Happy face.
The NBA released the new schedule into the wilds of the internet today, and thus I know exactly what I'll be doing for 82 specific nights in the future.
Highlights from the schedule include the home opener against LeBron and the Jameses, games on every imaginable Christian, Jewish and pagan holiday, plus an insanely brutal home stretch that sees us play all the really good teams in their buildings and more really good teams in our own.
Anyways, it appears the internets are already alive with talk about the schedule, so I'll skip the repeating what's already been said and dole out the linkage instead...
- View the Hornets 2008-09 schedule over at ESPN.com.
- Jim Eichenhofer breaks it down over at the Big Easy Buzz Blog.
- More from Jim: Twenty Hornets games to watch in 2008-09.
- Hornets Hype: "The Hornets are coming for you. Worldwide."
- Some initial thoughts on the new schedule come courtesy of At The Hive (and I swear we thought of the post title first).
Oh, and when you're done with the schedule stuff, check out this interview I did recently with EmptyTheBench.com. I use big words throughout, like "fundamental."
Oh yeah.
14 mighty comments post your own
toney
08/06/08 08:34 AM
Melvin Ely. He can beat you in so many ways.
neworleansnation.blogspot.com #1
Matt
08/06/08 09:27 AM
I'm sure someone else gas already coined this phrase, but were playing the James Gang opening night. They will, in fact, walk away...
#2
mW
08/06/08 05:57 PM
Funny, before the schedule came out, I was thinking, you know, what could make this season a little more challenging? Seven out of nine April games on the road? And then it happened!
hornetshype.com #3
sportnlife
08/06/08 09:14 PM
All scheduling problems duly noted, but here's one issue about the tv schedule that continues to bug me (no pun intended). I happen to live in a part of town that, no fault of our own, was not serviced by Cox when we returned. Everyone out here signed up with Directv for two years back in 07 like I did, which means that we don't get the Cox broadcasts of the away games (or home games, for that matter). Those Directv lock-ins have probably limited the incentive for Cox to make the games available to satellite customers, who might renew the satellite package when the commitment is up. Whatever. The point is that while 13 nationally televised games look good in comparison to last year's schedule of 2 (and yet skimpy, compared to some the national exposure for other teams, as well) some of those are home games that I may be attending anyway, which means that if things don't change, the away games on national broadcasts will be the only ones I'll get to see on tv. The way it works is that even the NBATV games, if they are picking up the broadcast feed from Cox, will not be shown on Directv. At all, home or away. One of the underreported stories about last year's slow comeback of home crowds to the Hornets was the huge swaths of the metro area that, due to Cox's monopolistic control of the broadcasts, could not get any familiarity with or enthusiasm toward the team. I'm hoping things change this year, but I fear that Cox has no real incentive to make its broadcasts available to satellite customers, and we're being made to suffer for something we have no control over.
#4
Ron Hitley
08/07/08 01:43 AM
@sportnlife: Is there absolutely no way to get all the games on TV on the North Shore? Like say if money was no object? I've lost track of all that stuff. And yeah, those 13 games on national TV seemed great at first, but I've since read that Cleveland will have 34 and Phoenix will have 25. Crazy.
www.hornets247.com #5
Mikey
08/07/08 05:16 AM
DISH Network still carries the COX broadcasts right? I have a crazy idea about how to get folks to be able to view more games on the northshore. We need to get a list of all establishments (restaurants, bars, etc.) that carry DISH Network, and would broadcast the games. One place already comes to mind, and thats Acme Oyster House in Covington (who happens to be a Hornets sponsor). But, we informally promote these establishments to some of our Northshore Hornet fans, and perhaps even have ourown informal watch parties at these places during the away games. I know if I was a bar or restaurant owner, and that kind of grass-roots effort was initiated and actually took hold, I would want to hop on the DISH bandwagon to try and increase business a little. This is just an idea, but its going to take something like this to get to watch these games on the Northshore, because this deal with the cable companies or DirecTV is just not gonna get done. Off my soapbox on that subject...on to senseless rambling aboutthe schedule. Saturday, November 15, I am GOING TO HOUSTON! I've even got this crazy notion to go to New York for the Knicks game in March. I really hate home & home back-to-backs (OKC). And speaking of the Oklahoma City Tumbleweeds, or whatever they're called, we got something for them when they get here! The road games in April are a concern, but the 5-game homestand in March is NICE!!!
#6
Ron Hitley
08/07/08 08:22 AM
Hmm, NYC in March. That could work.
www.hornets247.com #7
Matt
08/07/08 11:44 AM
I routinely had to watch Hornets games over Windows Media Player using my League Pass ID because I could get the games. They even blacked out AWAY games. bastiges...
#8
sportnlife
08/07/08 12:04 PM
Re: Directv I'm in N. O. East, not Northshore. The East was in the same boat as Northshore vis-a-vis Cox control of the tv games, but for different reasons: infrastructure losses and a radical reduction of population. As I said, the problem for people out here is the two-year lock-in for the satellite packages, but Cox is now available. The NBA League Pass operates the same way as NBATV, which is that it doesn't pick up the Cox feed. DISH is also available, but again, the lock-in. Cheapest thing might be to install basic cable just for the games and just on one tv.
#9
mW
08/08/08 02:47 AM
I think part of the whole TV coverage issue has to do with the Hornets. I mean, it should be one of their number one marketing priorities to get their games televised everywhere in the metro area, to as many people as possible. Even local lawmakers got into it last year, threatening Cox with changes of the monopoly rules if they didn't get their shit straight. This was a huge issue last year, it just got eclipsed by the Hornets playoff push. And rightly so. But now that the season is coming back around, this issue does need to be addressed. Obviously, Cox deserves a bunch of blame. If I recall, the reason other stations/outlets weren't carrying the feed was because they said it was too expensive. Thanks Cox. But isn't this where the Hornets should step in? Make something happen, team! You can't have a rabid fanbase if you don't build that fanbase in the first place.
www.hornetshype.com #10
Anonymous
08/08/08 08:30 AM
Anyone else get the feeling that the Hornets are gonna make a major move. IMOI think we may see a Gordon sign and trade or we may sign Livingston. I mean something has got to happen now that we are not intrested in signing Pargo and Jason Williams just signed with the Clips.
#11
Emir lidan
08/08/08 09:48 AM
@ANONYMOUS DUDE hehe i think ur thinkin of jason williams as deron williams cus thats what i thought at first to but jason williams sucks so no need to bring him up
#12
sportnlife
08/08/08 11:29 PM
mW: You're absolutely right. The ball is in the Hornets' court on this issue. Cox has no incentive to undercut their monopoly, but the Hornets can and should use their newfound popularity to leverage a deal that enhances the value of their product. Last year's slow fan return to the arena had many national pundits predicting that the team would be going to Las Vegas by next season. If the Hornets had not had a banner season, the NBA Allstar game, a title chase, and a bona fide MVP candidate all in a down year for the Saints, who's to say if Chris Paul would have re-signed? And how would that decision have rippled through the rest of the team and the city? So now that the Hornets have the city's attention, the only sensible move is to protect their popularity with the fan base by ensuring maximum local exposure, and maybe even, as the Saints were successful in doing, trying to make their appeal regional with an even broader tv coverage area. Some Anonymous Dude: Dude, odds are pretty strong a Gordon trade won't happen, as nice as it would be. First, the Hornets can't trade off comparable salary without cutting into the muscle of their core group. More important, Chicago is not desperate to move Gordon. Nobody else out there can bid for him as high as they already have offered, so the deck is stacked in their favor. At worst, he takes a one-year deal and becomes unrestricted next year, but they're willing to go that route if need be, because it frees up salary next year and it helps them avoid the luxury tax this year. They're not going to deal him away for some other team's spare parts or marginal players, and the Hornets are not going to move a key player to get him.
#13
Glen Fried Rice
08/10/08 09:24 AM
Nice! I know where I'll be November 7. The Hornets are coming home to roo...uh....sting.
#14