NEW ORLEANS -- Hornets owner Tom Benson is changing

NEW ORLEANS -- Hornets owner Tom Benson is changing his teams nickname to the Pelicans and said the switch will create a bond with the city that could lead to a championship. Nike Free 5.0+ Laufschuhe Blau. The Hornets announced Thursday they are going ahead with the name change. The NBA still has to approve it, but Commissioner David Stern has said he wouldnt object to any name Benson chose. The league is expected to expedite the change at the start of next season. The new colour scheme is blue, gold and red, a departure from the Hornets teal, purple, gold and white. The Hornets have been in New Orleans since moving from Charlotte for the 2002-03 season, although they were relocated temporarily to Oklahoma City from 2005-2007 due to Hurricane Katrina. Benson, who also owns the Saints, bought the team last spring. The nickname Hornets "didnt mean anything to this community," Benson said. "The pelican represents New Orleans, just like the Saints. They have incredible resolve. If they can do that, the team can do the same." The brown pelican is Louisianas state bird and has become identified with efforts to restore Louisianas coast, which has been damaged extensively by the 2010 BP oil spill and erosion from Katrina and other storms. Images of the pelicans covered with oil were plentiful after the oil spill. The brown pelican was taken off the endangered species list in 2009. "Were raising an entire generation to be very mindful to what happened to our coastal restoration," said Rita Benson LeBlanc, Bensons granddaughter and vice chairman of the board for the Hornets and the Saints. "Give it time, and I think everyone will be inspired (by the name change). Its for a greater purpose." The team also unveiled five new logos. The primary one has a red background with the words New Orleans and pelicans written in white, a red pelicans head and bill, a gold basketball and crescent and a red fleur de lis at the top. "Its a strong looking logo. thats what I was most worried about," coach Monty Williams said. "I was hoping it was dynamic and strong, and when I saw the colours and the angles of it, I thought it was great. Its going to be great to see kids around the city in their pelican jerseys and hats." Benson owns the rights to the name Pelicans, which was the nickname for a former minor league baseball team that played in New Orleans for more than 70 years. "When kids grow up, theyre going to identify with New Orleans Pelicans here," said New Orleans head of basketball operations Mickey Loomis, who also is the Saints general manager. "Its really New Orleans team. I think from the very beginning for Mr. B when he bought the team, he just wanted to make sure that Im a local owner and this is a local team." The Hornets are New Orleans second NBA team. The Jazz played here from 1974-79 before leaving for Utah, and current Jazz owners have said they had no interest in giving up the name so New Orleans could have it back. There is a small campaign in Charlotte to "bring back the buzz" to North Carolina. Before they were the New Orleans Hornets, the franchise was located in Charlotte from 1988-2002 -- then George Shinn moved the Hornets to the Big Easy. The Bobcats are doing market research to find out if the name change is worth it. Charlotte has hired Harris Interactive, a nationally prominent polling company, to survey current Bobcats customers and the Charlotte sports market to get their input on possibly changing the name. "We are aware of the impending change regarding the team nickname in New Orleans," said Bobcats president and COO Fred Whitfield. "We are currently in contact with the NBA and conducting our own due diligence relative to this matter." Nike Free Run+ 3 Laufschuhe. Fraser, 25, is in his fourth season in the NHL. He has four NHL games under his belt this season where he collected no points. Drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the third round (84th overall) of the 2005 entry draft, he was traded to the Ducks this past December, along with Rod Pelley and a seventh-round draft pick, in exchange for Kurtis Foster and Timo Pielmeier. Nike Free 3.0 Amphibious Laufschuhe Lila. Kelly, whose up-tempo, fast-paced offence has captured the imagination of several NFL teams and maintained the Ducks status as a national power, appears to be near the top of Clevelands list of candidates to replace Pat Shurmur, fired earlier this week after going 9-23 in two seasons. http://www.nikefreeschweiz.ch/. -- The Portland Timbers have traded midfielder/defender Jeremy Hall to FC Dallas in exchange for midfielder Eric Alexander. Nike Free 3.0 V3 Laufschuhe Blau Dunkel Blau Weiß. -- The Seattle Seahawks have agreed to terms with linebacker Barrett Ruud, cornerback Roy Lewis and guard Deuce Lutui on one-year deals. Nike Free Schuhe. When it became clear that the performance was going to help the San Antonio Spurs win, the 12-year veteran could enjoy it so much more.Running out of time to make up ground in the AL playoff race, the Tampa Bay Rays turn to youngster Alex Cobb for Mondays opener of a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox. The Rays did themselves no favors last week, going just 1-5 on a six-game road trip against the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. Instead of tightening things up in the standings, the Rays now sit five games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East and four back of the Orioles for the leagues second wild card spot. Tampa Bay dropped the rubber match of its series with New York on Sunday as Matt Moore lasted just three innings in a 6-4 loss. He gave up five runs on three hits and four walks in the shortest outing of his career. "In the first and second inning I felt really good and I liked our chances from there. That third inning was just atrocious," Moore said after yielding five runs in the aforementioned third frame. Cobb has gone 9-8 with a 4.26 earned run average through 20 starts this season and is undefeated over his last eight outings. He is 5-0 in that span and the Rays won each of the first seven games of that run before dropping a 3-2 decision to the Orioles on Wednesday. The 24-year-old righty yielded two runs and struck out six over just 4 2/3 innings of a no-decision. Cobb faced Boston for the first time in his career on May 25 and earned a win, giving up one earned run in five innings of work. While the Rays are still fighting for a playoff spot, the Red Sox are looking to avoid their first last-place finish in the division since 1992. Boston fell a game behind Toronto for that spot with a 5-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday. The loss gave the Red Sox a 66-81 record on the season, securing their first non-winning campaign since a 78-84 finish in 1997. Jon Lester allowed three runs over seven innings and struck out seven in Sundays loss, which denied Boston a three-game sweep. "I have to keep looking at the positives and keep plugging away," Lester said. There havent been many positives as of late for Aaron Cook, who tries to avoid a sixth straight losing decision tonight for Boston. Cook has lost nine of his last 10 decisions and has a 6.00 ERA over his current winless drought, which spans six starts. The righty hasnt won since Aug. 6 and pitched five-plus innings versus the Yankees on Wednesday, yielding three runs on seven hits and two homers. The righty is 3-10 with a 5.18 ERA in 15 starts this season and 1-1 with a 6.63 ERA in three lifetime encounters with the Rays. Tonight will mark the first time this season that the 33-year-old Cook will face the club. Boston is 7-5 versus Tampa Bay this season. Tillman set for retturn as Orioles begin set with Ms The Baltimore Orioles couldnt have picked a better opponent for Chris Tillman to face in his return to action. Nike Free Shop Schweiz The youngster tries to remain undefeated in his career versus the Seattle Mariners on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series. Tillman hasnt pitched since exiting a Sept. 2 start versus the New York Yankees after just three innings because of right elbow discomfort. He gave up two runs on two hits and a pair of walks prior to his exit, getting a no- decision. The righty has won six of his past seven decisions and hasnt lost since Aug. 11, going 7-2 with a 3.39 earned run average in 11 starts. Tillman threw a side session on Thursday and is ready to go tonight. The 24- year-old will look to continue his career-long success against the Mariners, who he is 3-0 against in three starts while giving up two earned runs over 21 2/3 innings for a 0.83 ERA with 17 strikeouts. Baltimore could use another dominating performance out of Tillman as it continues its push for first place in the AL East. The Orioles remained a game behind the New York Yankees for that spot following Sundays 9-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics. The Os can make up some ground tonight as the Yankees are idle. Baltimore also leads the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by 2 1/2 games for the ALs second wild card spot. Matt Wieters hit two solo homers and Endy Chavez went 4-for-4 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored on Sunday for the Orioles, who avoided a three-game sweep and clinched their first winning season since 1997. "Every game right now is a must-win," Wieters said. "This is a tough place to play. To be able to get one, well take it." Seattle, meanwhile, has lost six of its past nine and is coming off a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Justin Smoak hit a homer in the eighth and Blake Beavan took the hard-luck loss, yielding two runs over seven innings. "We took it all the way to the end ... but they got the last out," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. Wedge will give Hector Noesi his first start since July 4, when the righty was beaten by the Orioles after giving up four runs over five innings in his first career start against them. He fell to 2-11 on the season with that loss and was sent to the minors. The 25-year-old righty returned to the Mariners in September and has pitched twice in relief, giving up two hits and two walks over four innings. He holds a 5.54 ERA in 19 total appearances this season and has not won since May 6. The Orioles are 9-3 against the Mariners over the past two seasons with a current five-game win streak in the series. ' ' '

Posted by iertioy on Fri, 09/06/2013 - 10:43pm