Fans of the Detroit Pistons have been waging an internal war that is far more important than any individual win or loss.
The battle has been over Isaiah Stewart‘s nickname and there are basically two factions, the Beef Stew Army, led by Pistons’ Twitter, and the I-Stew Nation, led by George Blaha and Greg Kelser.
Even though Blaha and Kelser had the bigger platform, the Beef Stew Army would not be denied and I can announce that we have officially won the war.
It’s over. Isaiah Stewart is now Beef Stew.
Not only did Isaiah Stewart go on a cooking show to prepare Beef Stew, thus giving his tacit approval of the name, but there is now official Beef Stew merch out there.
Here is Jerami Grant rocking the shirt in practice:
https://twitter.com/DetroitPistons/status/1384884817167372291
Here is Beef Stew himself wearing it before the game:
https://twitter.com/DetroitPistons/status/1384930099255029760
And here is “I-Stew” apologist Greg Kelser admitting defeat and donning the uniform of the mighty Beef Stew Army:
https://twitter.com/StewFanClub/status/1385030469301850113
We love you, Greg, now stop with the I-Stew stuff during the broadcasts. But where can you, loyal solider, get your own Beef Stew T-Shirt?
Detroit Pistons: Where to buy the Isaiah Stewart “Beef Stew” t-shirt
The Beef Stew shirt is available from the Pistons’ 313 team store for preorder and will ship out sometime in May.
Did I already buy one? You bet! It is en route as we speak.
Though this is all just a bit of fun, Isaiah Stewart is probably the most popular Pistons’ rookie since Grant Hill and fans are rightfully excited about the idea of building around a versatile defensive big man as they did in the Goin’ to Work era.
Beef Stew is not Ben Wallace yet, but he is getting there defensively and has a much-higher ceiling as an offensive player, which has drawn some comparisons to Bam Adebayo.
He is looking like a lock for the All-Rookie team and his style of play has endeared him to Pistons’ fans already, so Beef Stew has a chance of being a solid player and fan favorite for years to come.
I-Stew is thankfully gone, long live BEEF STEW!