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SALT LAKE CITY — It is hard to miss sisters Keiko Mori, 88, and Yeiko Homma, 92, when you are at a Utah Jazz game at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The die-hard fans sport pink Jazz gear from head to toe.
"They call us the Pink Grandmas,” Keiko said. “We are real Jazz fans.”
The two were honored by the team Monday with their very own pink “Take Note” playoff shirts, which they wore at that night’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
“Nobody else will have one like it,” Keiko said. “The team is very friendly and congenial with us."
Keiko and Yeiko have attended Jazz games for 20-plus years. Exactly how many times have they’re cheered on their team at the arena? The sisters say there were too many games to count.
“I don't know,” Keiko said. “I didn't count them, but it's been quite a few of them."
Her grandson, Thomas Mori, believes the number is close to 600. He said the women's love for the team is almost as strong as the team’s love for them.
“Every time they come to the game, hearing the cheers every time they are on the jumbotron, it's just great,” he said.
Thomas said if the sisters are not at the game, they are watching it from home.
“Even when we are at family stuff, it's ‘I have to get home for the Jazz game … I have to go to the Jazz game,'" he said.
As for Monday's game, the Jazz lost, 121-95, and were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
But that's not stopping the Pink Grandmas. Keiko and Yeiko plan to attend the first home game next season, dressed in pink of course.
