Rebrand Hornets

[cdandi1]

One by one we will weed the NO Hornets fans out

. We dont need you whine and cheesers, we dont need you Hornets nostalgists. You are irrelevant and behind the times. But you guys need us. When you wanna talk Hornets rebrand do you start your own boards? No, you come to the Bobcats boards and beg. When you want to see NBA basketball in NC where do you go? Bobcats Arena. When you want the Hornets back do you ask NO to come home, no you ask the Bobs to pretend they are the Hornets. Dudes keep sayin we suck blah, blah, blah but they stay using the Bobcats resources. They stay coming to games, they stay talkin about us. These people are more dependant on the Bobcats than anyone. They literally have to beg us because their movement is weak and has no money behind it. They need our help and guidance to pull off any moves. Its like little kids lashing out at their parents then asking for an allowance. FOH! We bout to spank the Hornets lovers and let them know we dont need sellouts on our team. NO can have you.

Don't worry there aren't many sell-outs...

Sorry..couldn't help myself. I have no opinion at this point...I just root for the Charlotte/Carolina across the chest of teams in the Carolinas. Though I am really excited for the Rich Cho era...the fact that the 'Cats have two draft picks next year and MJ seems to be running the franchise..business speaking..into a better direction (more and larger sponsorship, more affordable ticket prices, and more community involvement). Can I get a BOOM BOOM CLAP! LETS GO CATS!!?? to lighten' the mood in here????

[Kurb]

Proudiddy posted an article about NC's support of the Bobcats and said it was about Charlotte. LMAO. Quite frankly I could care less if Raleigh, Boone, etc support Charlotte's team. We dont need them. Im tired of people who dont live in Charlotte speaking for and thinking everything here is entitled to them. Stop piggybacking off our city please. Ask the Hornets to relocate to the triad or triangle. Just leave us be with our bball team. Its not your birthright to root for us, its a choice. If you feel the Hornets are everything, cheer for them. No one is saying you cant. Proudiddy and the others cheer for the Hornets when we play them, please! If you wont support this team when theyre down, youre really not a fan. If you hate everything about it, you're not a fan. Theres nothing wrong with that, just dont lie and call yourself a Bobcat fan. Going to games but hating the team just proves youre willing to waste your time. It doesnt mean you understand us or are a fan. We have people who have no problem supporting this team, and have for 8 years. Just because you cant or wont is your choice.

Easy now KT. PDiddy is one of the bigger Bobcats fans I know.

Further more, I live in Wilmington, so I am not allowed to cheer for the Bobcats ?

[Kurb]

Really with as bandwagon as most of Charlotte sports fans are, the Bobcats could be called the Pink Discharges and people would go if they WON fuging GAMES

[King Taharqa]

Kurb, Diddys a good guy but he's a Hornet fan. He hates the Bobcats. As for you being from Wilmington, of course root for us. We love all our fans worldwide. But if you chose not to, so be it is all Im saying. Our market is a 50 mile radius, everything else is a bonus. If some guy in a small rural one stoplight town somewhere in NC hates us, cant accept us, and longs for the honeybees, the show here in Charlotte still goes on. The party dont stop. TWC Arena only holds 20 K, when you win filling it up aint hard.We've been there, done that, which is why focusing on the product on the floor is more important to our true fans and diehards.

[Kurb]

You are 100% incorrect about PD.

Don't paint such large swaths with your opinion brush.

[Proudiddy]

KT, I don't need a spokesperson, but I appreciate the kind words in your last post.

But, I'm still insulted.

I'm a NC/Charlotte fan first. Whatever team reps my state, that's who I'm a fan of. I am not a New Orleans Hornets fan.

The Hornets are in New Orleans. So that eliminates them from teams I would pull for. In fact, I currently hate the Hornets. Again, the Hornets keep getting brought up because of the movement that is currently out there. I said in the past that my favorite name out of the suggestions is the Royals.

The poll I posted earlier showed data that even from the Charlotte area the Bobcats lack support. That's not just because we suck this year. The brand has always been weak. It hurts our marketability and ability to grow.

So to say, anything outside of the market is a plus is a falsehood. When the very city that our team plays in doesn't support them and can't fill a small arena up every night, something is wrong... Fans are needed anywhere we can get them. If changing the name brings in fairweather fans that would love to show up because the name changes, I say do it.

I know this will fall on deaf ears (or blind eyes) because we won't agree on this. But, it's pretty simple to understand.

[King Taharqa]

I stand by what I say, if you cant accept the team, you're not a fan. Quitting on the Bobcats disqualifies you from that. Renaming your 8 year old kid to "start all over" is illogical. If you cant jive with the team, please pull for another. If its that serious. We dont need you. We have enough haters as is.

That kind of "conditional" support is the exact opposite of what our Bobs need to live off of. They deserve better. We saw how it killed the Hornets here. No love, no loyalty, turn on you at the drop of a dime! Bobs want that unconditional love. And that comes from winning year in, year out and standing firm in your identity.

[panthersfan085]

Bobcats lose year in year out. The support for the Bobcats just isn't there like you claim . I bet the majority of fans that attend games are fan from opposing teams. Something needs to be done to entice fans all over NC to come to games, if that mean rebranding or just bring in better talent whichever the case needs to happen. Do you really see Bobcats being here years and years if they don't improve attendance? been like this fir much of there existence and its sad!

[King Taharqa]

You sound like someone who's never set foot in TWC Arena. We dont need to entice fans from all over NC to come to our games. We have fans in NC already who do. And the team is called Charlotte for a reason. This isnt the Carolina Panthers, where we need 70 K to sellout. There's no need to add water to our product. People just cant fathom that the Bobs are gonna be here for decades longer and end up going farther than the 1st round Hornets ever did. And as soon as we make the playoffs again they'll hop back on our nuts again like last time. Whats sad is people showcase their disloyalty in this market and think that makes them cool. Since they have no sense of pride, no heart, and run from adversity they throw everyone else under the bus. "I quit so Ima claim everyone else quit' Speak for yourself.

[Kurb]

I just wish I could see them on TV on a regular basis :/

[4Corners]

Hey I'm going to the RHCP concert tonight and it will be the first time I've stepped foot in that arena in almost 3 years.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

don't forget your see through thigh highs

[ckad79]

I think what this comes down to, is whether or not you care about tradition?

I'll agree that Charlotte isn't a city deeply rooted in its tradition, but sometimes when you give somebody or something that lacks tradition, just a taste of it and then take it away, the folks who grew up with what made that tradition, realize just how special tradition is.

And before I talk about how much the Hornets and their tradition mean to me, let me just say that I understand the "Charlotte Hornets" aren't the "Boston Red Sox" or "Green Bay Packers" with generations upon generations rooting for them. If that was the case, my passion for wanting the name back would be even stronger!

I'm 32 and a lot of this "talk" has brought up a lot of memories. I remember, being 13 and watching Zo, in a "Charlotte Hornets uniform", hit that last second buzzer-beater to beat the Celtics in the 93 playoffs. That was so awesome! I also remember Muggsy, the little guy who a BIG heart, running up and down the court... tossing the ball to Kendall Gill who wore #13 on his "Charlotte Hornets uniform". I remember watching the crowd go nuts when Dell Curry would hit 3s in a "Charlotte Hornets uniform". I remember being bitter when my Alonzo was dealt to Miami but I remember cheering on Glen Rice and Matt Geiger now because they were "Charlotte Hornets" and Zo wasn't. I remember the giant floating blowup bee that floated across the coliseum where the Charlotte Hornets played. I remember living and breathing the Charlotte Hornets.

I remember a lot about the Charlotte Hornets and the Charlotte Bobcats, well to be honest, just aren't the same. If you're absolutely in love with them, forgive me. Maybe after I invest another 10 years of life into the Bobcats, maybe I'll care as much about them as I feel for my Charlotte Hornets. Still, I've invested nearly 10 years so far in trying to give a damn about the Bobcats but something about them just doesn't "feel right". Am I alone here? And it isn't because they aren't winning. Even when they made the playoffs in 2010, it wasn't the same. When the Hornets finished 6th during LJ's rookie season, I actually cared more.

All I'm saying is, if it isn't too late, I'd like to salvage the passion and tradition that I once had for my "Charlotte Hornets" by seeing them return as the "CHARLOTTE Hornets".

Should I move on, maybe? Did the city of Cleveland move on and let their owner take the Browns to Baltimore? No. They said, "take your team and your players, but you're going to now call the Browns, the Ravens. The Browns are ours". Sure, the Browns are as crappy as they've ever been and Cleveland remains an absolute horrible pro football team, but the Browns are Cleveland's and nobody can take that away. Thing is, the city of Cleveland remembered Jim Brown as a "Cleveland Brown" and the Dawg Pound and all the little things that made the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland's team. Would they root as hard for the "Cleveland Monarchs" or some substitute? Maybe. BUT I understand now why they fought so hard to keep their name and colors and brand, and why Seattle is fighting as hard to keep the Supersonics for a return to Seattle.

Sometimes I wonder if Charlotte, as a city, doesn't care about tradition. Maybe that's the simple fact. The city has a lot of transplants and that can't help.

Still, if you don't have tradition or don't care about it, what do you care if the team is re-branded as the Hornets? I don't see how this hurts anybody. Most of the memories the Charlotte Hornets made were positive. If you could care less and the Hornets return, so what. If you do care, your excited to see YOUR old team with the colors YOU loved and the uniform YOU loved return to YOUR city and YOUR town.

How else can I put this? Well, let's say, hypothetically that 20 years from now, the Panthers aren't happy with their stadium and the owner turns out to be a jerk, the city won't finance a new place, and we loose them, etc. It could happen. Sports is a business and teams jet all the time. If we got a new NFL team called the "Carolina Huskies" or whatnot, would it take you awhile to adjust? Do the "Carolina Panthers", as a team, hold a special place in your heart? They do to me. Maybe I could move on, but I'd argue to keep the Panthers.

In hindsight, don't me wrong, it would be a HUGE deal to re brand an entire team or even consider doing it... I get it. So much has to happen. First, the New Orleans franchise has to be sold and then they have to actually re-brand their own team and release their copyrights or whatever rights they have for the Hornets. Would they give it to Charlotte or Micheal as an act of kindness? Doubtful. haha

Still, even if the name is available and Jordan can take it... there is so much to be done. New uniforms, new basketball court, new banners throughout the arena, all new apparel for sale, etc. I'm sure Michael's eyes light up with dollar signs ** $$ *** just thinking about it! It would cost an ungodly amount to do. I understand that.

I just hope that if the Hornets are sold and if the name becomes available, that Jordan gets the message and makes an effort to try and get it. I just don't want to hear that we made zero effort, if the opportunity presents itself. I feel that if Jordan knows that people do care and he is aware that they do, that he will at least make an effect and consider it.

I think that is what most people want with this movement, to bring awareness to all of this. To let Michael know if we want the Hornets back, and if he could make it happen, we'd appreciate it. That's all. It's sort of like people who put up billboards in Miami asking the owner to sign Payton. The owner got a meeting with Manning, but he singed with Denver. People tired. They failed, but they tried.

I always thought Charlotte was a great town for basketball and still can be. I believe that Shinn washed away a great opportunity that Jordan can still salvage. I think bringing back the Hornets is a good start.

[King Taharqa]

I dont think its fair to keep blaming George Shinn totally for the Hornets failure. At some point "Hornets fans" have to look themselves in the mirror and ask did they do everything they could to keep the Hornets here? Did they show loyalty in adverse times? The answer is NO. They quit on them and gave up on the team, giving Shinn the out he needed to move it. I think they have to ask themselves, is emulating a team that never gets out of the 1st round the standard we want to set? We become the Hornets then what? I think asking Jordan to have the Bobcats "pretend" they're the Hornets is moving backwards, not forwards. I think with Cam coming into our sports scene, the "old way" of doing things and the "old Charlotte" is about to die out. It's a progressive time in Charlotte right now. I keep saying it, the people who hold the Hornets in high regard are 20-30 year olds. The younger kids in our market have no bond with them. The new people coming in are excited about the future of our Bobcats.

If you're so high on the Hornets it boggles my mind why you wont keep pulling for them? There are literally tons and tons of people in our market that had NFL teams they rooted for before the Panthers and stuck with them. They didnt ask the Panthers to pretend to be the Skins, or Cowgirls, or Steelers. They just stuck with their kind. I think the Hornets lovers need to seriously think about that. Because truth be told, us Bobcat fans really dont have much use for them anymore. The Hornets lovers are about to experience a backlash when it comes to Bobcats fans. The Bobs are never gonna be the Hornets, hell, they're never even gonna try to be. Hoping and wishing for them to turn into that is only gonna lead to your own dissapointment.