newbie1412

Has been getting louder and louder for three years now.  The New Orleans Hornets (I have never, nor will I refer to the OKC portion--nothing against Oklahoma City; we appreciate them giving our team a place to play til we got things straightened out as much as they will be down here, but as for trying to take them entirely...buzz off) have gone from a team which I once wished would have the organizational ethos of the Memphis Grizzlies (seriously, I did....of course that's when the Icon was running them), to truly one of the top teams in the league.  They didn't do this by buying stars.  They did it by putting together a basketball team: getting hard-working team players to start (the oodles of talent therein didn't hurt), and equally hard-working role players to come off the bench.

Chris Paul has practically single-handedly rejuvenated my interest in the NBA.  Ever since the Admiral retired, I found myself slipping further and further through apathy to antipathy towards the soulless, vainglorious, bling-infested hip-hop video that the NBA was becoming.  To add to the situation, there was the very real possibility--complete with the vociferous endorsement of the head coach--that the Hornets (who, with the Cleveland Cavaliers were one of my top 2 teams during the '90s) would be headed out of the state.  But then I saw a guy who gets triple doubles in points, assists, and STEALS?!?  Sounds like someone was actually playing basketball!  If MVP actually meant what it means (Most Valuable Player), instead of Flashiest Scorer, Chris would be a no-brainer.  Then I hear him on NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO???!!!???

OK, it was as a guest on their quiz show, but he was witty, charming, and a big hit.  It was at the 2nd Annual Chris Paul Weekend in his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  That weekend, Chris Paul and several other NBA players helped a group of volunteers build a Habitat for Humanity house.  He talked about how his parents wouldn't allow him and his brother to play any sports if they didn't maintain a 3.0 GPA.  An intelligent, hard-working, personable, unbelievably talented NBA player?  In this day and age?  I'm hooked.  Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in.  Who knows?  I might even buy his new shoe.

Then, there's his back court complement, Peja Stojakovic.  He definitely got my attention when he was in Sacramento.  First off, other than Sarunas Marcillionas (sp?), he's the first European player I think of.  Secondly, he's an absolute marksman.  He's like Robert Horry, but every day, and during the regular season, too.  David West is one of the most under-rated big men in the game.  Damn near averaging a double-double every night out, he is to the front court of this team what CP3 is to the back.  Hilton Armstrong is a consistent offensive player, and a force down low defensively.  The bench has a great combination of youthful exuberance and veteran leadership.  The Hornets are what the future of the NBA should be.

This team is young, talented, and hungry.  They work together--on and off the court.  And it is this fan's sincere desire that they stay just the way they are for years to come.

OK, last try.  The last two attempts have been eaten by the system.  So, if they show up, I again apologize.  Not trying to beat a horse I've already beaten.

Yes, it is only human for young players to want to capitalize on their value while they know they have it--especially when comparing checks to other players of their apparent caliber.  But it is equally as human for the teams to pay these players as little as they possibly can get away with in order to keep them as long as they can.  If I signed on with an employer who was paying plenty of people below my level of productivity many times more than I was getting paid, I'd probably be a bit perturbed.  But if my co-workers had long been unionized, and had used this position to gain a compromise with the employer that dictated that the first few years of my time there would be compensated at a prescribed level regardless of my output, in return for the opportunity to gain exponential figures hiring myself out to the highest bidder based on perpetually overblown "market value"--where serviceable players wind up with what was formerly superstar money--I'd be a bit reticent about complaining.

Prince Fielder didn't strike me as being a childish brat saying that he'd do his job the same way he's been doing it (if not better), and cash in as soon as he can.  Good for him.  The same goes for Cole Hamels.  If these guys keep producing, they can say whatever they want and feel however they want to--they'll get their due (whatever the market says that is at the time, or however much it will take to keep them from seeing how much the market says it is).  Being an Orioles fan, I'm inclined to feel that Nick Markakis can say whatever he wants so long as the O's brass is smart enough to see that this guy needs to be the cornerstone of the franchise.  But I digress.

From the perspective of John Q. Taxpayer, the system is completely wacky and beyond the mind of mortal man to comprehend in any coherent way.  But looking at it subjectively from all three angles, you can definitely see how it got that way...and that there's not much chance of it getting any better.