I just heard about this and got kind of excited. I’ve been wondering when they would make one. As you can see, it’s a nice bright yellow with a beehive design on the front and pictures that spell out “Horn-Net-Fan.” I like that it’s a little bit cryptic, a secret message you have to figure out. Not quite as cool as some of the Saints ones, but hey, the Saints have been around longer so this is a pretty fresh start. A little local color, ya heard?

The shirts are $22, and you can buy them in the store at 5704 Magazine or online here at Dirty Coast.

AT THE SAME TIME. That’s multi-talented. That’s Chris Paul.

This Mardi Gras version of the new CP3 II released in New Orleans over the weekend. The shoes are supposed to release nationwide on March 14, in many other colorways. Click the link for more pics of the shoe. I don’t know, I gotta say there is a lot going on on that sneaker, but the swirls do remind me of Mardi Gras.

Speaking of which, Chris Paul and James Posey were spotted wandering about the Uptown parade route yesterday. Here’s the thread on Hornets Report with the pics. I personally think it  is 100% awesome to see the team out and about in the city, rather than lying low in Kenner or something. (LAME! But then, you all know I love being in New Orleans and wouldn’t live outside the city limits if you paid me!) See CP3 trying to be all crafty in that photo… whatev, you aren’t fooling me. I went to college and I know a good cup hide when I see one.

As many of you all know, TT6 and I have been busy during Mardi Gras, parading, carousing, and such.  Plenty of celebrities in town.  Kid Rock pointed at us.  We caught beads and doubloons from Val Kilmer.  But our biggest surprise was meeting Axl Rose and his mate, Buckethead, and finding out that Axl is a huge basketball fan, who despite calling L.A. home,  knew a lot about the Hornets, and the NBA in general.  It was obvious he’d been out partying a bit, but was interesting, nonetheless.  Here’s how it went:

Hornets Hype: so you say you’ve watched several Hornets games this seasor.  Do you feel like our team is underachieving?

Axl Rose: They’re Scraped.  Some may convince you no one can break through; I’m here to tell you you’re worth more than they tell you.

Hornets Hype: I agree.  I agree.  What about this whole Tyson Chandler trade thing?  Any comment on that?

Axl Rose:  You’ll be Better.  [Swaying a bit.]  So bittersweet this tragedy; won’t ask for absolution.  A twist of faith, a change of heart, . . . a broken heart provides the spark for . . .  determination.

Hornets Hype:  Yeah, I think TC will come back strong too.  How about that Chris Paul?  Can you believe he wasn’t MVP last year, or being given more consideration this year for the same?  Do you think he thinks about that?

Axl Rose: Shackler’s Revenge, man.  CP got a wicked demon, his hunger never fades.

Hornets Hype:  Okay.  Sure.  Can you believe he almost didn’t start the All-Star Game this year?

Axl Rose:  Chinese Democracy.  It don’t really matter.  Gonna find out for yourself.

Hornets Hype:  Umm, right, so he looked great in that game, though, right?

Axl Rose:  If The World.  If the world would end today and all the dreams we had would all just drift away, you know there’s nothing more to say.

Hornets Hype:  [Hand over mike, muffled voices.]  Enjoying Mardi Gras, Axl?

Axl Rose:  Sorry.  You don’t know why I won’t act the way you think I should.

Hornets Hype:  What?

Axl Rose: Riad N’ The Bedouins.  Had a plan and thought they’d win.  But I don’t give a fuck ’bout them cause I am crazy.

Hornets Hype:  Well, any more thoughts about the NBA, maybe?  You know, the Lakers?  How do the we stop them come playoffs time?

Axl Rose: I.R.S.  Gonna call the IRS…read it baby with your morning new, with a sweet hangover, and the headlines too.

Hornets Hype:  you’re suggesting the Lakers don’t pay their taxes.  Or maybe Phil?  Seriously?  Any on-court suggestions?

Axl Rose: [Does slithering snake-like move.]

Hornets Hype: What do you think of Lebron?  Everyone likes to talk about him.

Axl Rose: Prostitute.  Oh I got a message for you.  Up and away.  It’s what I gotta do.

Hornets Hype:  Well thanks for talking, I guess.  Any parting thoughts?

Axl Rose: Patience. Anything Goes.  Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.

Hornets Hype:  Okay.  Laissez les bon temps rouler!

And that was it.  Axl and Buckethead walked away after that.  Buckethead was wearing a Popeye’s bucket on his head for the occasion, not the regular KFC one.  Peace out.  Beat the Kings!

So. How was your week?

You wish there was a moment to stop and take a breath, but it’s the Lakers up tonight, the Jazz tomorrow, Mardi Gras in full effect till Tuesday. On the other hand, I’ll argue that we learned things about this team in the whirlwind of the past three crazy days. And they are good things.

We watched as, instead of collapsing, the Hornets won two games in the wake of the Chandler trade.

We learned who the leaders are. True, it wasn’t really surprising. But we saw David West speak up. (If there’s any word to describe D-West, outspoken is not it.) On a night when the Hornets organization seemed to be bombarding the fans and the press with cheerfully spun declarations about how they traded for two shorter guys to improve their rebounding, he was the one voice to say that the trade wasn’t a basketball decision, and he wasn’t happy with a move that would seriously handicap their playoff chances. I will always admire him for that. We saw Chris Paul tell the press, “Me and D-West talked about it before the game last night — if we go down, we’ve got to go down fighting.” And we were heartened by it.

We learned that the fans of New Orleans, despite comments to the contrary, are going to support this team, coming close to selling out the arena on a parade night with many fans bitter about what they saw as purely a cost-cutting move. And those fans were treated to a late Christmas present.

We learned that, when implemented wisely, the Hornets’  assortment of backup bigs can stand up to Dwight Howard. I don’t know what that says about other future games, but it’s not a bad thing.

We learned that, once every few months at least, John DeShazier and I will agree on something. I know, right?

We learned that we will follow Chris Paul wherever he leads us. And so will this team.

I’m not going to worry about the whole failing-the-physical thing right now, because there’s no point. Let’s focus on the short term. Tyson is the guy we have. And he says he’ll be back Monday or Wednesday. That’s enough for me.

What the Hornets got Wednesday night was one last chance to get it done with the guys on this roster.

They have to take it.

Last night James Posey was the guest on Hornets Sportsline.  Frequent commenter Matt and I were on hand to check it out, he with a very large camera, I with nothing but my unquenchable love for Mr. Posey. Pose himself came rocking Xavier gear (and snuck glances at the game over everyone’s head).

Amazingly, I managed to refrain from telling him about our occasional blog features in which… well, you know the ones. See, I have some self-restraint.

All photos courtesy of the awesome Storm Surge Photography.

P.S. mW said I had to include the second to last one for all the dudes out there. But the bottom one is clearly the coup de grace. CLEARLY.

Or, a huge mess of Hornets-related links, some more out of date than others but still notable, in final countdown form. Countdown to what? Hornets vs. Spurs, 8:30 PM. Be there. Or at least be watching on ESPN. #1 in the Southwest Division is on the line, as well as… some other things.

10. Jordan Brand CP3 II, v. 2.0 of Chris Paul’s shoe.

9. Hoops Addict game notes on Hornets@Raptors. Includes some fun locker room stuff. But whatever, guys. James Posey shot 5/6 from 3 in the first half. He can brush his teeth wherever he wants to.

8. Melvin Ely is bloggerific.

7. Tyson Chandler goes fishing. (In Plaquemines Parish! With video!) Update: More pics and behind the scenes stories here.

6. The Honeybees’ new website. If that kind of thing is your bag… baby.

5. Memphis fans drinkin’ the HATERADE. Bring it, guys! That’s when you know you’ve made it, when you got haters! And hey, look– there’s a way the Hornets are like the Spurs (see comment thread on previous post)– people hate us!

4. I have given up caring what these people think, but in today’s Daily Dime (scroll down to #6 on the right sidebar) there’s an audio clip of Jalen Rose on ESPN radio. He still thinks the Hornets and Lakers are the undisputed two top teams in the West, despite the Hornets’ start. Keepin’ the Movement alive…

3. The Popeyes Arena? The Zatarains Arena? The Abita Arena! Hornets are interested in finally selling the naming rights to New Orleans Arena.

2. The last time we met: This is what I wrote the day of Game 7.

1. Please, please, someone caption this pic of CP and Sual’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon defense on Rajon Rondo (you gotta click and biggify it to really get the facial expressions):

SNEAUX!

OK, you got me. This post was completely gratuitous. This is only the 3rd time it’s snowed in New Orleans in the past 20 years, to give you out-of-towners an idea how special this is.*

So, the Hornets blew out the Bobcats last night. Peja was 5 of 6 from three, and Chris Paul hit every shot he took for 15 points and 15 assists. There. Now you have basketball content.

*Not for me, because I grew up in Upstate New York… but it’s still pretty.

The answer is nothing, right?

Wrong! As proven by tonight’s giveaway, featuring not one but two Chris Pauls. The Hornets are participating in Hardwood Classic Night, kicking it old school ABA style in New Orleans Bucs jerseys. (Damn, those shorts are small. The Hornets, it should be noted, will be playing tonight sans small shorts. That is to say, they will be wearing shorts. But they’ll be regular uniform sized shorts.) But if you want your two Chris Pauls, you have to be one of the first 8,000 people through the door. Which means you will have to forgo the dollar beers, alas.

There are probably still tickets available if you want to get in on this, because the Hornets are putting the revenge smackdown on playing the Charlotte Bobcats.

Meanwhile, over at At the Hive, Hornets GM Jeff Bower answers his phone calls…

Update: Meanwhile, it seems Jeff Bower really was on the phone, because the team seems to have traded Mike James to Washington for Antonio Daniels.

NOEngineer posted this in the comments, and it really is a pretty cool take on how NBA teams are doing, and definitely a different take considering the Hornets came in third to last on Forbes’ recent list of the most valuable NBA franchises. So, if you had $285 mil, hell, you could buy them. They’re that cheap.

What it is: a chart that takes into account a whole bunch of factors like attendance, payroll, ticket cost, and size of the market… and spits out the Hornets as a monstrous statistical outlier. So basically, if you are a Hornets fan and you go to games, the return on your investment is WHOLE INCHES beyond what the rest of the NBA teams are doing. Check out the graphic here.

So, valuable according to Forbes? No. But are they valuable to us? Absolutely. I am very pleased to be getting such bang for my $1(000) buck(s). And imagine, they didn’t even take into account the dollar beers.

Anyway, guys, I’m too busy right now to post anything else. I’m sitting here on my couch watching ESPN and trying to decide who I love more: Brandon Roy or Paul Pierce? Seriously. I will be awake all night trying to figure it out. SERIOUSLY. Oh my god, and now they are trash talking each other. On my TV. It’s madness.

I’m out like the Phoenix Suns’ run and gun game…

Okay. So TT6 and I have been off and on tossing around this whole “Are the Hornets Falling Apart?” storyline since yesterday evening. I think I finally figured out what the problem is. Universally, the NOLA-bound response has been critical of Simmons and ESPN. Are we being overly defensivee? I don’t think so. This isn’t just the blind, rabid homerism endemic of Jazz fans. It’s something else. It’s about representation. Funny word. Representation. It implies a filter. An author is not simply “presenting” the facts to a reader, but “re-presenting” it through his or her ideological or moral view. That’s fine. We all do it. But what ticks me off, is that for the last several years, when it comes to New Orleans and the Hornets, the representation has been wrong.

The Hornets? You mean that team in Charlotte? No, sorry, they’re in New Orleans now. Oh, but Katrina hit, they’re staying in Oklahoma, right? No again. They’re coming back. But New Orleans was destroyed and it’s as safe as a civil war-torn African nation, right? No, that’s blown out of proportion. It’s fine. But Tracy McGrady said he wouldn’t feel safe going there for the All-Star game. That’s because he’d be scared to compete at that level. It didn’t stop the Arena Bowl or the Sugar Bowl or the New Orleans Bowl, or any of the hundreds of conventions and thousands of tourists that flock still to the city every week. It didn’t stop the French Quarter Fest, Jazz Fest, or Mardi Gras. Okay, but basketball? This team is going to end up in Seattle right? No. They were dumb enough to sell their team to a guy from Oklahoma. But New Orleans is really a football town, right? There’s not enough people to keep the seats full for both the Saints and the Hornets, and those people aren’t giving up the Saints, right? Um, actually we’re among the League leaders in season ticket sales. Yeah, but people still don’t go to the games right? Hey, ass, were you listening to me? Yes, the lower bowl is about sold out and the upper bowl usually sells out or it’s close. Sure, sure, but it doesn’t matter since God ordained your city full of sin and will keep sending Hurricanes your way until it’s destroyed. Funny, I hear a lot less Iowans saying that now. Oh, but Louisiana is all corrupt, come on, some one’s gonna sell you out eventually or get caught in some gambling scandal. Leave the complaining about Harrah’s to Phil Jackson; it’s stupid. Oh. Hey, anyone sense the sarcasm?

Point is, the Hornets have had to deal with a lot more MISrepresentation than pretty much any other professional sport and the prayers Shinn sanctions before the games don’t seem to be helping. Sure, this city has been affected, but New Orleanians are hardy. At the same time, people think Katrina was just a storm. It destroyed this city, man, that doesn’t go away overnight. Homes that were just fine that day still stand wrecked and unlivable. Life is forever changed in this great American city. But that doesn’t mean we should abandon our lives or what we love. And one of those things has become the Hornets. New Orleans have a zest for life in all its facets, and basketball is now one of those things. So when it comes to the media, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for writers to have the common courtesy to get their facts straight before writing crap that they don’t know about.

Byron Scott, CP, and all the rest should be a model for the league. They’re not getting caught with drugs. They’re not beating their wives/girlfriends. They’re not talking bad about each other in the press. As Gerry V recently commented, as he traveled with the team, these guys are tight, they have fun together, they hang out on non-Hornets days; their families know each other. They’re a family. The media should love these guys. But then they wouldn’t be the Real World. They wouldn’t be The Hills. They wouldn’t be Survivor or the Rock of Love. So just like all of those “reality” shows use editing, plot prompts, and overacting to manufacture drama, the media is in on it at times. Here, it’s not even just Simmons, who apparently makes sweeping statements all the time, but ESPN, who was dumb enough to run this on their front page. But some people would rather a bunch of bullshit instead of honest work.

Look at NBATV. I mean I love their extensive coverage, but sometimes, it’s just a bunch of jackasses sitting around talking shit. Gary Payton and Chris Webber? Tip to J. E. Skeets over at Ball Don’t Lie: they’re horrible. How about some analysis? (P.S. Simmons liked these guys. Is he mental?)

Listen, the Hornets haven’t had the season they were hoping for. They have played some bad games. No problem. Let’s talk about that. Ryan at 247 wants to talk about free throw rates and turnovers. Fine. Rohan’s called out bad shooting and pace over at the Hive. Stellar. Let’s do it. But to just shoot your mouth and pretend it has any weight whatsoever just because it’s posted on ESPN.com is stupid. Of course, maybe we all need to accept some of the blame. We like talk shows and talk radio, and forget that in this country these people can say just about anything and it doesn’t make it true or right. Yet people accept these media-celebrities as sources. They’re no different than you or I, they just get paid to do it. So don’t assume something anyone says is true just because they say it.

So yes, the Hornets have been slightly disappointing this year. We all hoped they’d look like the Lakers do now. They don’t. But it’s November. I believe May will look different. Maybe not. But I hope that with a few more nationally televised games, at least the national media will present the facts about this team. Not just half-assed psycho-babble and creative ignorance.

Oh yeah, someone please tell Hubie Brown to stop saying “New Orleeeeens”. It’s an “i” sound. Like “New Orlins.” We say everything our own way down here. Get over it.