Recession Survival Tips

It’s not a big deal being in a recession if you’re from Louisiana. We’ve been cutting costs for as long as there’s been industry here. Our decision makers have no qualms about putting out an inferior product as long as it’s turning a profit. Sadly our chickens come home to roost when every now and then we want something nice, but we been bootlegging it too long. So it should be no wonder that the city of New Orleans has never had a sports champion.

The new guys on the block are Shinn and Woolridge; the owners of the New Orleans Hornets. Earlier this week they tried to trade away one of our best players and call it an improvement. One of the best defensive centers in the league for 2 useless players, and they try to tell me it gives us more depth. Depth without talent in front of it means nothing though. Who the hell wants a team full of backup players? This is a team that was predicted early on to be a title contender. And that’s not out of the realm of possibility with the nucleus they have. It probably won’t happen this year, but they definitely have the starting block for it. And their fancy idea is to sell away one of those pieces.

Now they said it was about improving the team… but it was really about money. In the NBA, if you pay your players too much there is a penalty involved. So it comes down to this: at the end of this season, if the Hornets keep the team they currently have, they will have to come up off an additional 12 million dollars. Now that’s no sipping tea I know. And it’s easier for me to say this cause it’s not my 12 million. But for God’s sake don’t just give him away. You’ll lose a lot more than 12 million when people stop coming to the games because you’re putting a shitty team on the court. I guess that’s what happens in a recession though. People start selling away their valuables because they can’t afford to keep them. As it turns out, the trade fell through. Hopefully, when this guy gets back the Hornets can show how invaluable he is by making a decent run in the playoffs. But if not, I’m sure they’ll be wholesaling him come June for some spare parts.

So of course my least favorite owner ever is Tom Benson. And earlier this week he did what we all saw coming a long time ago and let Deuce McCalister go. It was evident from game two when Sean Payton, who was obviously in on it, decided that the goal of this season was not to go to the playoffs, but to find a way to give Pierre Thomas Deuce’s job. And it didn’t matter that Pierre couldn’t convert one important third down against the Redskins, and if we gave it to Reggie if he didn’t run sideline to sideline with it, it would be because he was running backwards while Deuce sat on the sideline trying to figure out what the hell was going on. And it doesn’t matter that the Superdome practically begs for Deuce with their Deuce chant every single short yardage situation. What matters was that we would rather have a roster full of running backs with young legs and no heart, and hope that Drew Brees can do it all by himself. Oh yeah… and 4 million less dollars of salary. And here I am the hopeless romantic still cheering for teams that will never quite reach their potential. Oh well… At least L.S.U. doesn’t mind playing its college players what they’re worth so I can cheer for them to win titles.

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