# OT: Hornets to relocate??



## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

NBA prepares to reolcate the Hornets 



> L.S.U. offers the closest alternative, about 60 miles away, and an arena,
> Pete Maravich Assembly Center, that holds 14,164 people. That is small by
> N.B.A. standards, but it could accommodate the Hornets, whose average
> attendance last season was a league-worst 14,221.



discuss


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## crandc (Sep 15, 2004)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

Well, it ranks among the least of New Orleans' worries at the moment but clearly they can't play there. As of now the city does not exist.


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## Todd (Oct 8, 2003)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

They should move them to Vegas. The last thing on the minds of all those people is a basketball game.


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## GOD (Jun 22, 2003)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

their only choice right now is to relocate. I do hope that after everything in NO is back on track, the team returns.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

I agree with the other posters. the Hornets should be the last last *last* thing on the minds of people in New Orleans.

Let the team move away this season, but maybe do more (as a league) for the city, to help ease their pain.

The Hornets playing in another city (Hell, even if it's just St Louis or Kansas City!) should be done. the People of New Orleans (and the other gulf coast cities) have had their lives ripped from them, and having an NBA team there seems to be pointless right now.

Maybe for the 2006-07 season.


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## crandc (Sep 15, 2004)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

I'm reading that it could be another four or five days before food and water gets to people stranded in NO. That people who made it to Houston are turned away from the Astrodome if they were not previously in the Superdome. Rescue operations are ceasing and there are not enough helicoptors anyway. 
I mean, it's hard to care a lot about where the Hornets play, sorry.


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## Talkhard (May 13, 2003)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*



> clearly they can't play there. As of now the city does not exist.


Who cares about "as of now"? The NBA season doesn't start for 2 months yet, which provides a lot of time to clean up downtown New Orleans. And when it's done, a good NBA basketball game may be just the thing to take everybody's mind off the flood. Personally, I think it would be a great triumph for the NBA to stage opening night right in downtown New Orleans.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*



Talkhard said:


> Who cares about "as of now"? The NBA season doesn't start for 2 months yet, which provides a lot of time to clean up downtown New Orleans. And when it's done, a good NBA basketball game may be just the thing to take everybody's mind off the flood. Personally, I think it would be a great triumph for the NBA to stage opening night right in downtown New Orleans.


because it's doubtful that in 2 months, A: the cleanup will be done B: people will be back to normal (their houses fixed/rebuilt whatever) and have the money it takes to go to games.

a LOT of people are now jobless in NO (which compared to some of their problems, isn't that much of one). Companies have been washed out, and destroyed. The people there have a lot of things far more important on their minds than whether or not the Hornets play this year.

This isn't like a small localized fire or flooding. This affected probably *millions* of people. It'll take a _long_ time to fix things, let alone have things back to normal. 

The *CITY* has been evacuated TH.

there are people dying in NO, and there are dead bodies floating around in the water. this isn't just a quick cleaning of the city and blamo, everythings kosher. This shattered the lives of countless numbers of people. Hell, it's been what, 4 days since the storm hit, and the waters are just now starting to settle down.


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## crandc (Sep 15, 2004)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

I was living in Portland at the time of the 1989 earthquake in SF Bay Area, but I came to SF a couple of weeks later. I could see the destruction all around, the cracked streets and sidewalks, the demolished and ruined houses, collapsed freeways. But the *city itself * was still there. In New Orleans the city is not there.
In 2001 FEMA said the three greatest disasters that could happen in the U.S., for which preparations must be made, were a terrorist attack in New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a major hurricane in New Orleans. 
And it is avoidable, not hurricanes but the aftermath. I mean, I don't want to argue about Cuba's social system (not the place) but when they knew Ivan was going to hit they sent buses and evacuated everyone (most Cubans don't have cars), they sent trucks to evacuate household goods and the critical equipment from hospitals and factories, they cut the trees that can down power lines, they had shelters with food and medical staff and sanitation, they even had a shelter for household pets. A small poor country can do that but we can't? This is not like an earthquake; there were days of warning but it was each person for him/herself. In 2005 in the richest most powerful country in the world we are talking about cholera and typhoid epidemics?
I'm sorry, I don't want to get preachy but I am sick over what is going on; telling people to just wait while they are, literally, dying? That help is there if they want it? I've even heard one statement that they just need to work hard and not get a handout! 
They don't need a basketball game, they need the helicoptors to drop food and water to people who have been without for days. Yeah, right, we can't talk politics, but we all know where the coptors, and the Louisiana National Guard, are. 
I hope I don't get banned but I am as you can guess very upset and wishing there was something I could do, since those with the power to do something aren't.


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## Foulzilla (Jan 11, 2005)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

While there are more important things in life then the Hornets, moving the team (permanently) away seems to much like kicking the city while they are down. There are certainly more important things to be resolved at the moment, but eventually people are going to want to return their lives to normal and Hornets basketball may be a part of their lives. I think the Hornets organization should do everything possible to connect with their community at this point in time as it's needed the most now.


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*



> I was living in Portland at the time of the 1989 earthquake in SF Bay Area, but I came to SF a couple of weeks later. I could see the destruction all around, the cracked streets and sidewalks, the demolished and ruined houses, collapsed freeways. But the city itself was still there. In New Orleans the city is not there.
> In 2001 FEMA said the three greatest disasters that could happen in the U.S., for which preparations must be made, were a terrorist attack in New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a major hurricane in New Orleans.
> And it is avoidable, not hurricanes but the aftermath. I mean, I don't want to argue about Cuba's social system (not the place) but when they knew Ivan was going to hit they sent buses and evacuated everyone (most Cubans don't have cars), they sent trucks to evacuate household goods and the critical equipment from hospitals and factories, they cut the trees that can down power lines, they had shelters with food and medical staff and sanitation, they even had a shelter for household pets. A small poor country can do that but we can't? This is not like an earthquake; there were days of warning but it was each person for him/herself. In 2005 in the richest most powerful country in the world we are talking about cholera and typhoid epidemics?
> I'm sorry, I don't want to get preachy but I am sick over what is going on; telling people to just wait while they are, literally, dying? That help is there if they want it? I've even heard one statement that they just need to work hard and not get a handout!
> ...


Excellent post. I agree it is a sad day when we can't take care of our own. I am not saying it's not important to use our resources to help others. IMO it's a sad day when we can't provide the basic necessities in a timely manner for our people in a crisis, because we are stretched so thin dealing with issues (important or not) in other countries.


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## Schilly (Dec 30, 2002)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

I don't think anyone is talking about moving the team permanently.

I had heard reports that it would be 4-6 weeks before power could be retored to Most of New Orleans...If that's the case we are talking about a several month process that likely will stretch more into the year terminology.


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## Oldmangrouch (Feb 11, 2003)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*



Schilly said:


> I don't think anyone is talking about moving the team permanently.



Actually, there is some speculation in that direction. Most of it grows from the notion that Shinn is such a piece of crap as an owner, that the league will exploit the situation. ie force Shinn to sell to someone who wants to put a team in Vegas (or wherever).

I am inclined to think this is just wishful thinking - but if the NBA doesn't quash the stories quickly, I may have to change my mind!


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## Utherhimo (Feb 20, 2005)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

the hornets need to find a place AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE! The first month of games should either go to the rebuild or be free for all NO fans!

The best thing after the water goes away is to boost moral and might actually make NO an NBA city but about are the Saints doing?


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*



> Actually, there is some speculation in that direction. Most of it grows from the notion that Shinn is such a piece of crap as an owner, that the league will exploit the situation. ie force Shinn to sell to someone who wants to put a team in Vegas (or wherever).
> 
> I am inclined to think this is just wishful thinking - but if the NBA doesn't quash the stories quickly, I may have to change my mind!


This is likely to happen to the Saints. The city of NO has had to borrow money for the last two NFL seasons to pay for maintenance and team fees. The owners of the Saints have demanded upgrades to the Superdome for the last 3 seasons which have not occurred. Cleary NO is not going to have the money to pay for the team in the foreseeable future or the stadium upgrades, thus it is likely the Saints will move cities. 



> Saints owner Tom Benson reportedly has two homes and several car dealerships in San Antonio, and that city has been mentioned as a possible future home of the franchise if it leaves New Orleans -- regarded as a possibility even before Katrina.
> 
> Benson said during the offseason that he would decide after the season about the franchise's future in New Orleans. He asked the state to modernize the Superdome or build a new stadium.
> 
> New Orleans had to borrow money the past two years to make its annual required payments to the team. The city faces staggering costs to rebuild, and the Saints don't figure to fit high in that equation.



http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...se/sports/112557215834140.xml&coll=7#continue


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## Blazer Freak (Jul 11, 2004)

This is definitely the last thing on NO people's minds. I feel so bad for those people. Some of them with no power for maybe up to 4-6 months. *4-6 MONTHS!*


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## Victory thru Synergy (Aug 21, 2005)

Gees Louise. Argument for the sake of argument and complete off on an tangent digression. From moving the Hornets, to discussing U.S. troops in the Middle East, Iraqi politics, the U.S. 2000 Presidential election, the U.S. 2004 Presidential election, to moving the Saints. What a freaking waste!

Now I am not a native of New Orleans (or even of Louisiana) and I have really never felt inclined to delve into the study of Louisiana politics - either on the state or local level. Although, I am sure, it is probably a fascinating subject. But, what I reallly want to know is: since the Hornets are a New Orleans team, and the New Orleans community supported the team last year when the team was down at the bottom of the league (and please don't argue and blast me by saying the Hornets were not supported by everyone in NO. I'm sure they weren't). What are the Hornets going to do to support the NO community in their time of need?


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## Oldmangrouch (Feb 11, 2003)

Victory thru Synergy said:


> But, what I reallly want to know is: since the Hornets are a New Orleans team, and the New Orleans community supported the team last year when the team was down at the bottom of the league (and please don't argue and blast me by saying the Hornets were not supported by everyone in NO. I'm sure they weren't). What are the Hornets going to do to support the NO community in their time of need?



Given the reputation of the Hornets' owner, the most charitable guess would be "nothing." If you asked someone from Charlotte, they would probably say he was out joining in the looting.


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## crandc (Sep 15, 2004)

I don't want to discuss the electoral college in 2000 or the nonexistent links between Iraq and Sept 11 in 2001.
I want to discuss what is happening in New Orleans and Mississippi and other places.
I want to discuss the man I saw crying on CNN last night. He said he's always worked to support his family but had to steal milk and water for his children to keep them alive. I want to talk about why why why was nothing done to evacuate people? I want to talk about how the loss of a big proportion of the national guard is actually a double loss since many of them are, in civilian life, firefighters or paramedics, just what is needed. I want to know why people were told to go the convention center and were just left there with nothing and no escape; a nurse who happened to be among the evacuees is the sole medical staff. Why, if the US can drop food packages in Afghanistan, they can't drop food packages in the Gulf States? I want to talk about the woman, part of a group of people and dogs in a "rooftop community" who said they went to a hotel that was evacuating people by bus but would only evacuate their paying guests. And how some of these guests had multiple SUV's that they filled with their belongings but would not give lifts to poor people just trying to escape with their lives. These people had a rooftop shelter, for what it's worth, because a compassionate hotel employee gave them, strangers, the keys to her apartment. I want to know why hotel operators have not been told by the federal government to open their doors to hurricane refugees free of charge with a promise that they will be reimbursed. I want to talk about how a group of professional urban search and rescue operators in Vancouver BC filled a plane with supplies and tried to fly it in to deliver relief and rescue people and were turned back by Homeland Security. I want to talk about the Atlanta police officer who used his vacation and paid his way to New Orleans with 9 police boats, and the boats are now sitting in a national guard shelter because there is no commander who can order their use. I want to talk about the woman who could not get onto a bus, so she gave her infant to another woman, saying she has no food, no water, and pleaded with this woman, a stranger, to take care of her baby. I am reminded of the Jewish parents who gave their children to Christian families to raise during Nazi occupation in hopes that their children would live. 
I want to know why this is happening in the United States in 2005.


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## gatorpops (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*



Talkhard said:


> Who cares about "as of now"? The NBA season doesn't start for 2 months yet, which provides a lot of time to clean up downtown New Orleans. And when it's done, a good NBA basketball game may be just the thing to take everybody's mind off the flood. Personally, I think it would be a great triumph for the NBA to stage opening night right in downtown New Orleans.


Looking at the pictures of the city it seems to me two months is precious little time to get it even back to thiry percent operating for half the city. 

Its possible that in five or six months it may be an operating city again. Many people will not go back. 
Many rich and relatively rich people will have sustained substantial losses economicly. 
Not enough attenders even if they get the city back operating. 

I think they will need to move for awhile if not permenently.

gatorpops


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## Nightfly (Sep 24, 2002)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*

*Let's drop the politics from here on out. This is a thread about New Orleans. Keep it that way.

I'm going to split any more of this political talk into a seperate thread on the OT forum.*


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## ¹²³ (Jan 8, 2003)

*Re: Hornets to relocate??*



Talkhard said:


> Who cares about "as of now"? The NBA season doesn't start for 2 months yet, which provides a lot of time to clean up downtown New Orleans. And when it's done, a good NBA basketball game may be just the thing to take everybody's mind off the flood. Personally, I think it would be a great triumph for the NBA to stage opening night right in downtown New Orleans.


:yes:


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## Schilly (Dec 30, 2002)

They were just talking on ESPN radio about the issues facing the Saints. The Superdome isn't usable for sports for quite some time so they will have to play elsewhere. But the Citys that have the facilities are cities that have lobbyed for NFL teams in the past and could be viewed as trying to take advantage of the situation, even though they are talking about, say LA and the Rose bowl...LA foots the bills and poays the employees and all ticketr sales collected would go to the relief effort, but even still it would be viewed as a PR move or a chance to prove that they should have a team, likely the saints.

Kind of a mess

Another city who's name has been floated around is San Antonio.


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## Nightfly (Sep 24, 2002)

*All the political stuff from this thread has been moved to a new thread:

http://www.basketballboards.net/forum/showthread.php?t=197082

This is a thread about the Hornets. This is not about Bush nor the war in Iraq. Post about that stuff in the other thread.*


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

Now would be a good time to simply fold the Hornet franchise. Hold a dispersal draft for the players. Or, alternatively, merge the Hornets with the Bobcats. The Charlotte Horncats. 

barfo


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## Trader Ed (Jun 17, 2002)

David Stern may want them to relocate to Vegas for the year


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## Nightfly (Sep 24, 2002)

Oklahoma City offers to host Hornets


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## Trader Ed (Jun 17, 2002)

Trader Bob said:


> David Stern may want them to relocate to Vegas for the year


funny.... Read this


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## Utherhimo (Feb 20, 2005)

well didnt the hornets have the 3rd nba team there and they had the worst attendence in the league? 

kc hornets or maybe change the name and colors


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## SheedSoNasty (Dec 31, 2002)

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/story/8829582


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## Utherhimo (Feb 20, 2005)

*OKC Hornets?*

the rumor has it that that they will playing most of their games there and 10-15 at lsu


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## Trader Ed (Jun 17, 2002)

Its a huge logistics problem.... being a former Blazer ticket holder... I would not want to go to, say, Idaho to see the Blazers play.. meaning a neighboring state.

The Hornets will have a big chore ahead of them in the front office to accomodate all the games to their season ticketed fans


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