April brings showers and road games and horsies

  I would love to see the Charlotte Bobcats make the playoffs. I don't care if it drops them a few places in the draft. Claiming the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference would validate everything head coach Larry Brown and his players have accomplished this season and give fans an opportunity to get excited.

   After their stirring victory against the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday, the Bobcats are only a game behind eighth-place Chicago. But Charlotte's schedule this month is brutal. It plays two games at home and six on the road.

   Four of the eight teams the Bobcats play have winning records --  Boston tonight, Miami Friday, Philadephia Tuesday and Orlando on April 15. Miami and Philadelphia are the home games. Charlotte finishes with four straight games on the road.

   The reason Charlotte will be a guest in its own building is the Charlotte Jumper Classic. I have nothing against horses. They look great. They bring joy to a lot of people. They're playful. I like to watch them run. "Seabiscuit" was excellent. I've seen Secretariat's grave. 

   The problem is that when the Bobcats played so many games at home early this season, they weren't nearly as good as they are now. They weren't going to win. And then a series of deft trades turned them into a team that could.

   The scheduling of the Charlotte Jumper Classic really works against them. Instead of seeing Gerald Wallace go to to the basket, we'll see horsies jump over stuff.

   It's daunting, the schedule. But if the Bobcats get through the next week -- at Boston, at home against Miami, at Detroit and at home against Philadelphia -- they have a chance to catch Chicago and perhaps the Pistons.

   The more you have to get excited about, the more interesting life is. This feels like a bonus. Enjoy it.

Comments

[Rico]

How many times are you going to use the line about Gerald driving to the basket or horsies jumping over stuff? Lame. You do realize the schedules were released before the season, so finishing up against tough opponents and on the road isn't exactly news to Cats fans. I can't believe the Checkers allowed your punkass to sit on their bench.

[jrguyiii]

Tom, you do realize that if the Cats make the playoffs, they will give up their 1st round draft pick, thanks to the bright idea to trade for an extra 1st rounder this year to take Frenchy. That means no shot at Curry or Hansbrough. I agree with you about the lame horse show. They were promoting the heck out of it at the game last night and even gave away tickets. Who would actually want to win tickets to that event? Also, what's up with the Bobcats giving away a '07 Chrysler? After the fiasco with the last car give away, that's what they came up with? Couldn't even get an '09 or even '08 model? Also, since you were at the game last night, what is your impression of the PA announcer and the loud music? I am 25 and went to the AC/DC concert, so loud noise doesn't usually bother me, but last night I could hardly concentrate on the game, thanks to the extremely loud and annoying PA announcer who would make every little play seem like a huge deal? I thought the arena was supposed to be more "family friendly" now, but the loud hip-hop music (all they played) and the booty-shaking dance team (no complaints here) didn't seem so family friendly. That was my 1st Bobcats game in person of the year, and I don't know if I'd pay to go back if I had to fight through the distractions to watch the game. I'd much rather see it on tv. I went to almost every Hornets game, and I can't remember any time where it was as annoying as last night. Lastly, could you do a story or provide an update on the Knights' uptown ballpark situation? It's been awefully quite around here, as another baseball season is set to begin with the Knights still in Fort Mill.

[Chris]

Tom gets carried away a lot, but he is dead on with this. The horse show scheduling is ridiculous. Bob Johnson needs to wake up and realize the Bobcats should come first and all arena scheduling should be done with them in mind. They were put at a major disadvantage by their owner this season by having to play second fiddle to a horse show.

And jrguyiii is right about the arena distractions (music, givaways, etc)....make the focus about the basketball. I am a casual fan (of the Bobcats, I love basketball) and sometimes I wonder why I bother to attend games because the actual game seems secondary. When I watch on TV, the game is the focus, and thats how I like it.

[Michael Thompson]

Last night's play list included the following songs:
Gimme Some Lovin (Oldies)
I Want You Back (Oldies)
Stronger (Hip Hop)
Glamorous (Pop)
What I Like About You (Rock)
Candy Girl (R&B)
La Grange (Rock)
Boyz (Alternative)
Super Bad (R&B)
Meximix (Mexican)
I Got You Babe (70�s Pop)
Everybody Have Fun Tonight (80�s)
Touch the Sky (Hip Hop)
Mony Mony (Rock)
Groove Is In the Heart (90�s Pop)
Relax Max (Jazz)
The Way I Are (Hip Hop)
That�s Not My Name (Alternative Pop)
Mr. Loverman (R&B)
Thriller (Pop)
Hot & Cold (Rock)
Could You Be Loved (Reggae)
Calabria (Dance)
Rock n Roll Pt.2 (Rock)

3 hip hop songs out of 24 on the evening. 5 rock. 3 R&B. Alternative, jazz, 70's pop and Mexican were played as well. The only thing missing was classical/opera and country. What may have been true about music selection 5 years ago is no longer a valid argument.

[Hoagie58]

It's nice to have a forum for all the whiners and haters!! With the Bobcats red hot, there still has to be 1 or 2 people that cant enjoy their success. At least the crap is limited to the Blog of the writer that everyone knows shows nothing but contempt for the Cats anyway...

[Adin]

haha I noticed ya didn't meinotn that frightening ordeal in your post I read somewhere that the '70 Chiefs had over 3-miles of dong on the entire roster 3-miles and 7-inches if you count the all white coaching-staff

[Elena]

What I meant was,.. no albulm coiannts 16 "singles",.. and like most albulms I've heard, there are some that sound like fillers, something to keep the music ticking over. 38% Isn't the lowest mark I've ever given,..From memory, Nate, Dave and Tim have copped some lower marks before,.. but I only judge as a listener as if I heard the song on a playlist or off the radio,.. definitely not as some sort of mentor because I am irrefuteably, the very worst 'song maker' on this website, so I'm just expressing wether in total the song connected with me individually, and what I would have preferred from the perspective of my ear, ..wether other listeners agree is up to them, there was some partial bits that sprang to my attention but, overall, definitely not the best I've heard from the Keepers, but the real percentage the song deserves is a combined mark of all who have commented so far.