Pelicans? In Big Easy? Seriously?
Sometimes a story that seems legitimate can be a hoax. Other times, preposterous sounding reports prove to be true.
Such was the case Tuesday with the lunacy surrounding the New Orleans NBA franchise.
When reports first surfaced that the Hornets would change their name to the Pelicans, possibly as early as next year, few believed it.
Why would they?
Even the normally gullible Internet masses sniffed out this nonsense as a fabrication.
Only now it appears this might be true.
A Yahoo! Sports report on Tuesday afternoon claims new owner Tom Benson, who has been considering new names for the franchise that was named when it was located in Charlotte, N.C., indeed has settled on Pelicans.
Whippoorwills and Cranes must have been taken.
The desire to change the team's name is understandable. Hornets never fit as a nickname in New Orleans, and the franchise and league are looking to spark enthusiasm to spur merchandise sales.
Hey, it worked for the Nets. They just had to go with black and white jerseys and change from New Jersey to Brooklyn to become one of the NBA's most popular teams.
That's not going to happen with the Pelicans. What self-respecting human would rock a Pelicans jersey? Pelicans are among the least interesting animals imaginable.
New Orleans is one of the coolest towns in America, and this is what they settle on?
The league has a mafioso commissioner who controls every detail that takes place, and yet he is going to let this insanity stand?
Great food, great music, great parties, and they want to name the team after dumb-looking fat birds with goofy beaks?
It would be like a team coming to Las Vegas, with all the cool naming possibilities, and calling it the Burros.
■ BCS MESS - The fact the Bowl Championship Series is a sham is not news to anyone with half a brain, but whatever remaining holdouts there might be need look no further than the final coaches' poll.
You know, the poll that still counts for a third of the final BCS standings. The same BCS that awards schools and conferences millions and millions of dollars for qualifying.
Coaches are going to do whatever is best for them. Like Vanderbilt coach James Franklin, who ranked the schools from his conference - Alabama, Georgia and Florida - in the top three spots ahead of unbeaten Notre Dame. He also had his 8-4 team at No. 16.
He wasn't alone.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops did his best to keep Northern Illinois out of the BCS by ranking the Huskies No. 24. Who would have benefited had Northern Illinois not finished high enough to receive a BCS berth? Probably Oklahoma, which Stoops ranked No. 6.
Other Big 12 coaches followed with similar placement for Oklahoma and Northern Illinois. Why? If a conference member makes the BCS, you get a cut.
The list of ridiculous ballots goes on and on, but we don't have enough space to detail the stupidity. Look it up for yourself.
This is what would happen if employee self-evaluations determined bonuses at work.
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
