My Next Chapter: A Diehard Hornets Fan

These last few months I've been racking up notable life events. I became a father (to a dog). I started a new job. My Columbus Blue Jackets won a playoff series and I cried a lot. I got engaged. I got married and I cried a lot but not quite as much as the playoff series win because I've been in a relationship with that team a lot longer than I have my wife and it's been a much rockier road and that's what being a fan is all about and my wife is okay with that so I married the right woman and that's an awesome feeling.

On top of all the life changes, I really didn't even see a need for this outlet anymore. Instead of Facebook posts encouraging me to read a friend's blog, I was told to listen to their podcast. I was implored to watch their fitness and diet journeys on Instagram. I went out of style and all I could do was watch as the world around me became unrecognizable just like every generation before me.

Over the last couple weeks, though, I've felt a calling to return to the keyboard. Most of my best posts have revolved around the struggles of my favorite teams. Those words were historically the most therapeutic and it felt like writing a commiseration guidebook for my readers who rooted for the same franchises that never won anything. That calling this time came from the city where I've lived for more than two years: Charlotte, North Carolina.

It's always felt odd to call Charlotte home. You see practically nobody my age in the Queen City was born and raised here. They probably went to college in the Southeast and moved here for a solid job in finance because this slice of millennial heaven has everything and better weather than New York. Apartment complexes are popping up on every corner competing in an amenities arm race. A craft brewery or coffee shop is always a short walk away. You can bring your dog with you everywhere. The city essentially makes the start of adulting come with training wheels.

Now that I have a family, it seemed that calling was telling me to put down some roots. Personally the easiest way to make this place my home would be a relationship with a local sports team. I did some soul searching, and at the end of the process, the answer was obvious. I tried to become a Carolina Panthers fan in college for Twitter fame. The Charlotte Checkers, the city's minor league hockey team, just won a title. Mama didn't raise no bandwagon fan. The Charlotte Knights, the AAA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, are a baseball team and baseball is more irrelevant than a blog post from a 24 year old with no formal writing experience.

When I considered the Charlotte Hornets, I saw my destiny. I saw bright teal and purple lights illuminating the perfectly missing piece of my fandom puzzle. The team embodied everything that felt like home from my past (AKA irrelevant and/or incompetent) and that was before news broke earlier this week that their best player, Kemba Walker, would be leaving the team. The more I thought about it, though, the Hornets might take the cake on those two traits when lumped aside my Browns and my Blue Jackets. Consider the following:

• The list of Charlotte Hornets draft picks. That speaks for itself. 
• Seriously go click on that link. I'm convinced Michael Jordan flips on his television in March each year and remembers the names Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley, two men most would not listen to for draft advice, rattle off the most. Each pick comes from a "elite" college basketball program and only of them panned out. 
• Kemba Walker, the one pick who did pan out, wasn't offered anywhere close to a max contract. The same front office thought a career backup was worth $19 million a year. 
• The Hornets have nearly $100 million tied up next season to five guys who must have dirt on the front office. I think France's Nic Batum is personally out for revenge for the Louisiana Purchase. Thomas Jefferson famously paid only $15 million to acquire all of the land from France. Batum is making $52 million to play below replacement level basketball the next two years. Napoleon wishes he had that much clout.
• The Hornets are at best the fourth most popular basketball team in the city. Duke and North Carolina take the top two spots in this college basketball crazed state, and since Steph Curry grew up here, the Warriors' bandwagon contingent is mighty. The aforementioned transplants take over the Spectrum Center when teams like Boston or Philadelphia come to town, so on certain nights, they could slide down another spot. 
• Nobody in the national media is spending too much time discussing the Hornets' incompetence because the New York Knicks exist. If Kawhi Leonard doesn't join the Lakers at this point, Charlotte will have to settle for bronze for the biggest offseason letdown. 
• The Cleveland Cavaliers coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win the 2016 NBA Finals over the 73 win Golden State Warriors was one of the biggest thrills of my life. LeBron James leaving for Los Angeles combined with the fact I've been to a total of one Cavs game in my life made the group the easiest goodbye. 

The dozens of Hornets fans around me are threatening to abandon the team, but I'm personally salivating at that recipe. I've believed time and time again that the Browns would finally choose the right quarterback. I watched the two most talented players in Blue Jackets' history leave the team today and get nothing in return. Michael Jordan and Mitch Kupchak frankly delivered a perfect recruiting pitch. If I don't become a diehard Hornets fan, I'm betraying myself as a man. 

What does being Charlotte's newest super fan look like? That's a question we're going to answer together. The niche for Charlotte Hornets basketball commentary might be borderline nonexistent, but that seems like a good place to start. I want to hold myself accountable, so I set some classic SMART goals for the 2019-2020 season. 

• Go to at least one Hornets game every month next season. I can't imagine the demand exceeding the supply, and if my economics classes taught me anything, taking the four for four page out of Wendy's playbook might be the best play for upper bowl tickets for a few home games. 
• I will acquire at least three articles of Hornets' clothing before the New Year, including one jersey of a current player on the team (a knockoff from China, obviously). I have a throwback Muggsy Bogues jersey already. Off to a hot start. 
• I will write one Hornets blog post every month to summarize life in Buzz City. The national media might not care about our plight, but we will not be silenced. 
• I will buy my dog a Charlotte bandana/collar to ensure my family bleeds purple and teal. 
• I will get drunk at least once and apply for a press credential at some point in the second half of the season. 

There's a lot of work to be done. I need to remind myself what Zeller brother plays for the team about a hundred times. I need to figure out some puns for Dwayne Bacon. I need to familiarize myself with Coach Borrego's style of play. Most importantly, if there any other Hornets fans out there, I need to find out where I can get a genuine sense of community and camaraderie. Do we have a rallying cry or something? If not, I have a suggestion for the AK (after Kemba) era:

Let's get buzzed, Charlotte.

J. Nave