Truth & Rumors > NBA

Charlotte getting 'Hornets' back?

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08:14 AM ET 06.04 | Though a possible color scheme change isn't tied to a potential name change, there is renewed energy in a return of the "Charlotte Hornets." Pictures circulated on the Internet Friday night of a Bobcats cap tied to the 2012 draft. Most of the cap looks like the Bobcats' current blue primary color. The bill is a new, lighter shade of blue. The only orange in that cap is the small "Charlotte" stenciling. ... There has been a grassroots effort of late, lobbying the Bobcats to acquire the Hornets nickname from the New Orleans Hornets. Hornets owner-to-be Tom Benson has said he wants to change his franchise's nickname once the sale closes. That closing is expected soon, once an arena-improvement bill passes the Louisiana legislature.

Charlotte Observer

Michael Jordan, Getty Images Michael Jordan, Getty Images
June 4, 2012  08:21 AM ET

Why? A rose by any other name would still stink.

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June 4, 2012  08:43 AM ET

Changing the name back to Hornets would fix one of many problems with this franchise.

Comment #5 has been removed
June 4, 2012  09:21 AM ET

New Orleans Hurricanes?

June 4, 2012  09:47 AM ET

Who is leading this supposed 'grassroots' effort to change the name back to the Hornets anyway? Does anyone in Charlotte even seriously care?

June 4, 2012  09:48 AM ET

Not being from here but living in Charlotte the past 12 years I still cant understand why its such a big deal? If the team name was Hornets last year while winning a mere 7 games would it have put more butts in the seats?? Doubt it! The whole thing around the team name is that it was named after Bob Johnson (Bobcats) and ppl dont want anything to do with him...still, who cares what the team name is as long as they win? Look at the Lakers for example...no one cares when you win. Much ado about nothing BUT I will be rockin the new colors :)

June 4, 2012  09:57 AM ET

Don't Get Stung, Bros.

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June 4, 2012  10:32 AM ET
QUOTE(#6):

New Orleans Hurricanes?

Good one

June 4, 2012  10:34 AM ET

If charlotte gets the Hornets name back, I'd name the Current Hornets, the New Orleans Rythum

June 4, 2012  11:10 AM ET

This shows where Jordan's priorities lie. Does it really matter what they decide? Who's going to play the low post?

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June 4, 2012  12:52 PM ET

Oh yeah, that will make them a better team. Sure. I can see it.

It's like putting lipstick on a pig.

June 4, 2012  12:56 PM ET

Never understood why the Jazz didn't change their name when they moved to Salt Lake. I doubt that you hear a lot of jazz played there.

June 4, 2012  01:34 PM ET
QUOTE(#17):

Never understood why the Jazz didn't change their name when they moved to Salt Lake. I doubt that you hear a lot of jazz played there.

I think the Jazz should sell the rights to their name back to NOLA. Then change their name to the SLC Missionaries.

June 4, 2012  01:38 PM ET

This will certainly help put butts in the seats in CHA as we have always felt cheated about the hornets moving to NO and scummy way it went down, but long term the team will still be bad. The hornets name will help them sell tickets but if they want to keep people interested, they have to be relevant, and they can't be relevant with a roster full of D league players.

 
June 4, 2012  02:09 PM ET
QUOTE(#8):

Not being from here but living in Charlotte the past 12 years I still cant understand why its such a big deal? If the team name was Hornets last year while winning a mere 7 games would it have put more butts in the seats?? Doubt it! The whole thing around the team name is that it was named after Bob Johnson (Bobcats) and ppl dont want anything to do with him...still, who cares what the team name is as long as they win? Look at the Lakers for example...no one cares when you win. Much ado about nothing BUT I will be rockin the new colors :)

please dont take offense to my comment here.

but not being here when the hornets were the hot ticket in town, you cant possibly understand the attachment the city had with the hornets.

what we did here was unparalleled in the history of professional sports.

they told us we were to small of a city to support a major sports franchise.

i have since worked for the panthers and the bobcats and now understand what they meant by that statement. a full house at an nba arena or nfl stadium does not guarantee the team a profit. it is simply breaking even to fill your seats with ticket purchasers.

the fact is that the attending fans must purchase merchandise, alcohol and food for the operation to be profitable. (an update: since the nfl signed the overseas billion dollar advertising contract, they can be profitable without a full house and high merchandise, alcohol and food sales. but that is a recent development).

with the bobcats, even when they fill the arena, its with the same fans. these people get bored with the food and do their eating and drinking before they get to the game.

also since the bobcats lose in such a boring fashion, (its not just losing, but how you lose), merchandise sales are not very good either.

but the hornets were the one-time anomaly to this situation.

the team was exciting, even though we never were a threat to go far in the playoffs. we could score points in bunches. we didnt "walk the ball up" or "try to shorten the game". we came to play! we drafted exciting, although flawed players. the players truly interacted with the fans. we didnt boo a player because they missed a shot or took a bad shot (really, we had rex chapman and armon gilliam so we had our chances to boo poor shot selection!)

the city and fans embraced the team. you were lucky to be able to get a seat. we sold out like 8 or 9 years in a row. 23,388 seats full, every game. there were zero empty seats. it was like a packers game. if you could get a ticket, you better not pass or you might not get another chance for a year or two. there were no game-day ticket sales at the box office. everyone ate and drank AT the game. merchandise sales were one of the highest in the league even though we werent going far in the playoffs.

it wasnt about winning so much. we had an exciting team. it was our team. we had fun. you could bring your kids to the game. we didnt have arena beatings, we didnt throw things on the court. we definitely got s crewed over by the donaghy effect, but it didnt crush the fans spirits. we were LOUD but not rude, we didnt have thugs for players or fans.

if you werent there, theres really no way to get it. theres has never been anything like it in pro sports history.

the hornets then were the perfect representation of what sports and fans should be at every level, pro, college, kids. the bobcats unfortunately represent what sports has become.

and ill agree that changing the name wont bring back the magic, but if you were here for the run, you would understand why we want that symbol of the memories returned to where it belongs, here in charlotte.

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