meself,

I don't believe that "grizzlies" is a slang word that comes from African Americans or is used by us.

During that infamous radio show, Don Imus was knocking the appearance of the women on the Rutgers team and contrasting the way these women looked [to him] with the way he felt the women of the other team looked. Both of these teams were made up of mostly African American members. I've read and seen the video of either Imus or his producer saying that the championship winning {Tennessee?] team had women who were 'cute'. Therefore, a person could rightly assert that Imus wasn't saying that all Black women are unattractive. But he was using his standard of beauty-a standard held by a number of Americans both White and nonWhite- to judge the women from the Rutgers team as not being attractive. When Imus said "grizzlies" he was describing these women as looking like a grizzly bear.