04/25/24
May 09, 2006
Now for the bad: Hornets owner George Shinn is concerned that the city of New Orleans has not recovered enough for the team to play a full schedule there next season.
posted by chalmetteowl to basketball at 04:03 PM - 11 comments
Now, that said. He wanted to move to New Orleans, and from the article, he's hot to trot to get back there. The slow pace of the recovery is saddening, and unlike, oh, Tom Benson, he's at least expressing a desire to get life back to normal, both for the New Orleans Hornets and for the fans and employees of the team in Louisiana. OKC has been great through all of this, and they've shown that they are a viable destination for either an expansion team (unlikely, I'd reckon) or a moving team (and the mere fact that a possible expansion site is ready to go, as we learned in the Economist link a few threads down, is good business for the League, for all kinds of reasons).
posted by chicobangs at 04:13 PM on May 09, 2006
Also: twenty-two question marks? At first, I thought it was some Japanese/Chinese characters that my browser didn't properly convert.
posted by grum@work at 04:14 PM on May 09, 2006
This thread may get deleted, especially since this one and the "good news" one are both Hornets-related and link to Times-Picayune stories.
posted by chicobangs at 04:17 PM on May 09, 2006
Before/if it goes, Ill just slide in with my pennies worth. OKC has done a great job welcomeing the Hornets not knowing if the team would be back for another season. New Orleans (gosh I love that town) likely wont be back to "normal" by next season. Not enough fans to really suport the team. Unlike football with only 8 home games and people who travel miles to tailgate, basketball has more games in town without the traveling fanbase.
posted by Folkways at 05:19 PM on May 09, 2006
I don't what's more disturbing -- the 22 question marks or the fact that Chico took the time to count them. /i keed, i keed
posted by wfrazerjr at 05:28 PM on May 09, 2006
New Orleans didn't support the team before the storm. What makes people think that they will now? Hornets don't have enough history in NO like the saints do. It would be a smart business decision to stay in OKC, it appears that way after last season. Now I don't know how OKC would of reacte if Hornets only win 18 games over the entire season. OKC proved they can easily be a basketball town, considering there are no pro teams.
posted by sgtcookzane at 05:52 PM on May 09, 2006
good point sgtcookzane. OKC easily out-supported (that's not a word) the hornets this year. If San Antonio can be a viable NBA town, there's no reason OKC can't be.
posted by ninjavshippo at 06:03 PM on May 09, 2006
5 future facts in the NBA: dallas mavs will win this years nba title, dirk nowitzki will be the finals mvp, the spurs will lose in six to the mavs, hornets will make the playoffs next season, and chris paul should have def. been picked ahead of marvin williams(not really a future fact, but true).
posted by Mr. Shizzle at 10:10 PM on May 09, 2006
I tihnk the bigger issue is - Why the fuck is it taking so long to bring NO back to working order? This is pathetic.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:05 AM on May 10, 2006
Weedy Its all bad politics. OKC did a great job as host from what I've read and watched on TV. Unfortunately the long term viability of such a small market is probably not there. Not because of lack of fan support or funds, but because NBA egos drive players to teams such as the Knicks and Lakers where the help implode their postseason chances.
posted by gradys_kitchen at 09:48 AM on May 10, 2006
I don't want to criticize your posting style, but how about something like: "Hornets owner George Shinn is concerned that the city of New Orleans has not recovered enough for the team to play a full schedule there next season." Also: twenty-two question marks?