- Team Pages
- Charlotte Bobcats
- Carolina Panthers
- Charlotte Checkers
- Charlotte Knights
- Charlotte 49ers
- Davidson Wildcats
It's hard to care about Bobcats
IN MY OPINION
TOM SORENSEN
The Charlotte Bobcats, who have won three straight games, play the Atlanta Hawks tonight at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. If they win, they match the longest victory streak in franchise history.
And you don't care. The Bobcats don't have a fan base. They have a cult.
Partly it's the fault of the market. When the Charlotte Hornets skipped town, there wasn't anger, there was apathy. If there were anger, fans would have bought tickets out of spite.
But the lack of interest is mostly the fault of the Bobcats. And it's unfortunate because the pro sports fans I know would like a reason to go to the gym.
I want one. In the media business, it's great to have a love affair with the home team, and it's almost as good to have contempt for it. There's passion either way. The danger is when you don't care. I don't. Sorry.
I spent three straight nights in Charlotte Bobcats Arena last week for the CIAA basketball tournament and man, did people care. Some sat near the court and others filled the concourses, pausing at La' Wan's soul food and the Sexy Oldies Soul Booth.
Even though my sexy oldies collection is a tad depleted (except for Otis Redding and Joe Tex), I lingered. I felt part of something. We all did. And that feeling spilled from the hallways to the bleachers and onto the streets and into the city.
Next week we get the ACC men's basketball tournament and two weeks after that we get the NCAA men's basketball regional. You probably heard. Basketball is what fans talk about daily in gyms and bars, around fork lifts and computers.
And they're not talking about the local NBA team.
I like some of what the Bobcats do. I love Gerald Wallace, whom I worry is the NBA's Dan Morgan, and Jason Richardson, and I liked Jeff McInnis.
I don't know if Raymond Felton is a starting NBA point guard or if he is instant points off the bench. The Bobcats don't know either or they would have entrusted him with the ball four months ago.
But the organization's biggest flaw is this -- it doesn't really care if you show up.
Fans in Los Angeles go to Lakers games for many reasons, among them to see Kobe. Fans in Cleveland go to see LeBron. Fans in New Orleans go (when they go) to see Chris Paul. They go because they have an opportunity to mingle with greatness.
The greatest player in NBA history runs the Bobcats. Yet you're more likely to see me in the arena than you are Michael Jordan. I understand why Jordan watches the game in the privacy of his suite, where he can react without being reviewed.
But why not hang around courtside before tipoff? Why not say hello to the season ticket holders?
Jordan doesn't have to serve the role of a punched-out fighter turned greeter at a Las Vegas casino.
Just be there. Be there so the parent can ask his kid, "Son, you know who that is, don't you?"
Because the way this organization is going, it won't be long before the kid says, "I have no idea."
