Hornets Hype

On this day of many posts and more to come, I just want to send a huge shout out to the airport crew, the Asylum, the BeerGardeners, the G.B.ers, the boarders, the ladies at the Abita tap on the 100 level (you rock!), the Back Row (represent!), 247, At the Hive, and all the awesome people we’ve met over the course of this season!

And you know, when I started this blog, I had a sinking feeling that New Orleans would never come through for this team. And they’d never meet the benchmark. And just when things were starting to get great, the team would leave. Ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be my final CrowdWatch of the year, because last night’s sellout put the Hornets’ attendance over the benchmark of 14,735 for the first time.

56-26.

Now breathe. And get ready to take it higher.

For the second road game in a row, I have downloaded pictures in preparation of photoshopping CP stealing an opposing player’s soul, to illustrate the phrase ticktock likes to colloquially throw around from time to time. And for the second game in a row, the opposing team has not only beaten the Bees, but the player whose photo I downloaded to be CP’s victim, has actually been our downfall (Artest, Kidd). Thus, no picture. Dammit.

Check out our nifty feature on Hornets.com. While you’re over there, you might as well click back out to the home page and see what else is going– oh hey, wait, who’s that with Chris Paul?

Hee.

But that’s not what I was talking about when I said the Hornets sent presents. Look at this fine, thick sheaf of playoff fun that was waiting on my doorstep in a big envelope when I got home!

As I drove past New Orleans Arena on my way home from work, the workers were putting up a giant yellow “FAN UP NEW ORLEANS” sign on the side of the arena for the playoffs. Keep up the good work, sign men!

This is a good day to be a Hornets fan.

Yeah, I got nothin’. Oh, except this.

AND OH HOLY SHIT. You know how you watch on TV when they pass out the Division Championship t-shirts and hats, and the team stands around hugging and watching the season highlight video, and it’s this moment you think you will never forget, and you can almost imagine you were there?

I was about four feet behind the bench.

And I was standing on my seat, and the usher didn’t even yell at me, and the guys were passing around the hats and putting them on, and everyone was smiling. And it was everything you thought it would be.

So this is what the top looks like.

In case you missed it, it was hilarious. Chris Paul, man… always says the right thing. And he’s so young. How lucky are the Hornets? No, seriously. How lucky? Interview also features D-West, Hilton Armstrong, Julian Wright, Rasual Butler, and Ryan Bowen goofing off in the first row, like they’ve never been on TV before.

I love the Hornets.

HornetsHype would like to send a shout out of congrats to Mr. Chris Paul, the MVP man himself, for displaying mad spelling prowess on top of his considerable balling skills.

They just did the “Year in Review” on Hornets Tonight, and they ran clips from the interviews CST has done with the players over the course of the season. Some funny, funny stuff there. The last question they always ask is, “If your car broke down and you had to call for help and spell the name of the street… how do you spell Tchoupitoulas?” I haven’t seen anyone get it right all season. Most of them just laugh and don’t even try. Or they go, “C-H-O-P-A… uh… T… uh… U-S?” Even the management staff couldn’t get it.

I gotta give Chris Paul a shout-out here. Surprisingly, he beat everyone else, only missing by one letter when he left out the second “U.” Nice spelling, CP3!

(Of course, out of all the Hornets, Chris Paul probably should have the best chance at knowing how to spell Tchoupitoulas Street, since he actually lives in the CBD.)

P.S. “The Crescent City Connection” is totally a better name for the CP-TC alley oop than the Big Easy, and I am endorsing its use here. Little bit of local color there! (For out of towners: The Crescent City Connection is the toll bridge connecting the East & West banks of the Mississippi. As in, “As I drove home over the Crescent City Connection, I daydreamed about all those flashy Crescent City Connections the Hornets were going to put up on the T-Wolves in the 1st quarter.” See how nice that works.)

It looks like the trip to Canada did wonders for Mo Pete. Although he only played 24 minutes, he was 2-4 from 3-point range and ended the night with 8. He was aggressive on defense and and got a warm reception from the Air Canada Centre crowd. Then he moved south with the team to Orlando. From the beginning of the game he was hot. Mo ended up leading the Hornets with 19 points, his most since January, on 7-9 shooting overall and 5-6 from 3-point range. In his 32 minutes, he also pulled down 6 rebounds and was hustling on both ends of the floor.

Down the stretch is was Peja’s big shot that put the team ahead, but we wouldn’t even have been in striking distance if it wasn’t for Mo. He made shots throughout the game and kept the team floating when the rest were struggling to hit shots.  So keep it up Mo.  We here at Hornets Hype have faith in you.  We know you are key to our playoff run.  When you’ve been great, so have the Hornets.

We believe.

Hypemeter:  wicked high, after a gut-wrenching series of runs back and forth, the fourth quarter was edge-of-your-seat entertainment, culminating in a huge Hornets’ win!

I have decided to be positive following last night’s loss to the Celtics. The Hornets are 2-1 on the road trip, and are tied with San Antonio for first place (though ahead percentage-wise). The Lakers suffered another egregious loss to a subpar team, which means we can all make ourselves feel a little bit better by laughing at them, because at least we lost to Boston.

Anyway, going back to the title of this post, I love things that are free. Man. I really do. Ask my boyfriend. We had this discussion during the Hornets’ recent homestand.

ticktock6: We have to remember to bring our free appetizer coupon for Gordon Biersch.

mW: I thought you said you weren’t hungry.

ticktock6: Well, yeah, but it’s free.

mW: That has nothing to do with anything. If you’re not hungry, then you don’t need to eat.

ticktock6: But it’s free.

mW: I will never understand how you weigh what you do.

ticktock6: Look, no. I don’t think you are really understanding the concept here. IT’S. FREE. If we go to Gordon Biersch, we will absolutely buy two beers. That will cost $10. If you spend $10 you get a free appetizer if you bring your program. Why would we not get it? It’s a waste of free food not to get it. Freeeeeee!

mW: Because you’re not hungry?

ticktock6: I’m hungry if it’s free.

mW: …..

We have four home games left in the regular season. I can’t believe I just typed that. But. There’s some pretty cool stuff coming up on the promotional schedule, if you’re a local fan and you want to score free Hornets loot. Check it out:

April 4th Hornets vs. Knicks: Honeybee night. Everyone gets a free Honeybee poster. Me? I give this one a big huge WHAT-EV (hey, how about Tyson Chandler posters for all the ladies in attendance, am I right? am I right?), but I’m sure there are people who care. (Dude. Fantastic moment of last night’s watch party at Bruno’s. The Honeybee throws Hornets beads to everyone on the right side of me. Then she stops at me, the only girl at the table. THEN she turns around, opens another bag, and tosses them to the rest of our table, starting with mW on the left side of me. OK, Honeybees, it may be true that I am slightly cuter than some of you, but believe me, I am not competition. If you saw me dance, you would know this is a fact.)

April 6th Hornets vs. Warriors: Chris Paul bobblehead (first 10,000 fans). Look, I don’t know about you guys, but I am willing to forgo the free beer to get this bobblehead.

April 8th Hornets vs. Jazz: Peja Stojakovic bobblehead (first 8,000 fans) And then I can put him next to Tyson and CP3 on my mantelpiece and arrange tastefully themed decorations around them and place them in entertaining poses together and they will look happy and my life will be much enriched. MUST HAVE.

April 15th Hornets vs. Clippers: Team poster to everyone in attendance.

Also, there are Buzzfests for all four home games left on the schedule. Yes, even the Sunday 4/6 game that got moved to noon, for which the beer is going to start at 10:00 AM, so come ready with your drinking hat on. I don’t really have a drinking hat, but you know, just in case you do…

I had to do the beat myself in my living room. How could you not?

The past three games since returning from the ankle:

35-16

37-4

23-11

And a grand total of 25/27 at the free throw line.

Who’s a star now?

(There is no point to this post. I just really like the picture.)

In the words of the opposing coach, Doc Rivers, “David West single-handedly destroyed us.” You taking note, Rafer Alston? Those of us in the Big Easy have known all year that D-West deserved his All-Star spot. And last night he proved it big-time. Many people have called for Garnett to get the Defensive Player of the Year award, especially if he misses out on the MVP. Well, tonight, D-West said otherwise, putting up 37 points on Boston’s big man.

Hornets’ coach Byron Scott called it a “quiet” 37, which it was, because until we looked up at the player of the game stats, we had no idea he had scored that many. But this is why David is so crucial to the Hornets. When we struggle with perimeter shooting, David offers an alternative: able to just plug away and hammer the paint points. He’s done it to the best in the West, and now he’s done it to the best in the East. He’s like a force of nature, and he’s going to carry us in the playoffs.

Don’t get me wrong, I love CP and Peja, and all the rest, but when it comes to the solid, easy, punishing points and drawing fouls, West is the man. David West.