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Mr. Jordan, you have another letter from Chris Chambers!

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Dear Michael Jordan,
I never thought I would be writing you a letter… I really hope this finds you well!
I was born in Charlotte in 1983. I grew up bleeding teal and purple all over Hornet’s Nest park, and I love this city with every fiber of my being. I still visit said park once and a while for a nice game of disc golf. Have you tried it? I bet you would kick ass!
I remember when the Hornets left all too well. It seemed like Charlotte had lost it’s heart. The city stopped listening to the community, and just did whatever the people in control wanted. So many iconic businesses closed. The Coliseum was imploded… the airport bought up a bunch of land and closed those businesses including the Copal Grill… bah, I could go on forever about the disregard of public opinion and illusion of choice that has been rampant in this area for the past 10 years.
The gift of another NBA team was… something. I said from the first day, “they aren’t my Hornets”, but I did give them a solid chance. My family had Hornets PSL’s every year, so when the B__cats came around, we got a set for the first season.
I tried. I tried really, really hard. It was like being set up with a random person by NBA-Harmony, and knowing I had to tell them it wasn’t going to work out. B__cats tickets get passed around this city like chewing gum. I’ve gotten some third-hand, and passed them on to someone else. Hornets tickets, on the other hand, were always coveted.
I can’t imagine how demeaning it would be to stand on the floor in that stadium and look around and see so many empty orange seats. Charlotte does not have B__cat pride. Mention the H word, and you might see a grown man cry. Switch those seats out for teal ones, and get a new scream-meter. We  willll rock that place to the ground.
The Panthers have been amazing for this city. I was at their first game at Clemson, and I walked on the field of BofA stadium when it was still just a pile of red clay! They have done so much for this city in the terms of rebuilding our pride. But there will always be a big Hugo-shaped scar… unless you bring the magic back.
Mr. Jordan… if you bring the “Hornets” name back to us, you will most definitely be the King of the Queen City. Bee-lievers will fill the seats and chant your name! =D I know YOU know what that sounds like. Let’s do this, man. You bring the buzz back, and I will die in this city.
LOVE,
Chris Chambers

Tricia “Mama Buzz” Kent’s letter to Michael Jordan

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Dear Mr. Jordan,

 

I’m 50 years old. That makes us contemporaries in the same generation. I was graduating college and getting married just as you were hitting the big time. My husband and I moved to Charlotte in 1984 and had our oldest son the very year the Hornets first played. For years, our house was a sea of teal and purple punctuated by the occasional Bulls #23. The Hive was a celebration and late-night games on the radio a given. Birthdays and Christmas’ were all about the VHS of Space Jam, the latest Jordans or the video game. I watched our sons grow up loving the Hornets, following everything NBA, and looking up to you like some sort of superhero.

 

Please allow me tell you something about their generation that you and even your children might not realize in your insular world of super-stardom. The horror of 9/11 happened to them at the worst possible time. Our sons were 9 and 13 when suddenly all that was safe and predictable wasn’t. This is fact not melodrama.  Hormone’s hit, grades dropped and they and many of their friends retreated into the security of sports and music. At the bottom of the pit of the worst parenting year I can remember – they lost the Hornets.

 

I am not the least bit surprised that our sons, Scotty and Evan, started Bring Back the Buzz. For ten years they bemoaned, and wished, and what-ifed about their Hornets until they were old enough to take matters into their own hands. They had to try. They had to give it their best shot in order for those wonderful memories from their childhood to be redeemable. It is the one wrong out of many that perhaps they can have a chance to help make right.

 

As a Charlottean I have worked for 28 years in and around the “history” community. I could spend many pages telling you about the American Revolution and the Hornets moniker. I could iterate the countless teams, both professional and amateur that bore the Hornets name. I will always have a deep seated resentment for any and all who allowed Shinn to slink out of town and pilfer this city’s identity.

 

You, Mr. Jordan by virtue of your power and your money have the ability to return to this town a piece of its rightful heritage. That alone would be worth years of PR and marketing. Still, I must confess, what I really want is for you to give back this bit of joy to our sons and their generation, to the parents who bought your gear and to the now young adults who worshiped you and still defend you. With this singular act, you will in turn gain their loyalty and that of their children.

 

It’s now clear that New Orleans will be doing their part.

I call on you, Michael Jordan to step forward and be the hero one more time.

 

Bring Back the Buzz!

Tricia (Mama Buzz) Kent

 

Evan Kent’s Letter to Michael Jordan

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Dear Mr. Jordan,

I was there at the first NBA game the Charlotte Coliseum had hosted since George Shinn took the Hornets to New Orleans. I was so pumped at the idea of the NBA coming back to the Queen City. It was October 20, 2003 and the Atlanta Hawks were hosting the Washington Wizards and we had just received the news that our team would be called the Bobcats. My parents were so excited they bought tickets for us to go. The old “Hornets game feeling” was back and I couldn’t resist it. I made a sign that said “Who are these guys? We want the Bobcats”. I walked into the Coliseum and everyone was adorned in Hornets apparel. Nostalgia had never had such a young victim. The memories flooded back, I could practically see Hugo running around the court with a deer head on a plaque to shatter the Buck’s reserve. I could hear the Buzz noise building in my head as the “Hive was Alive”. A swell of pride for my city was in my heart.

Nine years later you would never find a larger advocate for the name change. I’ve been to over several Bobcats games every season in that time. I have sat in box seats, was in the arena for draft day when we got Adam Morrison. I’ve sat in the nose bleeds and bought jerseys. But I am embarrassed. Embarrassed of how detached I have become with the identity of a Bobcat. Not the Flight because we are “First In Flight”. Not the Spiders for an arena called “the Charlotte’s Web” and a cheerleading team called “the Black Widows”. Not the Cougars after the original ABA team but “BOB”cats for a man’s ego.

I pity every kid who misses out on what I had as a child. Nothing was like going to a Hornets game. It was a carnival; an atmosphere I have never seen again. Every Thanksgiving my brother and I would conspire on how to get our parents to take us to the game. I would get so giddy that I would ruin it every time and Scotty would get so mad because I couldn’t help but ask my parents if we were going. I know this is redundant but I will never forget the last game on TV. I will never forget listening to 1110 WBT the next morning and listening to their montage of Hornets sound bites. We all cried. They were gone. We didn’t just lose the team of that year. We lost every Hornet ever. We lost Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Vlade Divac, Muggsy Bogues, Baron Davis, David Wesley, Jamal Mashburn, Bobby Phills etc. I felt robbed of my identity and there was nothing I could do about it.

You have a chance Mr. Jordan to not just change NBA history but a city’s history. You have the ability to impact a community like you haven’t since you retired from the court. You have the ability to make a sacrifice and give us a gift that we will never forget.

Bring Back the Buzz!

Evan Kent

Major Charlotte Sportswriter Changes Stance

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Charlotte Observer sports columnist Tom Sorenson finally realized that the Bobcats brand in Charlotte was going nowhere and expressed his support for a name change in a blog post yesterday. Less than two months ago, he indicated his skepticism about a name change, saying that the Charlotte franchise should invest more in winning than rebranding. But for the NBA to succeed in Charlotte, it needs to do both.

To Tom’s credit, he did say that he respected the grassroots effort and is very responsive to fans’ emails. I would like to think that we persuaded him. Better late than never, welcome aboard Tom!

 

Sports Illustrated Says New Orleans NBA Team Will Likely Be Rebranded

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In Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen’s own words…

In years to come, there promises to be a new cable-TV partnership, the NBA All-Star Game will return to the city, the New Orleans Arena will undergo $50 million in improvements, and the franchise, in all likelihood, will be rebranded. The “Hornets” nickname, which followed the team to New Orleans during its 2002 relocation from Charlotte, will probably be replaced by an identity more fitting to the city to which the team is now married, for better and for worse. Though everyone involved hopes the worst is now far behind them.

Excited now?