Buzzing despite the sting
Displaced from New Orleans, the Hornets are welcomed in Oklahoma City
Friday, December 09, 2005
MIKE TOKITO
O n Wednesday, when an ice storm pelted Oklahoma City, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets played Memphis and drew 18,753 fans, continuing an amazing run of attendance.
Despite being relocated from New Orleans less than two months before the start of the regular season, the Hornets are No. 6 in the league in average attendance, and have sold out four of their eight home games.
The Hornets, who play the Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden tonight, represent two cities and two very different circumstances.
New Orleans has been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Oklahoma City has turned the team's need for a temporary home into an audition for big-time sports.
Though Oklahoma City officials are careful to pay homage to New Orleans and make clear that they are not out to steal the franchise, it also is clear that this opportunity is the city's chance to move past 116 years of being a minor league town.
"I think our citizens realize that this is our chance to prove we are a major league city," said Mick Cornett, Oklahoma City's mayor.
So far, the city appears to be passing the test.
Hurricane Katrina forced the NBA to seek a temporary home for the Hornets. Possibilities included two cities that used to have NBA teams -- San Diego and Kansas City -- and two chic up-and-comers -- Las Vegas and Nashville.
Officials from those cities called majority owner George Shinn directly, but NBA Commissioner David Stern called a surprised Shinn to suggest he look at Oklahoma City.
"I think his exact words were, 'Oklahoma where?' " said Michael Thompson, the Hornets' director of corporate communications. "That was never on his radar screen."
Stern certainly had heard of Oklahoma City, thanks to Cornett. The mayor, a former television reporter and anchor who had a stint as a sportscaster for Eugene's KVAL in the early 1980s (he co-hosted Oregon basketball coach Jim Haney's show), made three trips in two years to New York, scoping out the possibility of landing a professional sports franchise. On the final trip, last April, Cornett and Stern discussed every professional league that Oklahoma City might possibly draw, and the meeting concluded with Stern suggesting Cornett chase an NHL team.
After the hurricane, Cornett got back in touch with Stern. Oklahoma City was able to cobble together a united front between city and state leaders and local businesses and offer the Hornets an advantageous deal.
The city had an NBA-ready arena, the Ford Center, which seats 19,163. The arena was built with the hope of luring an NBA or NHL team. It is the home of minor league hockey and Arena Football League teams, and has held concerts by Britney Spears and the Rolling Stones.
The city also offered office space and fully furnished corporate housing for the almost 90 Hornets staff members and players. Thompson said some players have used the housing, while others have leased homes for the season.
The team then found a hidden gem of a practice facility at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, a suburb of Oklahoma City. Although the Crimson Storm teams compete at the NAIA level, it has a first-rate gym in the Sawyer Center, which might be a step up from the Hornets' practice facility in New Orleans.
The gym is reserved for the Hornets from roughly 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The sure sign of practice, said athletic director Bobby Martin, is the sight of BMWs and other luxury cars in the parking lot.
"It's a little different-looking parking lot when they're in town," Martin said.
Immediate buzz
After the relocation was announced, Oklahoma City residents jumped all over tickets. About 10,000 season tickets sold in 10 days.
"The level of support here has been tremendous," Thompson said. "It's been beyond anyone's expectation."
Ron Hitley, who runs a Hornets fan Web site, hornets247.com, said traffic to his site rose when the relocation was announced, but has died down.
"Perhaps what's more interesting is the number of Hornets sites that have sprouted up since the move," he said by e-mail. "Within a month, . . . okchornetscentral.com and okc-hornets.com came on the scene. As you can tell from the names, these sites all have a distinct Oklahoma City flavor."
Stern showed up for the Hornets' second home game. He said that although the league is happy with 30 teams and does not intend to expand, Oklahoma City had made itself the top choice for relocation if a franchise should move.
Despite the success in Oklahoma City, the Hornets remain dedicated to being a New Orleans franchise, Thompson said. They are the only team in the NBA allowed local TV broadcasts to two cities
"We're very conscious that we are playing for two hometowns," Thompson said.
Next Friday, the Hornets return to Louisiana for a home game against Sacramento at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, the first of six games planned for the state. The New Orleans Arena, the team's home venue, still is being repaired from hurricane damage. But there is hope it will be ready by March, when the Hornets would like to play at least one of their last three scheduled Louisiana games there.
That would be more than fine with Oklahoma City's mayor. The city's residents, Cornett said, have great empathy for New Orleans residents, drawing on the memory of the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people.
"We're especially sensitive to tragedy," Cornett said. "We're pulling for New Orleans to return to its former glory."
The team has an option to return to Oklahoma City next season. The deadline on a decision is July 30, but because season ticket renewals typically need to be done by February, the decision on where the team will play next season probably will be made by the end of January, Thompson said. No timeline has been set for a decision on a permanent home.
Hitley -- who started his Web site when the franchise was in Charlotte, its original home -- says he sees the concern of the team's fate from New Orleans fans on another Web site, hornetsreport.com.
"That site is maintained by New Orleanians, and they don't exactly appreciate suggestions that the Hornets might not come back to N.O.," Hitley said. "Can't blame them, though. A lot of them have lost friends, family and neighborhoods, and it would be cruel to have their ballclub taken away, too."
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