Seeing as how the Hornets are on a season-long six-game road trip, what better time than now to talk about home fans? Hornets fan attendance has been much maligned for most the of the year; before the All-Star Break, the Hornets had sold out just two games despite being in first for much of the season. With a recently signed deal that lets the team opt-out of its lease if it doesn’t average 14,735, some wondered if the team would even be back in two years.

(Full disclosure: I spent the better part of two weeks trying to convince my editors to run a story inquiring as to whether the lagging attendance was a sign of something more and that maybe basketball can’t succeed in New Orleans, no matter how good the team. Shows what I know.) Read the rest of this entry »

by Alejandro de los Rios

This right here is the site where Peja’s Courts for Kids project will be building a basketball court, in the heart of New Orleans’ Iberville projects. Doesn’t look like much right now — in fact, it isn’t anything right now — but thanks to the $45K raised at Peja’s Stojakovic’s CharitaBowl, plus Peja’s matching contribution, this should end up being a pretty spiffy $90K basketball court.

I’ve been talking to Alex Dimitrijevic (try saying that five times fast or once, for that matter) the Managing Director of Peja’s charitable foundation and he said that the next step in the process is taking bids from contractors and picking the one that’s the most economically feasible. Unfortunately, that means we won’t be able to tell when even construction will take place on the court or when it will open.

What we do know is that the Boys and Girls Club center in Iberville will have its grand opening on April 12th. Darrell Guy, Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana was kind enough to take me through the center, which is in its final stages of construction. Guy said that the center hopes to service 100 kids a day, ages 6 to 18 and should be open during the school year from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. during summer vacation. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

Congressman Bill Jefferson has a new book out and you can buy it directly from him.

Check or Money Order -
Mail to: 1922 Marengo Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115
Make payable to William J. Jefferson

Wonder what he’ll use the money for?

by Sam Winston

The latest potential wrinkle in Senator Vitter’s sex scandal has drawn interest from some interesting circles.

I spoke with a reporter from Politico who was curious to know more about it, particularly in sorting out what was local blog material and what was newspaper material. He was eager on the story but his editor wanted more hard info before putting anything up.

Additionally, the post I did summarizing the matter also drew the ire of Chad Rogers, editor and publisher of the Drudge Report mimic (Louisiana style) the Dead Pelican. I’ll respond below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »