, which is the sort of thing I tend not to forget).

Still, I feel for the Supersonics’ fans, and I assume that there are a fair number of them, whether they be “die-hard” or not.  While I know that Seattle may potentially get another team some day, as a practical matter they now understand how SMU fans felt when their team got the death penalty for football.

The only difference is that, unlike SMU, who was finally able to resume play, Seattle’s program is gone for good—gonzo, outta here, dead, kaput, snuffed it…

If I am a Seattle Supersonics fan, that just plain sucks…

That got me to thinking (which is so rarely a good thing).  The fact that the Supersonics could up and vanish like a fart in the wind is the reason why I personally will never be anything more than an occasional fan of professional sports.  At so many levels, that disturbs me. It also brings back a few memories.

I still remember the announcement in the late-1980s that, after…well…forever, North Carolina was going to get its first professional sports franchise (unless you count the ABA’s Carolina Cougars, which I don’t) in the form of an expansion team in Charlotte.

The team was to be called the “Charlotte Spirit” and was to begin play in the 1988 season.  Those who were to be fans of the team realized the “Spirit” was a crappy name, and thus the team was re-dubbed the “Charlotte Hornets.”  You may have heard of them.

When the nets went up at the lavish new Charlotte Coliseum in 1988, I became an instant Charlotte Hornets fan.  I was addicted to all things related to the Hornets.

I still remember the very first game I ever got a chance to attend: 7 January 1989, the Washington Bullets vs. the Charlotte Hornets.  Led by Kelly Tripucka, the Hornets managed to edge the Bullets, 107-104, for their ninth win that season.

I was also fortunate enough to catch three more games that season and was elated when the Hornets earned their 20th win versus the New Jersey Nets, en route to finishing their inaugural season with an overall record of 20-62.

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