Changing Our Lineup

While it's league policy for NBA teams to go with smaller rotations in the postseason, we are actually expanding our roster here at Hometown Hornets. In addition to H. Lee Domingue, the one and only Curry W. Smith (that would be me) will now contribute to the blog. I plan to bring much in the way of enthusiasm for the Hornets and little in the way of unbiased analysis. Before entertaining you with stories of basketball glory, I'll go ahead and introduce myself...

Like Lee, I am a Louisiana native. We've actually known each other since we were about 4 years old. You might say that we're best friends. I might say that I'm offended by that label. Either way, we have season tickets right next to one another in Section 325. This is the first season that I've had full season tickets (unless you count the 3- and 6-game packs from the post-Katrina seasons of 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively). I originally became a fan of the team back in the days of Dell Curry. This has a lot to do with the fact that his last name is my first name. But I was really just a casual observer of the league. When the team relocated to New Orleans in 2002, I was ecstatic. Thus began my journey as a die-hard fan of the New Orleans Hornets.

I was there for a handful of games during the inaugural season in New Orleans; the first Hornets game I attended was against the Milwaukee Bucks in March of my senior year of high school. After picking Tulane as my college of choice, I was there for a few more Hornets games in 2003-04, encouraging my friends and classmates to come to games and support the team (with varying degrees of success). I was even there for the excruciating 18-win season, this time begging friends to go to games (with less success). And, of course, I was there for the days of the temporary evacuation to that other state. Thankfully, I've been there for the past 82 (83 including this weekend's playoff opener) games. And I couldn't imagine a better story for the team's homecoming season. Chris Paul had an MVP year. Hell, he had a Hall of Fame year. The city successfully hosted the NBA All-Star Game. Over the course of the season, New Orleans warmed up to, embraced, and then fell in love with this team.

It's been a fun ride. And I'm not ready for it to be over. See you in the playoffs. Probably be back later tonight with a playoff "preview" (I'll pretend I didn't see the amazing come-from-behind win that was Game 1 of this series).

Peace, Love, and CP3.
- CWS