You literally just made my point (Clippers were good, selling out every game, etc. - yet Lakers still the hottest ticket and most relevant overall team in town). Thanks! :D

I don't disagree, but when we've seen the Browns and, to a lesser extent, the Colts leave...well, anyone but the Packers can move.

I didn’t even know there was a team called the Pelicans.

The were the Charlotte Hornets then the New Orleans Hornets, then New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (because of Katrina) and finally the New Orleans Pelicans. I forget they are still around..

I'm a Laker fan and realize there's plenty of Clippers fans here. Theyre having somewhat of a down year attendance wise (many stars left) but they've been hovering around 100% home attendance the previous 6 years.

They'll be fine. Jerry West is there now, and they'll grab some big free agents.

@10023

The old Hornets who gave up their name to become the Pelicans so the Bobcats could reclaim the name for Charlotte. Should have become the Big Easy Pelicans, New Orleans Pelicans doesn't roll off the tongue well.

Return of MLB to Montreal with the re-location of the Tampa Bay Rays. White Sox to Vancouver. :dancinghotdog:

Don't forget that they don't "own" the history of the Hornets, either, because that belongs to...the Charlotte Hornets (nee Bobcats). I think they own all the history associated with New Orleans, but I'm not sure.

A clusterfuck.

They are pretty forgettable in New Orleans. They were much more memorable as the original Charlotte Hornets.

Katrina strikes New Orleans. Hornets spend two seasons in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City decides they like NBA basketball. They buy the Sonics and relocate them a year later.

The Pelicans continue to flounder in New Orleans. Seattle buys them and relocates them to Key Arena, making them the Sonics.

It would be so fitting for things to go full circle like that.

I agree, "New Orleans Pelicans" doesn't roll off of the tongue well, but it rolls off surprisingly better then "New Orleans Hornets" did. Something to do with the OR followed by HOR - just sounds off, IMO.

Exactly. And would make for the perfect new rivalry between Seattle and OKC. Not to mention, Russell Westbrook was drafted by the Sonics, but ultimately never played a single game there due to the move to OKC.

Or a return of NBA to Vancouver and the re-kindling of the Naismith Cup.

It was a joke, based on a certain champion of Jax.

Toronto shouldn't assume they can hold onto the Maple Leafs, on account of their mediocre skyline.

They should be the Crawfish.

I get that a team's location is primarily based on the amount of revenue that can be generated in said city, and it follows that teams based in mega media markets are likely to thrive.

But I still wonder whether the NBA, MLB and (now) NFL are really better off by having TWO teams in both NYC and L.A.? Seems as though having the Clippers in, say, Seattle or San Diego (where they one were) would make more sense; having the Nets in, say, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati or St. Louis would make more sense, etc. Seems like the Portland or Sacramento "Angels" or Indianapolis or Charlotte "Mets" would also make more sense. Same would follow for their respective teams in the NFL.

Two teams in each league in both cities seems unnecessary, IMO.

NYC, for example, has nearly ten times the population of Pittsburgh. All things being equal, you'd think, then, that it could support ten teams. And that's not even looking at the more important number, GDP.

I don't see that. Hornets is two syllables. Pelicans is 3 and also has an early -L- , which is present in the third syllable of New Orleans. Big Easy Pelicans is 5 syllables compared to 6 in New Orleans, with fewer common sounds. Could have been worse, could have been Louisiana Pelicans, which sounds a million times longer.

How stupid was that? The Sonics should have stayed there. The Hornets should have left their small, ravaged market and stayed in OKC. They ripped out 40 years of NBA tradition for a greedy owner and the most uncreative name in all of the NBA. They could have at least used a bison for a more visible mascot, which makes a bunch of sense for OKC.

And there goes another name that's way too long, should have been Oklahoma Thunder. It sounds shorter and you market to the whole state.

Man, I wish Portland could snag a baseball team. I never much cared for the Blazers. The Timbers are great, but it's just not the same as taking in a baseball game.