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jdsooner
9/2/2005, 02:02 PM
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma City offered to become the home of the New Orleans Hornets this season following the devastation by Hurricane Katrina.

Mayor Mick Cornett acknowledged Friday that a Louisiana site would be the obvious choice for the Hornets. But he suggested Oklahoma City's Ford Center, which does not have a major league tenant, as an option.

"We could be the temporary home for the team and we're available if that makes sense to the city of New Orleans," Cornett said.

Hornets general manager Allan Bristow said no decision had been made on where the team would play.

Baton Rouge, La., could be a possibility. The city is home to LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center, which seats more than 14,000.

The Hornets open their preseason schedule Oct. 13 at Denver's Pepsi Center against the Nuggets. The Hornets will hold at least the first two weeks of training camp at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Boarder
9/2/2005, 10:25 PM
I was thinking that would be an awesome deal. I would probably buy season tickets.

ben9
9/14/2005, 08:03 AM
Updated: Sep. 11, 2005, 11:43 AM ET
Hornets' interim home could be decided in a weekBy Andy Katz
ESPN.com


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The New Orleans Hornets' home for the 2005-06 season should be announced within a week, according to NBA commissioner David Stern.

Stern, in attendance at Friday night's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies, told ESPN.com the league is close to making an announcement with the displaced franchise after Hurricane Katrina made playing in the city unfeasible for the foreseeable future.

"We're getting to a place where we have to make a decision relatively soon," Stern said. "I would hope by the end of next week we'll have something to say."

Earlier Friday, The Associated Press reported that five NBA officials toured Oklahoma City's Ford Center after the city offered to house the Hornets for the season.

The AP reported that mayor Mick Cornett said the league discussed a lease if they decided on playing 41 games in the 19,675-seat facility.

"The NBA is impressed with what we have to offer," Cornett told the AP.

Louisville, Nashville and Kansas City have reportedly shown they would be interested in letting the Hornets use their facilities, too.

The Hornets' front office relocated to Houston and already announced that it would hold its training camp at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Deputy commissioner Russ Granik, who was also in attendance at the Hall of Fame said the Hornets would prefer to play in Louisiana at LSU in Baton Rouge. Granik said there were three to four options available but added that Las Vegas wasn't one of them for this season.

"We'll see what's available," Granik said. "We hope to have it done within a week. We'd like them to stay in one place if it were possible."

The New Orleans Saints are expected to play three games at LSU and four at the Alamodome in San Antonio. One of their home games was moved to New Jersey on the New York Giants home field at the Meadowlands. Tulane football relocated to Louisiana Tech while its men's basketball team will be at Texas A&M and its women's basketball team at Texas Tech. The University of New Orleans men's and women's basketball teams relocated to the University of Texas at Tyler.

Stern and Granik both said the Hornets were looking for a "temporary or interim home," and not a permanent move.

But it's still premature to make any decisions beyond this season.

"We haven't been in to inspect [the arena]," Stern said. "We don't know when people will be allowed back into the city. We're taking our lead from people who are dealing with much more important things than us."

Granik added that "right now the focus is on the team remaining the New Orleans Hornets."

Meanwhile, Cornett said Friday that the sale of tickets for Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City suggest a strong market for a pro team.

"That old image that we had of Oklahoma City as being a market that was only able to support minor-league events is outdated," Cornett told the AP.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.

Rhino
9/14/2005, 09:41 AM
Major kudos to Cornett. He's handling this beautifully.

OklahomaTrombone
9/14/2005, 09:24 PM
There is a press conference scheduled for tomorrow announce that it will happen.

Apparently there will also be a limited edition "Oklahoma City Hornets" jersey.

GDC
9/15/2005, 06:40 PM
http://epguides.com/GreenHornet/cast.jpg

ben9
9/16/2005, 09:59 AM
It's OKC's to loose now. Looks like they'll announce it next week. So, do you call them the New Orleans Hornets of OklahomaCity? Oklahoma City Hornets of New Orleans?

ben9
9/20/2005, 08:19 AM
Grab your nuts, OKC, Chris Paul and Company are coming!


MSNBC.com
Report: Hornets will play in Oklahoma City
Number of games uncertain, but team will operate out of city

SportsTicker
Updated: 5:31 p.m. ET Sept. 19, 2005


OKLAHOMA CITY - The New Orleans Hornets apparently have found a place to play some of their home games.

Left without a home following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets will play a portion of their upcoming home schedule in Oklahoma City, The Oklahomian reported on its website Sunday night.

According to the report, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett confirmed to the newspaper that the Hornets have reached a tentative agreement with the city to play some of their 41-game home schedule at the 19,675-seat Ford Center. It is uncertain how many games the Hornets would play in Oklahoma City.

The NBA season starts November 2.

The Times-Picayune also reported the Hornets would establish a base of operations in Oklahoma City, while also keeping a smaller office in New Orleans or Baton Rouge.

It is still uncertain if the Hornets will play any games in Louisiana this season. The NFL’s Saints will play four games at Louisiana State’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge and three home games at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The Hornets’ home, the New Orleans Arena, was used as a shelter in last month’s disaster, which has been called the worst in the history of the United States.

The Oklahomian also reported that a council meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday morning to review the proposal of bringing the Hornets to the city.

Should the Hornets move, the team is expected to relocate 100 employees from Louisiana and also hire 50 people locally to do a “rapid-ramp-up” of telemarketing and ticket sales promotions.

Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, told The Oklahomian on Friday that he plans to file legislation that would provide the state money to the city to help pay for the team’s relocation costs.

Other cities that reportedly have offered the Hornets a home include Nashville, San Diego, Kansas City, Louisville and Las Vegas, which will host the All-Star Game in 2007.

© 2005 SportsTicker
© 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9400393/

King Crimson
9/20/2005, 08:42 AM
criminy, Allen Bristow is the Hornets GM? no wonder they only won 18 games last year. that clown drove the Nuggets into the ground.

don't get me wrong, I'm all for the thing. should be great for OKC. and for selfish reasons maybe bump the Ford Center up a notch in the NCAA tournament pecking order.....get a regional. BUT, after a dozen years of living in Denver.....i've learned that directionless moaning and irrational criticism and bandwagon allegiences are what pro sports fandom are all about.


:D

ben9
9/20/2005, 09:07 AM
criminy, Allen Bristow is the Hornets GM? no wonder they only won 18 games last year. that clown drove the Nuggets into the ground.

don't get me wrong, I'm all for the thing. should be great for OKC. and for selfish reasons maybe bump the Ford Center up a notch in the NCAA tournament pecking order.....get a regional. BUT, after a dozen years of living in Denver.....i've learned that directionless moaning and irrational criticism and bandwagon allegiences are what pro sports fandom are all about.


:D


It's not as if Kiki is doing a stellar job himself, just because he's got a budget to work with now; remember, he's the mastermind behind the Abduhl-Waheed contract that has him the highest paid perma-DL'er in the league. The state gets to collect income tax on the payroll, it's just too bad it's the third lowest in the league.