these electronically stored zeroes and ones with the world, which results in words and images slow-loading or snap-loading, depending upon your WWW connection, onto your screen. And all to know that too tall too strong overpaid gladiators will kill lions for another team this year–or in Europe. Enjoy, you animals.

• Someone decided not to let lie the sleeping bear; only instead of roaring, it sniffled, poo-pooed its waker, and whispered that a measly $11.6 million per year, for five of them, would be enough to buy the summer’s most coveted restricted free agent, when the Grizzly has about forty-seven billion under its cap, hasn’t spent anything all summer, and the I-don’t-want-to-be-a-Hawk-and-am-not-cool-with-my-head-coach-player in question’s team had vowed to retain him. Seriously? Were they upset that they didn’t have another Pao Gasol to give away? Perhaps Chris Wallace has Alzheimer’s? News flash: the Hawks giddily matched, dancing their way to the bank, counting all the way the money they don’t have to pay their biggest name.
• Dear God, man, who knew it? Who knew it? Mike James is the next big name in the game of orange balls! Well, he does have the initials MJ. So did Michael Jordan, you know. And Magic Johnson. And, maybe, kind of, the “Chinese Magic Johnson.” Yup. He exists (CMJ, not MJ (James)). A.K.A. Sun Yue. At 1.8288 meters and 96.1615 kilograms (6′9″, 212 lbs. you anachronisms!), he is the archetypal point forward, just like MJ (Earvin). He was drafted by last year’s last losers in 2007 and can be glimpsed this year getting pummeled by other, better teams in the Olympics. And then on the end of L.A.’s bench next to Coby Karl.
• Some people like white chocolate, nothing wrong with that. But it’s dark chocolate that has the health benefits such as, among other things, lower blood pressure. So if the Clippers have done anything right this summer, it’s not throwing wads of cash at White Chocolate and pretending it’s a big move. Jason Williams got his new team, his new deal, but the 32-year-old is a back-up now, and the Clippers’ fans’ blood pressure can rest easier knowing that B-Diddy is their mainstay. And when Dark Chocolate’s knee/ankle/back/[insert injured body part here] goes out, the Clips know they have a starter-quality point guard they can rely on. Albeit, one that causes higher blood pressure.
• By the way, the reason we’re even talking about antioxidant-rich food is because the Clips first choice for their second point guard turned them down. Their former first point guard, Shaun Livingston, was offered a one-year guaranteed contract and said no. Interesting. No one knows if the man can take practice, let alone a full speed game, and he said no. Hmmm. Ask the 76ers second center, Jason Smith, how fragile these things are. He just blew out his ACL without any contact being made in practice. Wonder if his contract’s guaranteed? Then again, even making a pro-rata minimum (like G, Shannon Brown, who just signed with the Bobcats for 1-year and $800,000 following his 2nd season), the amount of which depends upon how long you’ve been in the league, is more than any one person could ever deserve to earn. These capitalist pigs will be the death of us all, I say!
• While we’re on the subject of the Clippers (are we? Damn, how did that happen!?), the other-L.A.-team also made the masterful move of swooping down and gathering in freakishly tall sharpshooter Steve Novak from the Rockets. He’s so valuable, the Rockets received the option of switching second round picks with the Clips in 2011. What?
• The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling! some say. It’s all Much Ado about Nothing! others say. Ballers to the Euroleagues is no big deal. Or maybe it is. Unless–they ALL say–you know, we lose someone like “King James”, LBJ, “Video-Game James,” or “The Chosen One.” Then it’s real. Then we’re in trouble. Then Boston and L.A. and the Knickerbockers can finally dispense with the cap to compete globally and buy their championships just like baseball teams. But that won’t happen. It won’t. Unless, those guys in question say, each doing something different around the pool, they pay him $50 mil a year. Or help him become a billionaire. Even MJ (Michael) lost a good $11 mil or so out of his $30 mil a year to taxes. But not if you play for the right team in Europe. Then THEY pay your taxes; what you read in the papers is what you keep (minus what you pay your agent, your publicist, your chef, your housekeeper, and the dozens of other blood-thirsty man-servant leeches). Think it’s crazy? Dime Magazine unearthed some interesting comments from ‘07, where the Lebrons talked about going global. Does it all fit into some masterplan? Think about it. Let’s say you’re a bank teller in Metairie. They pay you $10 an hour for 40 hours a week, 2 breaks a day, and an unpaid lunch. Only you talk to some cat from Greece while on vacation in the mediterranean and learn that their bank tellers make $50 an hour, work 30 hours a week, get several weeks more vacation, and their employers pay their taxes. Could you say you wouldn’t do it? It’s a global world, man. (Postscript: Kobe says he won’t sign an extension until he tests the global market. Read: I’ve won a scoring title, an MVP, and a championship, what do I have left to prove other than that I can get more money than Lebron from Euro teams with no cap?) P.S.S. What’s three inches shorter than me, weighs about twenty pounds less, and will make about 3.5 million more a year than I ever will in the coming year? Earl Boykins. Italian League. Virtus Bologna. [Author shakes his head dejectedly…]
• The floor, the floor, the floor is on fire. So for fuck’s sake go vote in the Floor Burn Tournament and give Ju-Ju his props. Vote! Vote again. Vote from a different computer. Trick the statistical gods with celebratory defiance! Hahaha! The man is only winning by 1449 votes, so get out there and Hype him!
• Meanwhile, in their effort to regain legitimacy, and to fill the gap at PG, the Heat signed former-Nugget, swingman forward, Yakhouba Diawara. He’s over 3 in reverse dog-years and started his career in the French leagues. Whoo.
• And what the hell is wrong with Oklahoma City? Wait. Scratch that. What the hell is wrong with Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise? When internet evidence pointed to their franchise being named the Thunder, they pulled the website. Just pick a fucking name already. No one’s going to care anyway.
• Darko hurt his Achilles playing with the Serbian National Team. Bummer. You gotta feel for a kid that’ so young and has struggled so much on the floor to be what people want him to be. No, not really, the man’s made obscene amounts of money just to disappoint people. We should all be so lucky.
• Toronto Globe and Mail reporter questioning Chris Bosh–Q: “Chris, would you take this opportunity [at the Olympics] to make a political statement?” A: “No.” Q: “Have you been instructed not to?” A: “Yes. It’s a no-win situation these days.” But ITS THOSE CHINESE COMMUNIST PIGS THAT CENSOR US!!! With their damn socialism, equal pay for disparate jobs, healthcare-for-all, government controlled propaganda….oh.
• Scraps to end, Warriors sign G, Anthony Morrow, and Cavs sign G, Tarence Kinsey. ‘Cause, you know, neither had enough players that you’d never heard of.

Just because, I’ll sign off with Kobe’s quote when asked about playing overseas: “I’d probably go,” Bryant said. “Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up … Peace out. Do you know any reasonable person that would turn down 50?” Nuff said.

Just kidding. This is a Hornets site. I leave you with this quote from SI.com:

Though Team USA boasts an eye-popping 49-0 record all-time when Kidd is listed on the roster, blind adherance to the history book is the worst mistake Mike Krzyzewski could make. The sooner Chris Paul takes over primary duties at the point, the better America’s chances to reclaim the gold.

That’s the end. For now.

In which the Hornets have an(other) day of the offseason and Ticktock6, freshly returned to da 504 from foreign parts a.k.a. NYC, takes a look at some of the various search terms that bring folks to our fine site.

1. “how to shoot a free throw like peja” - Dude. If we knew, we’d all be making a cool $12 million a year.

2. “do new orleans hornets not wear the teal jerseys” - Ah. You must have caught a glimpse of the team’s slightly eye-searing gold third jerseys. The Hornets usually wear the teal, but in the playoffs each time they lost, they switched to the other road jersey to mix it up a little and perhaps for superstitious purposes. Hence: Dallas Game 3 = TEAL (L), Dallas Game 4 = GOLD (W), SA Game 3 = GOLD (L), SA Game 4 = TEAL (L), SA Game 6 = GOLD (L). I’ve heard the yet-to-be-revealed new jerseys will not include the gold.

3. “what will eat hornets?” Manu Ginobili’s bald spot?

4. “what color accessories to wear with teal?” Oooh! I am actually qualified to answer this question, being one of the few female NBA bloggers! I would go with silver or white.

5. “hornets that are black white and brown” Whoa, like real ones? Like multicolored stinging bugs? Man, get some pesticide. I guess our Hornets, too, could be described to be black, white, and brown. In, um, varying shades. And with teal over the top. Otherwise they’d be naked.

6. “Charlotte Hornets to Seattle” ….

…

… There are so many things wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin.

All work and no play makes a person, well, it depends on what your work is. Seriously, I was just updating links on the sidebar, making sure we have a handy way for our readers to access other teams’ blogs and news sources for when the season cranks up. And yes, as a result, the first post I’m putting up since Ticktock left for a week to NYC is about cheerleaders, but I swear it’s a coincidence. I just happened to stumble onto two news items, one timely, and the other just too good to put down.

As some of you may know, HoneyBee tryouts are in full swing. Finalist workshops are going to be held July 22-23, and the audition finals will be held Sunday, July 27th, at 2-5 P.M. at the House of Blues. These auditions are open to the public (the doors open at noon). Also, as recipients of BeeMail know, you can also enter a contest to get VIP seating for this event. So, as Hypers of everything Hornets, we of course hope plenty of you will turn out on Sunday!

But this, too, is a cautionary tale. Sure, being a cheerleader can be glamorous. You know, in the kind of sexist, no-of-course-we-don’t -have-male-cheerleaders-at-WNBA-games kind of way, in that special, the hell with it, we cater to what people want, and it’s physical excellence in either execution or appearance, acquiescence. So just as TT6 and others have their crushes on NBA players (read Tyson, CP), NBA teams exercise their marketing know-how that says, you know what, politics be damned, sex sells. So there it is. Cold realism. Now. That said, ladies, D-O N-O-T get swept up in your own success if you make the team. You are just as much a public face of the organization as the players.

Don’t believe me? Ask the Kings’ Royal Court dancers. It might start in the clubhouse. It might just be a drink or two. Maybe at some point you’re just too comfortable with the camera. Smile! Give me happy! Snap-click. Give me sexy! Snap-click. You’re signing autographs, you’re recognized. Before you know it, you’re completely comfortable with your fifteen minutes on the stage.

And then this happens.

People, listen. There is such a thing as the internet. Camera phones. Video phones. Wireless networking. I-N-S-T-A-N-T information. Nothing is private anymore. It’s either the golden age of information or the apocalypse of privacy, you make the call. But either way, if you are trying out for the HoneyBees, remember to watch yourself. People will exploit you and use your image for their own purposes. Overnight, images of you are around the world and your employer can judge you based on it. It kind of sucks. I’m not judging either, I’m just saying when you’re involved at that level, be you a player or cheerleader, you need to watch what you do and who might be recording it.

But if anyone is out with the HoneyBees-to-be at some random FQ party and you have salacious pics…um…let me know.

… I find it amusing that I’ve managed to be on both Hornets.com and True Hoop (somewhat trickier to spot) today without having spent more than five actual minutes on the computer since I got up.

Now that’s efficiency.

Now, if you wanted actual news about the Hornets’ free agency moves, I got nothing. In fact, I’m starting to get a little frustrated and thinking maybe they don’t really have something major in the works after all…

HornetsHype’s official stance is that we are not in panic mode yet.

P.S. Olympics special “Road to Redemption” on ESPN2 at 6 P.M. Central. I’m sure it’ll be replayed, but Chris Paul is on it at any rate.

So I’m doing some redesigning of the site, and I was going through my huge folder of Hornets pictures from this season. I came across this gem from the Celtics win (I think that was the best night of my life, by the way– shit, that whole stretch was amazing… they just couldn’t lose).

I love this photo of Tyson and Bonzi.

It’s cracking me up. What are they doing? Celebrating their mutant ninja takedown of Ray Allen? Preparing to kick ass and fight crime? Or maybe a fat dude just got naked in the second row off to the right and that is actually a look of horror?

This isn’t a bad look for JuJu, the Hornets’ most recent draftee. (I guess if they don’t draft this year, he’s kind of going to be the baby forever, right? Tough luck there. At least they’re done making him carry around the pink backpack.) Everything matches, I like the tie, and the pocket square is always a nice touch (although here it looks more like a pocket… chunk of fabric that’s stuffed in there). Good job, Mr. Wright. Nothing embarrassing here. You have escaped unscathed.

Down below, however. Oh hey, Bonzi, is that you under the shadow of that hat and that ginormous suit? I think it’s really more of a trench coat. It’s the spy look. He doesn’t want to be seen. I think that jacket is as tall as David Stern.

And below Bonzi? I know he’s not a Hornet anymore, but…

I could not resist the pull of Bobby Jackson’s BLUE draft day suit. I had to give an honorary shout-out to it. Just look at it. You can’t drag your eyes away from it, can you? It’s electric!

Because someone’s gotta do it, I dug through the internet in an attempt to find humiliating draft night photos of current Hornets players. Now, I’ve got a little bit of a hole in the starting lineup because Mo Pete and David West are MIA (I’m guessing you get less photo ops if you’re not in the top 15 or so of the first round), but for our purposes we can assume that David West wore black and looked exactly like he always looks. Moving on…

Today we’re going to start with TC. Give me a moment to say, “Eeeee!” ‘Cause Baby Tyson is super cute. What’s he saying on the phone? “Guys, listen, I was drafted #2 by the Clippers and then they traded me five minutes later to the Bulls! I know, right? Five years in the future I will be traded to New Orleans and appear at that press conference in a suit that’s far more attractive and better fitting than this one. Today it’s aaaalll cooolll…”

Next up, our Fearless Leader, the Savior of All Basketball, Favorite Son of the City of New Orleans, the MVP, etc., etc. With bonus hilarious appearance from the Serbian Sharpshooter. To answer the question of “Could Chris Paul be any more babyfaced?”, here’s CP3 on draft night, wearing a Wake Forest-themed outfit. I get the tie, but the jacket’s a little scary. I’m not sure you can wear 2 different colored stripes in the same outfit, plus where are you inside that jacket? (The answer to the previous question, by the way, is yes, but only a little bit.) CP3 looks a little sharper these days.

And oh boy, where do I start with Peja? The scarecrow hair! The lack of 5:00 shadow! The suit that might be made of suede! I love it.

Via Dime, I present for your entertainment the NBA Finals Celtics-Lakers Wife Showdown. I about spit out my ravioli thanks to commenter #4, who says, “Once again Kobe’s teammates don’t provide him with too much help.” Haha. The Celtics are currently winning the poll.

All I can say is, damn, ladies. I’ve dated guys who were 6′5″ and 6′6″ and it was a major pain in my ass. You have to wear heels all the time just so more than your head is in pictures. Seriously. And I’m not even that short. (Actually, come to think of it, how tall are Luke Walton’s and P2’s girls? They’re the only two who come close.)

The NBA… where goofy looking men with hot wives/girlfriends happen.

Ticktock6: (watching Game 3 press conference) I think, of any player in the NBA, Ray Allen might be the most likely to have many leatherbound books. And his apartment smelling of rich mahogany.

mW: I’m sure he’s a genius.

Ticktock6: No, but I think he seems like one of the smarter ones.

mW: Yeah, like if you put him in front of a keyboard and he typed for 100 years he would maybe type Hamlet.

Ticktock6: Whatever, if Kobe Bryant typed for that long, he’d type, like, “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

mW: (laughter)

Ticktock6: Yeah, so WHAT-EVER.

P.S. You may wonder why I’m still updating this blog, albeit with random, random shit, now that the Hornets are done. Rest assured, it’s not that I don’t have a life… it’s that I don’t have a job. So like, imagine the 40+ hours a week you are at work, then subtract 10-15 for the hours I’m supposedly working on writing a novel (entirely unrelated to the Hornets but true), and… you know, that’s still several hours to be B.S.ing on the internet. And I’ve got 2 blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. I’m a terrifyingly useless human being. You have no idea. Anyhow, signing off to go pay the Hornets the $600 we owe them for the playoffs…. yes, really. (Actually I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it would be more.)

… to the Heads on Sticks craze, I give you: Robert Horry On a Stick.