ABC26 Sports

Well .. you may be kissing athletics at the University of New Orleans goodbye. We hear that the student voted against a fee increase for athletics by the count of: 1,418 against, to 1,250 for.

Let me get this right: 168 students can decide the fate of a division 1 athletic program? Just unbelievable.

It is sad that the UNO administration would even allow the whole issue of athletics to come down to a student vote. Do you think anything like that would ever happen at LSU? It is sad that the Jindal budget cuts that will deeply impact our colleges, are at this point, going forward. Perhaps the the $1 million for athletics will be restored.

What should have happen next? The LSU board of Supervisors should override the vote and tack on the fee. Doubt that that will happen.

It is a sad moment on the campus of the University of New Orleans.

Ed Daniels

UNO coaches are telling their student athletes to prepare for a future elsewhere, but my guess is, is that UNO athletics will return in the fall of this year.

Several efforts are underway. They include the identifying of donors who can give large sums to the program, a season ticket drive for basketball, and renewed efforts to get more members in the Privateer athletic foundation.

Chancellor Tim Ryan said this Friday that is UNO's budget cut, currently $15.3 million, is scaled back athletics could very well survive.

And, as we've reported several times, the LSU board can impose an increase on the student athletic fee, even though the fee increase was voted down by 25 percent of the student body in a referendum this week.

UNO athletics is a likely return in the fall of 2009. Even without increased financial support from students.

Ed Daniels

Hornets head coach Byron Scott and general manager Jeff Bower are expected to return. An announcement from the club is expected later this week.

Did you expect anything else? Were the Hornets going to fire Byron Scott? Let's see, a team that is already over the luxury tax for next year was going to pay its coach $5.5 million dollars to walk, and then hire another coach?

Maybe there was some in the Hornets front office that were hoping Sacramento was in play. They were hoping that the Kings would somehow step forward and take Scott off the Hornets' hands.

My guess is this will happen (or perhaps it already has). Byron Scott and George Shinn have met. Shinn was very unhappy with the 58 point beat down given his team by Denver in game 4. Shinn was unhappy that part of that beat down was administered by 2 former Hornets, J.R. Smith and Chris Andersen.

Shinn is over the luxury tax on a team with no bench.

If I were him I'd be ticked, too. But, at this point Shinn's hands are tied. He can't pull a Mark Cuban, that is, write the check and move on.

Let's hope that the fund raising and season ticket selling effort led by Hornets owner George Shinn can raise at least $2 million for UNO athletics.

That infusion of cash will take care of next year. But, what about the future?

The future will be best served by an increase in student fees. As noted in many of our reports, UNO students pay some of the lowest student fees for athletics in the Sun Belt Conference. That fee must go up.

The fee increase, voted down last week, will likely be re-visited in the fall, and with a lower proposed increase.

UNO's fee must go up, and its student body numbers must increase. UNO has lost about 6,000 students post Katrina. That is a huge concern in the LSU system. If he student meant $5K to the UNO per year, that would mean a loss of 6,000 students costs the University of New Orleans about $3 million per school year.

UNO has work to do, not just in its athletic department.

Ed Daniels

Hornets president Hugh Webber and executive of the board Chad Shinn met with local broadcast and print media on Thursday.

Webber spoke for the organization:

1) He said the Hornets must be better at "player development". Don't rule out additional assistant coaches that will be added to the Hornets staff to accomplish this goal. Said Webber, "some of our players were better at the beginning of the season than they were at the end." Clearly this is an offseason sticking point in the Hornets inner circle, especially after an anemic bench was a big part of why the Hornets were embarrassed in their five game playoff series with Denver.

2) He said Chris Paul and David West were "our core players". West, because of his play and his "friendly" contract, could be a prime target for teams looking to deal with New Orleans in the offseason.

3) Webber said the Hornets aren't officially over the luxury tax number until next February's trade deadline. So, if the Hornets wanted to start the season with the current roster, they could and not be penalized monetarily.

4) Webber said the Hornets have sold 9.000 season tickets for next year, about 1,700 fewer than last season. He said that number still puts the Hornets in the top five in the league in renewals. He said the Hornets still hope to exceed the 10,700 season tickets sold mark of 2008-2009.

Ed Daniels

Grace King high school's Danny Granger is proof that drafting and player development work. Tuesday, Granger was named NBA's most improved player.

His development has been both solid and spectacular. His scoring average went from 7.5 his rookie year, 13.9 in year 2, 19.6 in year 3, and 25.8 this season. He is the only player in NBA history to improve his scoring average at least five points in three consecutive years.

Granger was the 17th pick in the 2005 NBA draft. That was the same draft the Hornets selected Chris Paul at number 4.

There are several teams that rue the day they passed on Granger. At pick 11, Orlando selected Fran Vazquez of Spain. Pick 12 was Yaroslav Kozolev to the Clippers. The 13th pick was Sean May to Charlotte. At 14, Rashad McCants went to Minnesota. Pick 15 was Antoine Wright to New Jersey. Pick 16 was Joey Graham to Toronto.

Next season, Granger's salary jumps from $2.32 million to $9.93 million. Granger has earned every penny.

And he is again proof, that the draft, and patience can pay off, for the player and his team.

It was the moment that would make many New Orleanians proud.

Saints owner Tom Benson fighting for his hometown to land another Super Bowl, and the host committee exchanging high fives and hugs with him as New Orleans celebrated a victory.

When the press conference to announce New Orleans as Super Bowl host in 2013 ended, Benson stepped out of the room and called Governor Bobby Jindal.

Not since the days of Edwin Edwards has Benson and the state been on the same page like this. It was great to see.

It has been a long time since the NFL felt anchored in the city of New Orleans. Finally, the Los Angeles and San Antonio rumors can be put to bed. And, the Saints, owner Tom Benson and the state of Louisiana can get back to the football business: the business of winning.

National media, long fixated with putting the Saints in that other "L.A." can put that story to rest. Thank goodness.

Ed Daniels
Fort Lauderdale, FL
5:56 pm Tuesday May 19th

It was only a practice in May, but the attitude of the Saints defense is noticeably different. Defensive coordinator Gregg WIlliams jumped on several of his troops including defensive end Will Smith.

A Saints staffer said, "I don''t know if we will be more talented on defense, but we will be better on defense because of effort alone." We''ll see.

Our first off season look at the Saints defense came in Thursday morning's organized team activity. There were some good plays made by the Saints defense in the new attacking scheme. But there were some big plays allowed on defense, too. They included a Drew Brees buller to wide receiver Adrian Arrington, who beat safety Roman Harper down the middle. The Saints defense will gamble. Said head coach Sean Payton, "this off season we have a big emphasis on turning the ball over."

The difference in the Saints defense was obvous, but we won't know if that actually translates to the field until September.

Ed Daniels
Thursday May 21st, 2009
Saints facility- Metairie