Not only have I been a Mets fan from Day One, I have a long history of affiliating myself with other losing teams, largely thanks to my move to New Orleans, where the entire city lives and dies with the almost-always-hapless NFL Saints.

Now we have the losingest team in the NBA as well, the Hornets (formerly of Charlotte, NC). Thanks to a couple of friends and aquaintances who own season tickets, Peggy and I have been able to attend several games this year and ~ improbable as it may be ~ the home team won every time until last week, when they dropped a one-point overtime thriller to the NJ Nets. We're going back tonight; the opposition (Memphis) has four starters on the injured list, so our hometown heroes stand a chance of winning again.

Ron ~ and any other NY/NJ area sports fans who might be checking in here: the Hornets one great hope for salvationa and future stardom is 19-year-old J.R. Smith, who was playing high-school ball last year at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark.

The program shows his home town as Freehold, NJ, which is a hell of a long way from Newark for a daily commute to high school. Maybe he bought his momma a new house after signing his multi-million dollar contract, and moved "down the shore" after graduation. Or maybe the Benedictines actually recruited a star athlete to attend their school from such a distance. Anyone know?