I'm curious to know which franchise "lineage" the new Hornets team would acquire. Will the Hornets carry the records and stats of the 2004-present Bobcats, or will the Pelicans drop the old Charlotte Hornets statistical history and the new Hornets pick it up? I mean, Muggsy Bogues should have a teal jersey banner hanging in Charlotte!
The Charlotte Hornets are Coming Home.
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This is the issue I and many others have - there is no acquisition here of anything but a name. This is NOT a reclaiming of the franchise, that is owned by Benson and the city of NO. We are the Bobcats/Cats and any name change would simply rename this current franchise to the old name. The first draft pick would remain Okafor and the first ever All Star would remain Gerald Wallace etc ... it's this franchise's history. Bogues and Curry and Gman and Zo would have never played for this franchise.
DeaconOEF/OIFvet
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This.
So you have a rather broad problem in the NBA alone:
Lakers, Nets, Jazz, Grizzlies, Wizards, Raptors, Cavaliers, Kings.
The Bobcats (now moreso as they are more often typed/spoken/printed as Cats) and Rufus (Rufus Lynx) have ties to the Charlotte area as our public transportation shares these common cat names. CATS (Charlotte Area Transit System) is the bus line, LYNX is the light rail.
And yes, the Hornets name means a lot to the Charlotte area - more traditionally and for much longer in baseball terms where I would be fine w/ it returning. And that would be a good use for the name with the Knights turning to a new stadium downtown and noone using the name.
As has been said, Fred Whitfield put out an email yesterday telling us that there is a survey coming out and Rick Bonnell has confirmed this is part of the focus of that survey. It will not be limited to STH but I do believe we get a say and from the looks of the games, we are not some infinitely small group that supports and wants to keep ourselves Cats.
Deadbolt
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I think "hate" is a strong word, but the Bobcats haven't ever truly been embraced by that city. There's a reason "Bob" has been systematically removed from everything...it carries such a negative connotation. But even now...the "Cats?" Might as well make this guy your mascot:
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Deadbolt
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Also, it's looking like, barring something last minute, the Sacramento Kings are heading to Seattle...How awesome will it be to see the Seattle Supersonics take on the Charlotte Hornets in 2014?
w84it
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How weird is it going to be to see the Sonics play the Thunder in Oklahoma City with retired Sonics jerseys hanging in the rafters?
myDeaconmyhand
First man to get a team of horses up Bear Mountain
wait, somebody wants to keep the freaking BOBcats? That calls for a
buckets
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I really doubt there are a full thousand people that would be against bringing back the Hornets name
Deacfreak07
Ain't played nobody, PAWL!
I doubt you would find more than 100.
I think "hate" is a strong word, but the Bobcats haven't ever truly been embraced by that city. There's a reason "Bob" has been systematically removed from everything...it carries such a negative connotation. But even now...the "Cats?" Might as well make this guy your mascot:
"The team has prepared, though. A marketing study of Charlotte the team commissioned during the summer of 2010, couldn’t ask specific questions about the Hornets, but did poll Charlotteans on the name “Bobcats.”
The results might surprise you.
According to chief sales and marketing officer Pete Guelli, more than 60 percent of those polled liked the name Bobcats; about 20 percent advocated a name change.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/05/3708819/nostalgia-money-could-follow-hornets.html#storylink=cpy"
As for your comments about the Bob, there are two parts to that; one is that Bob Johnson is not in the spotlight any longer, two, the team has deliberately shortened the name to Cats (see unis, apparel and signage).
And we have a mascot, it's Rufus Lynx - and that's a big part of this for folks like me that have kids that only know Rufus. They have ZERO affiliation w/ the Hornets or Hugo or anything else in teal other than that's a team they hate when they come to town. If you went to games and watched on the jumbotron - you'd see that the arena is loaded with kids (from toddlers to teens) that dance and cheer and wear their Cats gear as if it's the only team they know .... that's because it is. And that's why this whole "name" only change stuff so misses the mark - it's being driven by a bunch of guys that were the same age as the currents Cats kids fans now when the Hornets started up .... they need to move on.
I am not coming at this by just pulling what I want to be true out of my ass. I am a STH, a loyal Bobcat fan, have been following this rebranding and bring back the buzz crap for a while and I am well aware of how unaware you are if you think this (statement you make) to be true.
CDeacMan
Ishmael Smith
It's not only about re-adopting the name that many of us grew up with, but also taking a step away from a history that has been marred with nothing but losing and utter failure. I really believe if the Bobcats had not been so poorly run (also some bad luck involved, but most of it was incompetence), and they had had some consistent success during their history people would not be clamoring for the Hornets so dramatically. But the Bobcats have just seen a series of bad coaches, crappy players, and dumb managers (not to mention an original owner who did a shit job all around), so I see the move back to the Hornets as calling back to better times that will have much more positive associations in the minds of basketball fans in the Charlotte area.
Plus they would sell a shit ton of merchandise.
Plus they would sell a shit ton of merchandise.
Palmettodeac
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I haven't kept up with this, but I assume that the NO franchise would continue to own the rights to the Hornets name even after renaming to the Pelicans. Or is there a league rule on that? If not, will NO effectively hold the rights hostage for some $?
There is no certainty to this. It's a widely stated belief but there's not significant evidence to say it's fact. Please read the article I posted above which discusses this to a small extent.
And to your concerns, there's nothing that suggests the problems you pronounce that are the Cats are remedied by a name change. No guarantee of any more success than at present, same coaches; players; management will be in place next year if they change their name than if they didn't - no fundamental changes will happen to this team if they go by bees vs. cats.
As for calling back to better times .... that's an odd one as the imagery a lot of folks have to the "era" when the Hornets left was Bobby Phills' wreck, George Shinn's sex scandal, team packed up and moved, lower turnout than Cats' turnouts at present, contentious vote against the building of the arena ....
Are you thinking this has some negative impact on my life in some way? Please, give me as much negative rep as you'd like to - I don't know what it means in the grand scheme of things and hardly find it reasonable that I - who actually has both some steak in this and have been following it for quite some time - should be intimidated to shut up because you don't care for my opinions.
bigdoublezero
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Ha, wow. I'm legitimately surprised there's someone who cares that much about the Bobcats name.