It Was Pure Magic. (Now Updated With Pics and Video)

[Proudiddy]

Your boy Diddy rounded up a couple of friends and made the trip to Buzz City.  I even called out of work despite not having any PTO, lol, so we'll see what happens with that, but I don't care, it had to be done.  Sadly, the day got off to rough start...  we were running a bit behind but still had a projected ETA of 5:30pm, but after a few stops in random BFE towns of NC between Raleigh and Charlotte, looking for cash for parking, and then not getting any cash for parking, we were set back to an ETA of about 7:05pm.  We finally got the cash for parking and I gunned it for the last hour or so to Charlotte. 

 

We get there about 6:55pm and park in the lot where I parked for my first ever Bobcats game back in 2006.  It's the lot directly behind the arena, adjacent to the practice gym.  Nice.  My friends are all kind of irritated as we all wanted to see the player intros...  Although we left slightly later than we had hoped due to me, we still should've arrived at 5:30pm.  I felt bad but, our missing the intros wasn't really on me.  We had to drive out of the way to pick my friend's friend up, and the multiple stops running into stores not getting what we stopped for were the unexpected delays we didn't account for, so all of it combined set us back a bit.  One of my friends was really disappointed about missing the intros and such, as it was his first NBA game ever.  So, I was kind of disappointed in how things had progressed as well. 

 

So, then we get to the front, and it is beautiful...  The spotlights are flashing everywhere, we walk up towards the entrance and see that beautiful purple carpet with purple LED lights shining upward with the teal backdrop covered in Hornets logos behind it.  WHAT?!?!  Are you serious?  It was like a gala event or something, lol.  So, I had my friend get my pic for this historic event and then we get in line.  I ask one of the service staff if she knew did they still have the shirts and tickets, and she said she didn't know, that it was until supplies last.  At this point, my friend's probably wanted to murder me, lol.  I would've wanted to murder me if we missed it.  Good news is, we got in the doors at like 7:00 on the dot.  We get our commemorative tickets and are told our tshirts are sitting on our seats.  AWESOME! 

 

We get to our section and of course, some bumass people are sitting in our seats, so we moved over to the adjacent section on the same row, which luckily was basically the same group of seats we purchased for that section...  So, it all worked out.

 

You all know, I'm a diehard homer.  If our state has a professional team, that's my team.  Good or bad, thick and thin.  I'll love them and sing their praises when it's good, and I'll bitch and moan when we're bad, but I'm gonna be there.  Point blank, period.  I love our teams.  That being said, you all know that I've been to multiple Cats games as well.  And I say this without bias...  the atmosphere was COMPLETELY different from the Cats era.  Perhaps some of it was because we are coming off a playoff run and had an amazing offseason with the signing of Lance and a great draft, re-signing Kemba, etc.  But, it wasn't just that...  This place was electric.  There was a literal buzz in the air even walking through the halls.  Everything was tinged in a purple and teal haze.  I was getting goosebumps walking to our seats...

 

We get to our seats just as the game starts...  The beginning, as you know was rough.  A lot of dumb plays, bad ball security, bad passes, questionable decisions and shot selection.  The turnovers were killer.  Add to that, I felt like at the very least, we could always bank on our defense.  Well, the guys, for the most part, were playing great defense.  I can't count how many shots the Bucks took that ended with our guy's hand splitting the shooter's hands on the release on the closeout and they still hit it.  I was just beyond frustrated.  It was crazy...  I felt like their luck had to end, and yet they still kept dropping.  I have worked out and trained with professional basketball players, and the shots the Bucks were hitting were UNREAL considering how well most of them were defended.

 

The game just gets uglier.  BUT, the timeouts and the crowd involvement was like never before.  I looked around a few times and kept telling my friends how I had never seen it so full before.  You were hard pressed to find any empty seats, even up to the rafters.  And everyone was into it!  Then they showed the video about the history of the team and the city with the montages including Kemba, Al, Lance...  O...  M...  G...  I get goosebumps thinking about it.  Then the announcer screams, "THIS IS YOUR TEAM!  THIS IS YOUR CITY!  THESE ARE YOUR HORNETS!  GET ON YOUR FEET AND MAKE SOME NOISE!!!"  I also loved that everytime they showed MJ on the screen the crowd erupted with cheers.  It almost brings a tear to my eye.  Not only because of how awesome it is for our team, the city, and our state...  but, I love redemption stories.  And MJ has never deserved the level of criticism that he has endured for his actions and history as an executive.  This is his redemption story, just as it is our franchise's.  He deserves the cheers and adulation now.

 

So, I had been waiting to get something to eat and to buy some merchandise, but I didn't want to miss anything.  I went out at halftime, but obviously, as expected, it was too busy to do anything, so I went back to my seat.  Midway through the third quarter, we hit rock bottom...  We are down 24 points.  I leaned over to my friend, and he can verify it for you, lol, I said, "We have to get it down to 15 by the end of the third or we're not coming back."  After saying that, I went to get something to eat.  While I'm standing in front of concessions, I hear the crowd explode.  The TVs around the arena halls are on a slight delay, so I would hear the crowd erupt and then not know what was happening for a second, and then see it on the screen.  I look up, and Lance absolutely yammed on someone, lol.  It was a welcomed sight, but we still had a long way to go.  But, the crowd eruptions continued and grew more frequent.  I get back to my seat at the end of the 4th, and my friend says, "you said we would have to get it to 15...  well, we did haha."  At that point, with how we had been playing, it still seemed far fetched, but I had a feeling.  I said 15, and we got it to 15.  There was something there...

 

The 4th starts and we just keep chipping away...  Once we got down to 4 minutes to go, you could literally feel the shift in momentum.  Also, at this point, I was screaming like a madman.  I berated the refs, I was yelling to the top of my lungs when we were on defense, I was standing on my feet, and I didn't care what anyone thought.  When we made a big play, I was punching through the air violently, screaming, lol.  But, it was incredible.  At some point, something clicked...  the team and fans were one.  It felt like the louder we screamed, the more energy we gave them.  I felt like I literally controlled the outcome of the game with my cheers.  Everytime the Bucks brought it up and the crowd screamed, we could feel that the possession was going to end in our favor.  It went from wondering how it would play out, to feeling like KNOWING it was going to be a big play for us.  The times the crowd didn't cheer as loud or make as much noise when the Bucks had the ball, they made plays.  When we made noise, they folded.  The energy was palpable.

 

Then we come down to our last possession of regulation.  I immediately envisioned Kemba getting the ball and hitting the shot to pull us through...  I even tried to get my phone out to record because I anticipated that we were going to pull this out and make history...  But, unbelievably, my stupid phone went dead at that very moment, so I wasn't able to get the footage.  Anyway, Kemba gets the ball, and I feel like I literally willed this comeback and his shots with some sort of Professor X-psychic-manipulation-type mindpower, lol.  Sure enough, Kemba hits it.  The arena goes crazy!  I'm slapping fives with complete strangers!  I'm screaming who knows what to the top of my lungs.  I'm losing my voice...  I'm thankful the area directly in front of our section was empty because I was spittling more than Bill Cowher in his prime, lol.  Then overtime...  My friend says, "well, at least we got it to overtime."  I said, "nah man, we need the win.  we have to finish it."  Same deal...  I felt it and saw it before it happened.  We cheered our team and the Bucks folded when we screamed out of our minds...  Comes down to the last shot.  Before the possession, I scream, "IT'S KEMBA TIIIIIIIIIIME!" during the timeout.  Kemba brings it up, creates the space, BOOM!  I knew it!  The game was done.  The Bucks were done!  They miss the last shot and make it official...  It was just magic.

 

I stood there in my section for like 10 minutes, just taking it all in.  Incredible, incredible, incredible...

 

Thanks to everyone that made it out there.  Thanks to the players.  Thanks to MJ for making this happen.  I love that man.  He made me want to play basketball and now he has brought everything full circle and has built a winner that he is dedicated to...  He has made a committment to the fans, the city, the state, the fans of our franchise everywhere.  And just as I thank him for instilling that love of the game within so many years ago, I have to thank him for all that he has done and continues to do in the renaissance of this franchise.  We WILL win a championship under MJ.  WATCH.  I love you all, lol!

 

EDIT:  Also, I forgot to mention, but cbarrier reminded me, possibly the best fan moment outside of changing the momentum of the game was walking out afterwards...  the concourse was packed and all these voices lifting up out of these purple and teal laden bodies start chanting loudly, "CHAR-LOTTE HOR-NETS!  CHAR-LOTTE HOR-NETS!"  CHAR-LOTTE HOR-NETS!"  It was surreal.  I was so proud... 

 

And now for pics:

 

 

 

 

Amazing video during the game:

 

 

 

 

 

[Towelboy]

Since you missed the intros...here's a video from the cheap seats. The hive was definitely alive!

 

[ItsPantone278]

I went into the game thinking 'I need to save something for tomorrow night'. That all went out the window as I felt the same way you did as we continued to chip away. The fans around me in sec 229 were great. We were on the front row so I usually try to be considerate of the people behind me but they didn't sit through the entire 4th it seemed.

[teeray]

What Diddy said. I can confirm everything you said in your post. You described my feeling during this game to a tee. My wife was making fun of me because I was standing up with my hands on my knees screaming and "coaching" on every play of the 4th and OT

[Lemory]

Wish Panther games had that much energy.

[Towelboy]

What Diddy said. I can confirm everything you said in your post. You described my feeling during this game to a tee. My wife was making fun of me because I was standing up with my hands on my knees screaming and "coaching" on every play of thev4th and OT

 

So I wasn't the only one coaching from my seat? Good to know.

[Proudiddy]

Yeah, I was dropping knowledge from Section 210 as well.  "SWING IT!"  "CORNER!"  "HELP HIM!"  "JUST GO STRAIGHT UP LANCE!"  "DON'T GO UNDER THE PICK!" 

 

LOL.

[Towelboy]

"BACKDOOR"

"GET BACK ON D"

"HUSTLE"

"WATCH THE CUTTER"

"BOX OUT" 

"SWITCH"

"COLLAPSE"

"TAKE THAT"

"ALL DAY"

"FOCUS"

 

[Proudiddy]

LOL good times!

[Zaximus]

Did security tell you guys to sit down at any point?

[KendrickPanther]

When we got down by 24 I became like a math wizard. "We need 12 layups". Then it's 15 points and I'm like "7 possession game". If it wasn't for Charlotte Basketball I would never have learned to add, subtract, and divide in my head lol. 

[chubs2496]

Diddy that's a great story of your night. Sounds a lot like the rest of our nights in the arena. Absolutely amazing. Greatest thing I've ever witnessed, heard, and ever been apart of. The intensity and buzz was electric.

My dad is very laid back and witnessed my own father chest bumping an high diving random strangers next to us. That literally made my night. I've been to many bobcat games and never seen him like that. It was great. U could not have scripted it any better.

I also parked in the same lot u mentioned and got out of there with absolutely zero traffic. So overall it was the best night of my life. Will be back for sure. Thanks to MJ, the organization the supporters and the players. But most of all the fans like diddy and all of us posters here that watched and was live screaming out lungs out giving every thing we had to our CHARLOTTE HORNETS. Amazing game. Thank u all.

[TheMaulClaw]

I just hope the fans continue to realize how important they are and how much they affect the game.  When an arena is pumping the opponents know just how much negative momentum they have.  Whether it's trash talk, physical play, nothing gets in the head of the opponent like a home crowd that can't be deterred.

 

Let's just hope we get the same kind of crowd Saturday, and the game after that and the game after that. 

 

You know the fans have done something special when every article about the game mentions the raucousness of the crowd. 

 

Let's hope this isn't a one hit wonder with the fans. 

 

I wasn't able to be there last night, but I plan on making a few games this year and doing my part.

[Proudiddy]

Did security tell you guys to sit down at any point?

 

NOPE.  We were completely on our own...  In fact, at one point, some of the staff came up as the Bucks were shooting free throws and said we all needed to start "buzzing" as they were shooting their free throws.  So, they actually encouraged it.  I sensed a few people behind me were getting a bit irritated, but I didn't give a poo.  If they would've said anything, I would've most likely ignored it.  But, like I said, once we got to the 4th, I went ahead and just sold out, and it was contagious.  Everyone around me started doing the same thing.  I LOVED IT.