The Hornets are somewhat of a unique case in that the team has pretty much transitioned away from the Hugo the Hornet logo that the franchise has always had to the newer “Fleur de Bee.” Thus, we’ve got ticktock6 of Hornets Hype here to praise the Fleur de Bee while Zach Harper of TalkHoops / Cowbell Kingdom / Hardwood Paroxysm checks in afterward to give further credence as to why New Orleans should probably just abandon ol’ Hugo altogether.
Part I: Why the Hornets Logo is Awesome
by ticktock6
In 2007, the Hornets came back to New Orleans after two seasons in Oklahoma City, and people here were a combination of bored and really pissed off. Bored because the Hornets hadn’t been in the city for many years before Katrina, and had never established themselves in a way that even got close to how the Saints were entrenched in the city’s culture and the people’s hearts. Pissed off because people in the organization at times came close to bad-mouthing New Orleans in their attempts to suck up to OKC. There were comments made. There were offensive articles published. There was speculation over whether the team should stay. People here were also angry at the team’s attempts to separate itself from New Orleans. There were jerseys with “Oklahoma City” on them, and a new secondary logo that just looked like a big generic H — cause, hey, generic means wherever you stick the team you don’t have to change it! — and the team was announced as “Your Hometown Hornets” without any mention of New Orleans. If it was your team doing that, while your city sat in ruins, you’d be mad too. Unsurprisingly, when the Hornets returned, they didn’t sell out their opener. And through January a crowd of 8,000 was not uncommon.
Then a funny thing happened. The team started to win. They started to win and they just wouldn’t stop. And people within the organization started to push. They put the Fleur de Bee logo on everything. They handed out free stuff. They advertised $8 seats. Did you know we have free kegs and local bands outside the arena for every home game? Well, we do. And people responded. In a month, every game was sold out and stayed that way through the playoffs and the next (less successful) season.
The way this logo slowly took over for the old school hornet as 2007-08 went on is indicative of how the organization slowly came to understand how to win over the fans in New Orleans. George Shinn thought he could do all the same things he did in Charlotte and Oklahoma City. But what he and his staff didn’t understand was that you can put your team in New Orleans, but at the end of the day that’s just geography. New Orleans is not like other cities. It’s just not. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived here. That’s why anything — including the big H logo in the center of the court — that reminded people of the whole “Your Hometown Hornets” thing pissed everyone off. New Orleans is not “your hometown.” It’s not ____fill in the blank____ City. You have to give people a reason to see themselves in their team. And you know, I don’t dislike the old Hugo the Hornet logo. It’s definitely still around. But you can go to the official website and see for yourself what’s at the top.
So that’s our logo. Probably a lot of fans don’t think about their team’s logo, like they don’t think and worry about the future of their city. But we do. On a more aesthetic note, the new shades of purple/teal are less eye-searing, I personally think it’s actually a little meaner than the regular hornet, and it looks pretty damn good on the back of a car next to your matching Saints sticker. Where it should be.
Part II: I Thought I Knew You, Hugo
by Zach Harper
Look at you, Hugo.
You’re grotesque. You’re so out of shape that you’ve formed a completely unfamiliar silhouette that isn’t found in nature — like the contestants on More To Love. You think that slapping on a “NOLA” shirt will distract people from the horrendous blob that you have turned yourself into, but you’re wrong. I can’t tell if you have wings or John Wooden’s ears. And yet, we can’t help but stare at your enormous, um, stinger?
I can’t tell if it’s flaccid or ready for business but whatever it is, it’s an eyeful. You’re like the John Holmes of NBA logos. You look like the Space Needle after downing bottle of Viagra. You’re the opposite of a Ken doll. You’re both anatomically incorrect because he has no genitalia and you’re hung like an elephant’s arm. (All these phallic references make me fear that Brendan Haywood is going to write a blog entry about me, so I’ll move on.)
You do look like you’re ready for Bourbon Street, however, and that Katie Holmes-esque fake smile shows me that you’re ready for some illicit action with some inebriated coeds. But you don’t represent the city of New Orleans. You’re a retread from the streets of Charlotte who has moved your molesting ways to a new part of the country so you don’t have to walk around introducing yourself to the neighbors. And you don’t need no stinking beads because you have enough Rohypnol stored in your oversized sneakers to sedate an entire Arizona State sorority.
You should be ashamed, Hugo. ASHAMED.
I keep getting older, but they stay the same age.
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