Darren Rovell, of ESPN.com, says "several owners will vote no" as of right now

[spongey]

Dan Patrick had Darren Rovell, business writer for ESPN.com, on the Dan Patrick show on Tuesday. Rather than transcribe what he had to say, I'm just going to link to the audio recording of his segment. His comments are pretty much all positive for Charlotte and all negative for New Orleans.

To play this audio clip. First, save the file to your hard drive, then run it in whatever audio player you use (Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc...)
Darren Rovell Audio Recording - Right Click and SAVE AS...

[RENFO]

Originally posted by spongey
Rather than transcribe what he had to say, I'm just going to link to the audio recording of his segment.

Spong,

Is it at all possible to post the transcription? I'm having trouble with the audio link. Would really appreciate it.

[spongey]

Originally posted by RENFO


Spong,

Is it at all possible to post the transcription? I'm having trouble with the audio link. Would really appreciate it.

RENFO,
Check the front page or the post entitled, "Baton Rouge Hornets?". I put a loose transcription there.

[RENFO]

Originally posted by spongey

RENFO,
Check the front page or the post entitled, "Baton Rouge Hornets?". I put a loose transcription there.

Thanks, Spong

[BGH]

this was what I was exactly the inteview I was refering to in the post I made called "Baton Rouge Hornets?"

[Carolina_Hornet]

[Joe Horn-et]

An ESPN beat writer for business of all things, getting the scoop directly from multiple owners. This guy's a clown.

[Dr. Sting]

Just listened to the interview. Maybe this guy is on to something. Maybe he has only talked to a couple of owners who are in the minority. aybe he asn't personally talked to anyone and is just "fudging" for the purposes of a good story. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. The only question I have is what does he mean they have no options if the NBA votes no to relocation. He says that they will have to sell.

Everyone knows that Shinn and Woolridge have the option to sue. Will they? Who knows? This thing goes back and forth every day. By the way, I see where Ken Bickoff of Basketall Weekly is saying the exact opposite of Rovell. He is saying they can't vote against it.

I think at this point I will stop obsessing over it and will just wait for the ticket numbers to come in along with the relocation vote.

[sting]

I don't think owners would say their going to vote yes or no until the see what ticket sales are, the arena deal.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by sting
I don't think owners would say their going to vote yes or no until the see what ticket sales are, the arena deal.

I'm with you, why would they commit to their vote now before they get the facts and recommendation from the relocation committee. It is all a matter of how (or if) he asked the question. He could have asked " as of now, will you vote yes for the relocation of the Hornets?" And many answers may have been "no" simply because they do not have all of the facts (as of right now). Pure speculation on my part, but who knows? None of us will know for sure until April 8 or 9.

[izzydean]

Originally posted by HORNETSFAN

I'm with you, why would they commit to their vote now before they get the facts and recommendation from the relocation committee. It is all a matter of how (or if) he asked the question. He could have asked " as of now, will you vote yes for the relocation of the Hornets?" And many answers may have been "no" simply because they do not have all of the facts (as of right now). Pure speculation on my part, but who knows? None of us will know for sure until April 8 or 9.

Because most owners have already made up their mind. Sure they are going to say they will wait on the recomendation, but these are real people here.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by izzydean


Because most owners have already made up their mind. Sure they are going to say they will wait on the recomendation, but these are real people here.

You know that for a fact, huh? Why don't you let Stern know so he can call off the Relocation Committee and get on with the vote.

These are real "businessmen," who usually become successful by making decisions based on facts, not on whims.

[izzydean]

Originally posted by HORNETSFAN


You know that for a fact, huh? Why don't you let Stern know so he can call off the Relocation Committee and get on with the vote.

These are real "businessmen," who usually become successful by making decisions based on facts, not on whims.

Thats like saying no one has made up their mind who they are going to vote for president before the debates. Come on, its only natural. Yes, I do know that for a fact. The owners are not robots waiting on a report to decide who to vote for. I would be completely shocked if many of the owners have not made up their mind.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by izzydean


Thats like saying no one has made up their mind who they are going to vote for president before the debates. Come on, its only natural. Yes, I do know that for a fact. The owners are not robots waiting on a report to decide who to vote for. I would be completely shocked if many of the owners have not made up their mind.

Where are your facts then? Who is voting yes and who is voting no and where did you get your facts?

[izzydean]

Originally posted by HORNETSFAN


Where are your facts then? Who is voting yes and who is voting no and where did you get your facts?

How would I know such information. I'm not like NO posters I'm just being realistic.

[say-what-x]

Uh guys, since we are discussing Darren Rovell's opinion of what he thinks owners will do, how about these nuggets gleaned from articles printed by a paper that has been critical of the move:

Jerry Colangelo: current Hornets’ owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge have an inherent advantage. "They’re (the NBA owners) not thrilled about them wanting to move," Colangelo said. "But there’s not anything they can really do about it."NBA starts to act on Hornets

A straw poll conducted by The Gazette with beat writers of the other 28 NBA teams over the weekend proved inconclusive. Most seem to think their ownership groups would be inclined to approve a move, if for no other reason than the fact that the NBA has long been an owners’ league.

Even ownership groups who think Shinn and Wooldridge are bad for the league and/or think New Orleans isn’t a good market seem to be thinking that way. Stern blames Charlotte leaders

See, even sources critical of the move have recognized that it's no sure thing that the league will block the move as Charlotte so desperately hopes. What special insight Mr. Rovell has is a mystery to me, but there is obviously a wide spectrum of opinion out there even among sources critical of the move. So I wouldn't put too much into these statements. As the Charlotte posters are so quick to tell us, it's just one man's opinion.

The only opinions that count are the ones to be issued by the Relocation Committee followed by the vote of the owners. Until then, we are all just speculating on what they will do.

So to add my 2-cents to this - Based on everything said and done to date in both Charltote and New Orleans, I think they will approve the move.

Cheers!

[the commodore]

There was a tiny item in Sports Illustrated about 6 weeks ago and it was a quote by an NBA figure whose name I can't recall. He wasn't an NBA official like Russ Granik or anybody but I do recall he was some sort of GM or former GM. He had a pretty harsh assessment of the move:

"I know New Orleans and the owners know New Orleans and the NBA knows New Orleans. The NBA does not want to move to New Orleans."

Even if the NBA vetoes relocation to New Orleans, that doesn't mean that ShinnRidge have to sell. I don't think there's anything to prevent them from trying to search out a deal with another city--Louisville, Norfolk, VA. I don't know if those towns can support a team but they have been mentioned in the past. I think the country is running out of towns that can support an NBA team...

[NorthlakeHornet]

If Memphis can support a team then New Orleans surely can.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by the commodore
There was a tiny item in Sports Illustrated about 6 weeks ago and it was a quote by an NBA figure whose name I can't recall. He wasn't an NBA official like Russ Granik or anybody but I do recall he was some sort of GM or former GM. He had a pretty harsh assessment of the move:

"I know New Orleans and the owners know New Orleans and the NBA knows New Orleans. The NBA does not want to move to New Orleans."

Even if the NBA vetoes relocation to New Orleans, that doesn't mean that ShinnRidge have to sell. I don't think there's anything to prevent them from trying to search out a deal with another city--Louisville, Norfolk, VA. I don't know if those towns can support a team but they have been mentioned in the past. I think the country is running out of towns that can support an NBA team...

They could not do it this year though, so the NBA would effectively be dictating another year of losses or a sale.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by izzydean


How would I know such information.

Exactly, so do not claim to have FACTS when asked.

[West Coast Hornet]

"I know New Orleans and the owners know New Orleans and the NBA knows New Orleans. The NBA does not want to move to New Orleans."

JC, man. It wasn't an NBA official. The person who said that used to be a partner with George Shinn, and he used to be involved with the old ABA. His name escapes me, but someone will pick up on it now.

I don't give a crap about any of these writers anymore. They each think they know what is going to happen.

I think at this point I will stop obsessing over it and will just wait for the ticket numbers to come in along with the relocation vote.

I am with Dr. Sting. I am not even going to try to argue with this Rovell dude on his piece. All of us in NOLA have already covered points that would suggest why this guy is wrong, but I am tired. All I can say is that if NOLA has done its part and the NBA rejects the move, then I won't be supporting that league anymore from here on the West Coast, or anywhere.

[izzydean]

Originally posted by HORNETSFAN


Exactly, so do not claim to have FACTS when asked.

I aplogize for having common sense.

[West Coast Hornet]

Spongey, thanks for posting the link. I listened to the comments. One thing that was interesting that hasn't been discussed is that rovell spent almost a minute talking about how this wasn't a done deal. At that point, Patrick interjected and wanted to talk about whether the Hornets name should stay in CLT, and he specifically mentioned the whole thing with the New Orleans Jazz name going to Utah. Did Patrick just blow off Rovell's comments, or was the interview scripted with Patrick thinking that Rovell was going to say that the move was pretty much a done deal. An interviewer normally should try to get a feel for what his interviewee is going to say before he says it. So, Rovell got tripped up on the name question. It's almost like he wanted to say "have you not heard a word I said?" Rovell mentioned that we weren't to that point yet because the move was not a done deal. he then went on to say that teams were keeping nicknames, but he didn't seem to want to talk about that. I'd like to know who Rovell talked to. Why would these guys tell Rovell what their vote is? He must have talked to Schultz by reading his quote from AP. Genius! :togo: