Re: 10 things we learned this week

> 1. Item: Both commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Russ Granik
> said last week that they are close to concluding where the displaced New
> Orleans Hornets will play for the 2005-06 NBA season.
>
> What this really means: Although officials from Las Vegas, Louisville,
> Nashville, Oklahoma City and San Diego are opening the city coffers for the
> Hornets, team officials are trying their best to work out a deal in
> Louisiana, either in Baton Rouge, Bossier City or Lafayette. The bigger
> question is what is most feasible from an NBA standpoint - meaning
> business-wise. Considering Las Vegas will play host to the All-Star game in
> 2007, is the NBA ready to take a swing at Vegas for an entire season?
> Louisville has been dying to get a franchise for years, Oklahoma City is
> screaming to be noticed, Nashville wants to fill up its NHL building every
> night possible and San Diego wants to get back into the game.

Living in San Diego, I'd love to see the Hornets - or any team for that
matter - come to town. (Hell, I'd even take the Clippers back!)
However, I'd imagine the chances of the Hornets coming to San Diego are
about a million to one. San Diego has a horrible tradition of NOT
supporting their sports teams (see the Padres (yeah, yeah, nice
attendance since building PetCo field, but wait until that allure wears
off), Chargers, and Clippers of yesteryear). Furthermore, WHERE would
the Clippers play? I believe there are only two possible venues:

(1) The San Diego Sports Arena - this is where the Lakers play a
pre-season game each year. Problem is, I'm sure the Sports Arena is
already booked for the year with other shows and I can't imagine that
there wouldn't be some scheduling issues with the NBA season already
finalized. Furthermore, the Sports Arena only holds ~13,000 folks....
granted, I doubt the Hornets have ever sold this many tickets in a given
night, but still, it pales in comparison to more modern venues.

(2) The SDSU gym, where the SDSU basketball team plays. However,
there'd likely be conflicts with SDSU's schedule and the NBA's,
especially as March drew nearer, no?


It would be awesome to have a team here, I would definately go to a
couple of games, but I think there's a better chance that the Hornets
will play in NOLA than here in sunny San Diego. Drag.

--

Scott...
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