Patrick
01-28-2006, 01:00 AM
This article has a bit more news and it's interesting.
Hornets, fans wait for news about home
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
1/27/2006
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Commissioner Stern to announce where the team will play next season.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Byron Scott owns homes in Los Angeles and New Orleans. The Hornets' head coach is renting a house in Oklahoma City. He would prefer to buy -- and stay.
"I think all of those guys in that locker room like playing in front of 19,000 people every night," Scott said after the Hornets' Tuesday night loss to San Antonio at the Ford Center. "I would like to stay here next year."
Every aspect of the Hornets' Oklahoma City experience has been positive, but the team and its fans are shackled by uncertainty.
Within days, NBA Commissioner David Stern is expected to announce whether the Hornets will remain in Oklahoma City or return to New Orleans for the 2006-07 season.
"The announcement will come soon, and I don't like to comment on what it's going to be," Hornets owner George Shinn said. "If I do that, I might get some people upset or mad. It's very, very sensitive.
"I have a plan in place. If we can stay here another year, it will give us some breathing room. I want to meet with the powers that be in Louisiana and say, 'Hey, I've got a business here and I want it to work.' If the state (of Louisiana) is willing to backstop me
(by providing financial assurances), then we can do business."
According to the Hornets' lease agreement with the New Orleans Arena, if they play three games in the arena in March, as they are scheduled to do, then they are obligated to play in New Orleans next season. The overriding issue is whether the New Orleans area, devastated by Hurricane Katrina, has the population and economic ability to support an NBA franchise.
"When the arena is playable, we're supposed to come back," Stern told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "That's just the way it is."
At the midway mark of the season, the Hornets already have two more victories (20) than they recorded during the entire 2004-05 season. In New Orleans last season, the Hornets were last in the NBA in home attendance (14,221 average). This season, the Hornets are 11th with an average of 17,641. That figure is misleading. Two of the team's designated home games were played elsewhere, drawing crowds of 11,343 in Norman and 7,302 in Baton Rouge, La.
For 18 Ford Center dates, the Hornet average is 18,565. That's a number that would rank eighth in the league.
"Obviously, I think the Hornets will be (in Oklahoma City) next season. After that, we'll just have to see what happens," said Bill Land, a former Tulsa broadcaster who now does Spurs television play-by-play. "The Hornets weren't drawing in New Orleans, anyway. People didn't care about the team. If you're just very honest, I don't think most of the people in New Orleans would care at all if this team left.
"Early in the season, I traveled with the Spurs, and I'd talk with people around the league who had seen games in Oklahoma City. They all said, 'You won't believe it. It's just like a college game.' One thing I notice is that the fans are all here when the game starts. In most NBA cities, a lot of fans are fashionably late. Here, the fans don't want to miss a moment of it."
Scott said most of his NBA associates have been "shocked" by the Hornets' popularity in Oklahoma City. Reminded that Oklahoma is known as a football state, Scott said, "Yeah, I know, but you couldn't tell by the way the crowd comes to our games. What I love about (the Ford Center) is that you get that college atmosphere."
On Tuesday, the Hornets played before their 10th Ford Center sellout. In 41 New Orleans dates last season, the Hornets managed only three sellouts.
"We're thankful and blessed with the way this community and state have helped us," said Tim Hinchey, the Hornets' senior vice president of corporate development. "But at the same time, we're not prepared yet to just shutter the doors down (in New Orleans).
"Somebody's going to make a good decision at some point. What this is, I have no idea."
Among the 19,289 fans who attended Tuesday's Spurs-Hornets contest was Oklahoma Secretary of State Susan Savage, the former Tulsa mayor. She sampled an NBA game for the first time since the 1980s, when she lived in Philadelphia and watched the Julius Erving-led 76ers play at the Spectrum.
"It was great fun," Savage said. "Very fast-paced. Great family entertainment. I saw several people from Tulsa at the game, so I know the Hornets are being supported by citizens throughout the state."
From a business standpoint, the Hornets are paralyzed until Stern makes a decision. Shinn would consider selling a percentage of the team to Oklahoma investors, but, he says, "you can't even really proceed on that deal because you're not sure where you'll be next season."
"Everything is on hold," Shinn said. "For the next season, everybody in the league launches their campaign in the very beginning of February. We've got to get rolling."
Hornets, fans wait for news about home
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
1/27/2006
View in Print (PDF) Format
Commissioner Stern to announce where the team will play next season.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Byron Scott owns homes in Los Angeles and New Orleans. The Hornets' head coach is renting a house in Oklahoma City. He would prefer to buy -- and stay.
"I think all of those guys in that locker room like playing in front of 19,000 people every night," Scott said after the Hornets' Tuesday night loss to San Antonio at the Ford Center. "I would like to stay here next year."
Every aspect of the Hornets' Oklahoma City experience has been positive, but the team and its fans are shackled by uncertainty.
Within days, NBA Commissioner David Stern is expected to announce whether the Hornets will remain in Oklahoma City or return to New Orleans for the 2006-07 season.
"The announcement will come soon, and I don't like to comment on what it's going to be," Hornets owner George Shinn said. "If I do that, I might get some people upset or mad. It's very, very sensitive.
"I have a plan in place. If we can stay here another year, it will give us some breathing room. I want to meet with the powers that be in Louisiana and say, 'Hey, I've got a business here and I want it to work.' If the state (of Louisiana) is willing to backstop me
(by providing financial assurances), then we can do business."
According to the Hornets' lease agreement with the New Orleans Arena, if they play three games in the arena in March, as they are scheduled to do, then they are obligated to play in New Orleans next season. The overriding issue is whether the New Orleans area, devastated by Hurricane Katrina, has the population and economic ability to support an NBA franchise.
"When the arena is playable, we're supposed to come back," Stern told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "That's just the way it is."
At the midway mark of the season, the Hornets already have two more victories (20) than they recorded during the entire 2004-05 season. In New Orleans last season, the Hornets were last in the NBA in home attendance (14,221 average). This season, the Hornets are 11th with an average of 17,641. That figure is misleading. Two of the team's designated home games were played elsewhere, drawing crowds of 11,343 in Norman and 7,302 in Baton Rouge, La.
For 18 Ford Center dates, the Hornet average is 18,565. That's a number that would rank eighth in the league.
"Obviously, I think the Hornets will be (in Oklahoma City) next season. After that, we'll just have to see what happens," said Bill Land, a former Tulsa broadcaster who now does Spurs television play-by-play. "The Hornets weren't drawing in New Orleans, anyway. People didn't care about the team. If you're just very honest, I don't think most of the people in New Orleans would care at all if this team left.
"Early in the season, I traveled with the Spurs, and I'd talk with people around the league who had seen games in Oklahoma City. They all said, 'You won't believe it. It's just like a college game.' One thing I notice is that the fans are all here when the game starts. In most NBA cities, a lot of fans are fashionably late. Here, the fans don't want to miss a moment of it."
Scott said most of his NBA associates have been "shocked" by the Hornets' popularity in Oklahoma City. Reminded that Oklahoma is known as a football state, Scott said, "Yeah, I know, but you couldn't tell by the way the crowd comes to our games. What I love about (the Ford Center) is that you get that college atmosphere."
On Tuesday, the Hornets played before their 10th Ford Center sellout. In 41 New Orleans dates last season, the Hornets managed only three sellouts.
"We're thankful and blessed with the way this community and state have helped us," said Tim Hinchey, the Hornets' senior vice president of corporate development. "But at the same time, we're not prepared yet to just shutter the doors down (in New Orleans).
"Somebody's going to make a good decision at some point. What this is, I have no idea."
Among the 19,289 fans who attended Tuesday's Spurs-Hornets contest was Oklahoma Secretary of State Susan Savage, the former Tulsa mayor. She sampled an NBA game for the first time since the 1980s, when she lived in Philadelphia and watched the Julius Erving-led 76ers play at the Spectrum.
"It was great fun," Savage said. "Very fast-paced. Great family entertainment. I saw several people from Tulsa at the game, so I know the Hornets are being supported by citizens throughout the state."
From a business standpoint, the Hornets are paralyzed until Stern makes a decision. Shinn would consider selling a percentage of the team to Oklahoma investors, but, he says, "you can't even really proceed on that deal because you're not sure where you'll be next season."
"Everything is on hold," Shinn said. "For the next season, everybody in the league launches their campaign in the very beginning of February. We've got to get rolling."