Letters to the editor

The Times-Picayune 4/28

A name in the spirit of fun

I've enjoyed reading all of the suggestions for the new name of the New Orleans Hornets, but think my friend came up with the best one: New Orleans Spirits.

Think of all the different kinds of spirits we have in this city! We have team spirit to the max, expressed in the way we love our Hornets, Saints and Tigers! The Holy Spirit is certainly here, as are the kind we imbibe in (cocktails even have a festival here). And don't forget the spirits seen and sometimes heard in those old mansions and buildings in the French Quarter:

Just ask those haunted tour guides about those.

The fans would have a ball dressing as spirits of many kinds. Our team colors could be black and white, lettering modeled after our iconic French Quarter street signs, and banded in stripes of purple, green and gold.

We could put a litter gris gris on opponents and even bring voodoo dolls to games, etc. What fun!

Wanda Gee, New Orleans

A name to capture our essence

I think that the new name for the Hornets should be the New Orleans Spirits. While that may seem like a strange choice at first, considering that sports teams are often named after fearsome animals, one must realize that the naming tradition was broken when the choice of Saints was taken for the city's football team.

In the eyes of Saints fans, it is a name to be proud of and is completely representative of new Orleans, Similarly, I think that the name Spirits has all sorts of connotations that bring our great city to mind. Who could deny that there is a very special spirit to this city? That spirit is evident in exciting activities that abound every year.

It is evident in the recovery effort that we have been experiencing from the Katrina disaster. It is evident in the smiles and gaiety of all of our people in spite of the enormous hardships we have endured.

In fact, I believe that it is the one thing that visitors look forward to the most when they come and the most memorable thing they take with them when they leave.

It should also be recognized that visitors and revelers often enhance the experience of the spirit of New Orleans by the consumption of spirits in New Orleans. Finally, New Orleans has a tradition of haunted houses and graveyard spirits.

What better choice of a name that represents New Orleans than the Spirits?

Jim Courville, Belle Chasse

Heisman winner has New Orleans' roots

Heisman Trophy winner's tale started in New Orleans

 By John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune 

The celebration for the Heisman Trophy winner might have stretched long into the New Orleans night Saturday after Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III was announced as the 77th winner of the award, because the roots of Baylor's junior quarterback run directly to the Crescent City. His parents, Robert Jr. and Jacqueline, are natives who have many family members still living there.

Kelly Kline/The Associated PressRobert Griffin III, of Baylor University, holds the Heisman Trophy award after being named the winner Saturday in New York.

"I grew up in the 9th Ward, the 3rd Ward and the 4th Ward," said Robert Jr., who graduated from John F. Kennedy High School. "I started out in the Desire housing project and was in the Iberville project when I left."

"I grew up around the City Park area," Jacqueline said, "and graduated from St. Mary's Academy."

Saturday, they watched the son they raised - along with two daughters - raise the most prestigious individual award in college football, besting a five-finalist field that included New Orleans native Tyrann Mathieu, a sophomore cornerback at LSU.

Robert III won the award by 280 points; Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck finished second, with 1,407 points.

"I've always aimed for the stars," Robert III said. The Heisman "wasn't on any checklist, but it wasn't something I thought I couldn't do.

"This is huge. We'll bring it back home (to Waco, Texas) and hopefully, inspire people. Football is king in Texas. If your football team in your backyard is doing well, it gives you a little more pride."

It can do that if the backyard is in another state, too. Especially if that backyard is filled with supporters.

Robert Jr. and Jacqueline Griffin left New Orleans a couple of decades ago, after joining the Army in hopes of providing a better life for their family.

"I like the Mardi Gras thing and all of the seasons that we have in New Orleans, but I wanted to see something different," the elder Robert Griffin said. "I wanted to see mountains, I wanted to see snow."

Saturday, the retired sergeant and his wife, who also retired as a sergeant, got to see something else that might have been considered a dream a few years ago. Robert III became the first Baylor player to win the Heisman, giving the Bears a level of acclaim they never before have had.

"It's been a long journey, but he believed in everything we were teaching him," Jacqueline said. "I knew God was going to do something great in his life. I just didn't know it was going to be this.

"He's a great example for our family, for Baylor."

And, by all accounts, he's a pretty good football player, too.

Griffin III won the award after completing 267 of 369 passes for 3,998 yards and 36 touchdowns, with six interceptions. He also rushed 161 times for 644 yards and nine touchdowns.

Additionally, he led Baylor to the program's first-ever victory over Oklahoma and to a win over Texas.

"For Robert, it's the pinnacle of individual awards," Baylor coach Art Briles said. "It's a huge, huge individual award that he very much deserves."

And in a nod to Robert Jr. and Jacqueline, Briles said, "We got a person that was polished when he came to us."

In fact, Griffin III smoothly handled the entire Heisman process, eloquently crediting teammates and coaches along the way, stressing how the honor was a team award, emphasizing how much the recognition would help Baylor.

And he effusively praised his parents, too.

"The things they sacrificed for me, my two sisters, they don't go unnoticed," he said.

Some of the results were noticed in New Orleans on Saturday. There, a proud family toasted one of its own.

"Tell them thanks, for all their love and support," Jacqueline said. "Tell them thanks for supporting us and for supporting how we were raising our kids."

John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3410.

© 2011 NOLA.com. All rights reserved.

New Orleans shoots hoops, too.

Winning touch 
West hits late basket as surging Hornets capture their ninth in a row
 By Jimmy Smith, Times-Picayune

Confounded, angry and out of his rhythm since the opening three minutes of the game after  picking up two quick personal fouls, Hornets forward David West struggled the rest of the way to find a comfort level -- and his shooting stroke.

Fortunately for the Hornets, but not so for the Oklahoma City Thunder, West re-discovered his happy spot -- from 19 feet away at the right elbow over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-10 Serge Ibaka -- with 0.5 seconds remaining to give the home team a stirring 91-89 victory Monday night, their ninth straight, in front of a second consecutive sellout crowd at the New Orleans Arena.

West's shot, culminating with his 20th point of the game, came after Chris Paul stole an Oklahoma City inbound pass from backup center Nick Collison and scrambled up the floor to gain possession before being fouled by Collison and apparently aggravating the rolled left ankle he hurt Jan. 14 at Houston.

With the victory, the Hornets moved into third place in the Western Conference standings and sent the fast majority of the 17,233 fans home spent, but happy. The Thunder defeated the Hornets in the teams' two previous meetings this season.

"We get the last one," West said. "We didn't want to give them an opportunity to deal with a catch (and shoot) and get a shot off. I was able to get my rhythm there. I figured around two or three seconds would give the ball enough time to get there, and to make sure we ended up with the last possession of regulation.

"I got out of my rhythm early, coming out of the game with those two fouls (with 9:13 remaining in the first quarter). I really didn't get settled until the fourth quarter, didn't feel like I was in sync with the game. But we had some good defensive possessions to keep us close, and we did what we wanted to do. Just get a win."

Monday night's game followed a script that the Hornets had written, and successfully acted upon, in the past: fall behind by double digits (it was 15 against the Thunder), turn on a defensive switch, go on a nice run (17-6 to open the second quarter), then close the deal in the end, forcing the NBA's leading scorer -- Kevin Durant -- to miss his last five shots.

"That second quarter hurt us," said Thunder Coach Scott Brooks, whose team was held to 12 after a 33-point first. "We had a good offensive game going, and we turned the ball over seven or eight times -- and they scored 12 points off those turnovers. We fought back and made a game of it, but they made shots down the stretch that we would normally make."

West scored the last eight points of the game for the Hornets after Paul exhibited some expected fourth-quarter theatrics: drawing a charge against Kevin Durant with 5:40 remaining and the Hornets down three, following that with a 3-pointer to tie the score, then feeding West on back-to-back jumpers with 1:53 and 57.2 left that tied the score after Oklahoma City had taken two- point leads

Paul's strip of Collison was the key defensive stop, as he took the ball away following an inbound pass that went to Collison from Jeff Green on New Orleans' end of the floor.

"I tell our bigs all the time when you do dribble handoffs, don't hold the ball out there because good guards will get their hands in there," Paul said. "I was denying Russell Westbrook. When Collison tried to hand it off, I got my hand in there."

Paul chased the ball up the court, with Westbrook and Collison in pursuit. Collison fouled him from behind -- the Thunder still was under the foul limit -- setting up West's eventual game- winner, and some home-remedy for the ankle from Paul's mother, Robin.

"We'll be all right," Paul said. "My parents are in town. I'll let my momma pray over it or something. I'll be all right. ... It's the physicality of the game. You get banged up, but my teammates were there for me. D-West ended it. Thank goodness. It we went to overtime, I was man down."

Durant led the Thunder with 22 points, and Green had 19 and Westbrook 18 points and 10 assists.

"It was a heck of a ball game," Thunder Coach Scott Brooks said. "Both teams played extremely hard; both teams battled to the last play of the game and they won. They're a good team. They've won (nine) in a row for a reason. We missed some shots down the stretch that we normally make. We got beat by a very good basketball team tonight."

WEST WILL WAIT: West, who can opt out of the last year of his contract this summer, reiterated his stance on waiting until season's end to make any decisions on staying or signing an extension.

A Yahoo report indicated that General Manager Dell Demps had made an extension offer to West's representatives at Octagon, but West said that an extension offer "has always been out there. But just in terms of making a good business decision, I'm not sure that would be smart.

"I've been saying the same thing: I'm just going to wait until the end of the year, and I want to make the best decision I can make in terms of my future," West said. "I've had an opportunity to talk with Dell. We have an understanding in terms of what's out there, but I'm just going to play ball right now."

West is scheduled to earn $7.5 million next season. He earns $8.2 this year.

West, a seven-year veteran who was drafted by the Hornets in 2003, said he's unconcerned whether his market value, or bargaining power for an extension, might diminish under the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement.

Demps declined comment.
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Jimmy Smith can be reached at jsmith@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3814.

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