I found this to be pretty cool. The impression I always got of the grunge scene was that of a rejection of the mainstream and sports definitely being a part of that definition. And that...seems to be not the case, judging by Pearl Jam's interest in the sport, and the interest I've seen other bands from the region have in Seattle Sports.

At a November '91 Tower Records in-store appearance to promote Ten, Sony representatives set up a basketball hoop in the store's parking lot. Winners of a free-throw contest got a rare "Mookie Blaylock" tee. In Parma, Ohio, the band played a pick-up game with local radio personalities. Before a concert at Iowa State University, Vedder joined some undergrads for a game. This was a different kind of grunge band—hard to imagine Kurt Cobain skying for a rebound at a dormitory basketball court.

Cobain, still the face of grunge, purportedly didn't like sports (in Little League, he'd strike out on purpose so he wouldn't be asked to bat), he didn't like sports fans (once describing two high school classmates as "total idiots ... the kind of guys who would paint their faces at football games"), and he didn't like Pearl Jam. "There are a lot of bands who claim to be alternative and they're nothing but stripped down, ex-Sunset Strip hair-farming bands of a few years ago." Cobain wrote in his journal in late '91. "I would love to be erased from our association with Pearl Jam and other first-time offenders." (Although, as you'll see in Crowe's PJ20 movie, Cobain's opinion of Vedder and Pearl Jam would soften a little.)
http://deadspin.com/5842600/i-bought...nics-1990+2008