Jamal Mashburn | Bring Back the Buzz

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

By Steve Kwon

When the Hornets’ last game came, it was a somber day. The shorthanded Hornets didn’t have much of a chance against the New Jersey Nets, anchored by Jason Kidd, that year. When I first starting going to Hornets games, the Coliseum would be always packed to capacity. After the Nets eliminated the Hornets in the playoffs and sent them packing for New Orleans, the arena wasn’t even half full. But I was there. The people who came despite then owner George Shinn’s betrayal wanted to show appreciation for 14 years of unforgettable memories.

I was 14 years old at the time. Like many people my age, I grew up with the Hornets. My dad, a big Hornets fan as well, took me to tons of games. The team played its first game only months after I was born.

I didn’t start watching the Hornets until after Zo left. But after Glen Rice and Matt Geiger arrived in town, I became hooked. I started watching almost every Hornets away game on TV and everytime I see Mike Gminski and Steve Martin working a ACC game, I start feeling nostalgic.

I loved Super Hugo and of course, the Honeybees. Glen Rice or G Money was my first favorite player. Then it was Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn. Who could forget Baron Davis’ game winner against the Magic in the playoffs? Or Glen Rice winning the All-Star MVP award in 1997?

So many great memories. So much rich tradition. So much history.

But all of it was taken away and replaced by the……Bobcats?

I don’t feel like there could have been any name that could have replaced the Hornets, but the choice of Bobcats was horrendous. Obviously, former owner Bob Johnson named it after himself. Strike 1. As Charlotte Observer writer Scott Fowler points out in his most recent blog post, the Bobcats remind you of a middle school team. Strike 2. The Bobcats chose orange as its primary color and its logo looks like it was copy and pasted from a WNBA team. Strike 3.

When the Hornets were in town, I would guess that I would go to an average of ten games a year. I rarely go to more than than two Bobcats games a year, if any. I owned several pieces of Hornets apparel which included my coveted Glen Rice jersey, Hornets jacket and lots of T-Shirts. I own no Bobcats apparel at all and don’t plan to.

The emotional connection to the Bobcats isn’t there and won’t be there, even if the team starts winning games. I watched more games in the Bobcats’ playoff year, but even then I noticed something was missing.

It wasn’t the Hornets.

I think most Charlotteans share a similar sentiment. I really feel that if you took an honest survey and asked Charlotteans whether they would be more engaged with the local NBA team if the team’s nickname changed to Hornets, I would be confident that they would be. Interest would double, if not triple.

The Bobcats claim there is no indication that fans wanted a new name, pointing to a study done by Harris Interactive. However, there’s a catch. The name Hornets couldn’t be included in the study because New Orleans already had the name. So, it doesn’t prove much at all.

But we can come up with our own numbers. If the Beelievers can group together and fund a market research study that shows that a name change to Hornets would be profitable for the Bobcats, despite the $3-5M price tag, could the Bobcats really not do it if the name became available? If the Bobcats won’t commission another study that includes Hornets as a choice, we’ll try.

When Jordan bought the team in 2010, he told reporters he would change the Bobcats’ name if the public wanted it. Two years later, he has a great opportunity to back that up.

Our job is to show him and the rest of the Bobcats executives that Charlotte really does want this. This blog will be a medium in which we can promote the cause. If hundreds of people posted their own Hornets stories and why they want the name back, the Bobcats will notice. The blog will also share important updates for any significant events or news concerning the campaign.

If you would like to write a post for the blog, please email me at stvkwon@gmail.com with your name. I would like to put a different post on here every day if we can. Most likely, it will be a couple posts a week.

With rumors swirling that the new owners of the New Orleans Hornets will likely want to change the name, the time to strike is now. If we ever want the name back, we need to make our opinions heard now.

I wanted to be a part of this because I love Charlotte. Its a great city and I’m glad I moved back here after college. Even though we have the Panthers, I feel the Hornets helped to bring Charlotteans together like nothing else.

In the last week, people have started to get behind this campaign. On Facebook, we gained hundreds of ‘Likes’ in a few days. The same on Twitter. Former players like Muggsy Bogues aren’t immune either. Bogues, still revered in Charlotte, tweeted his support last night.

I look forward to talking and working with many of you to bring our Hornets back.

All we need to do is to BEE-LIEVE!