."
But so far, so good. Including Tuesday's high-profile matchup with the Heat, the Jazz have sold out 10 of their first 13 home games this season.
Games with Dallas and Denver missed selling out by only a few hundred tickets. The worst box-office performance to date was the March 9 game against Cleveland, which fell 800 tickets short of a full house.
A year ago, 37 of the team's 41 regular-season home games were sellouts.
And if the defending Western Conference champions can put recent overtime losses behind them and stay in playoff contention, sellouts should be the norm for the rest of the year.
"I like basketball so much, it really doesn't matter to me now," Larry Mixon of Fruit Heights said of the lockout. "I'm just glad they're back."
So is Joe Lothrop II of Boise. But there is one thing he didn't expect.
"I'm surprised I'm here," said Lothrop, who drove his family down from Idaho on Tuesday for his first NBA event since the Jazz hosted the All-Star game. "I was pretty upset with the whole thing. I was bitter. It took me a while to come around.
"Because they're doing so well, that made it a lot easier."
Mixon knows a lot of folks like Lothrop at the auto body shop where he works. At the height of the lockout, Mixon said, many of his co-workers swore off the Jazz for good, claiming they wouldn't even watch them on TV.
"They were so strong about not watching and now they're really into it," he said.
Matt Galt, a season-ticket holder from Bountiful, never doubted he'd be back in his Delta Center seat. But he wasn't prepared for the type of basketball he'd witness this season.
"It's a bad situation. It's not quality basketball we've had. The play isn't nearly as good," Galt said prior to Tuesday's thrilling win. "They play too often. They're not getting enough practice. And they're playing the bench too much."
Laura Allen of Salt Lake City said something is missing from the experience for her, as well.
"I'm not as enthusiastic as I was last year. I guess my heart just isn't in it," she said.
Lee Billeter says he can tell, too, that Jazz fans aren't celebrating quite as much this year. Sales at Billeter's beer stand, just inside the arena's northeast entrance, are way down this season. And so are the tips, he said.