New Orleans Hornets fans are not screaming for action just yet
“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?”
Those lyrics from a song off rock group Chicago’s debut album in 1969 fit perfectly in the sports realm today, what would have been opening night for the New Orleans Hornets as they were scheduled to meet Eastern Conference semifinalist Chicago, led by reigning NBA most valuable player Derrick Rose.
The NBA has canceled the first month of regular-season games because of a lockout and the inability of players and owners to shake hands on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Yet the question begs whether anyone in New Orleans will miss tonight’s inactivity or the 13 scheduled games this month that won’t be played — at the New Orleans Arena or in buildings around the country.
Although the Hornets have sold 9,400 season tickets for a 2011-12 schedule, that might never become reality. The truth is, there’s a question — at least in the short term — of how badly the NBA will be missed.
On Sunday afternoon, Huck Finn’s Sports Bar on Decatur Street was packed with patrons, their eyes fixed on numerous televisions rimming the dining room and bar, some eyes bloodshot in disbelief at what transpired between the Saints and St. Louis Rams, others taking in more games via the establishment’s NFL Sunday Ticket package.
Four days before the Hornets’ regularly scheduled opener, the only hint of buzz in the place were the “I’m In” stickers on several windows and the front door, emblematic of the club’s successful ticket-selling slogan.”
“We don’t go to a lot of Hornets games,”
said Jenni Dillon of New Orleans, wearing a Saints jersey while admitting Hornets assistant coach Fred Vinson lives in her neighborhood. “So I’m anxious for him.”
But not necessarily eager, it seems, for an NBA season, what with the Saints’ having lost two of their past three games and Saturday’s epic college football showdown looming between top-ranked LSU and second-ranked Alabama.
Guy Pelliteri, the manager at Huck Finn’s, however, is acutely aware that the lockout, and the absence of NBA action tonight will adversely affect his business.
“Every weekend right now it’s like this,”
Pelliteri said above the din of his packed house. “Basketball fills in once football season is over. It doesn’t have the impact that football does, but the nice thing about basketball is that there’s games during the week, and we catch some business during the week from that — mostly from out-of-town games.”
“People who are from another city might want to catch their hometown team if they’re here on business, (they) will come in (to watch on NBA League Pass). ... Basketball helps us bring a crowd during the week. So we’ll miss that if they don’t get it going soon, especially after football season is over.”
Nevertheless, Pelliteri said he’ll still experience a financial pinch by the absence of tonight’s scheduled Hornets season opener.
“Definitely,”
Pelliteri said. “Since we’re close to the CBD, we do get a lot of people who are on their way to a game who’ll come in and get a bite to eat before they go. Sometimes we’ll get a little bit of play after a game, so it’ll definitely hurt us.”
How much, though, remains to be seen.
“It’s hard to quantify it with football season going on because there’s really not a big impact until football season is over,” Pelliteri said. “But still, I’d say we’ll be missing 20 or 30 customers a night during the week when there are games going on, so figure $300 or $400 per game at this time of year, and more later in the year.
“Friday, Saturday and Sunday are good with football right now. Even Monday is OK. But those three or four days in the middle of the week, we’ll be losing 30 or 40 people at about $25 a head.”
At Coyote Ugly on North Peters, shift manager Jasmine Okuma, an Atlanta native — “Go Hawks!” she exclaimed — believes the absence of NBA basketball also will impact the bar’s business.
“For a Hornets game, we’ll get a good crowd because it’s easy for them to just hop in a taxi and get to the Arena,” said Okuma, who as the Saints’ trailed 17-0 at halftime at St. Louis, served two jersey-wearing customers at the bar, the only folks in the establishment. “I think it’s going to affect our business. We usually do pretty well. People love the Hornets, and they love to watch. We’ll do other things to try to compensate for that.
“We need those Hornets. We’ll miss them. I think it’ll affect everyone across the board, but I think football will keep people’s attention for a while.”
At the Big Easy Daiquiris store on Wilkinson and Decatur, Mid City resident Richard Gould, while admitting he’s a casual basketball fan, believes the continuing inability of the sides to reach a deal could eventually lead to further fan apathy.
“People talk about the players and wear their jerseys and support their teams, but basically when you get behind closed doors with the owners and the players, the players want more money — and the owners want more money, and whatever decision is made, like everything else in economics, the burden falls back on the consumer, the ticket buyers, people who put their butts in the seats,” Gould said.
“People will miss it. You need something to carry you through around the year. Once football season is over with, you’re going to need something to fall back on. With economics the way it is now, though, people are going to redirect their money to other things. At some point interest will come back up. Right now, it’s a non-discussion. We’ve got football to hold on to now.”
