It’s been a busy few days in sports around the Qcity, and I’m all smiles.

Another successful CIAA tournament wrapped up with Fayetteville State University, a school I was a fan of growing up in “Fayette-nam,” took home the women’s championship.

Then, of course, everyone heard the big announcement that the greatest player to ever to put on a NBA uniform – Michael Jordan - was purchasing the Charlotte Bobcats, pending league approval.

What a great move!

With MJ in charge, it pretty much guarantees that coach Larry Brown will remain on the bench for the next few seasons, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

And if there’s one thing this team needs, it is stability. In the six years the Bobcats have been in existence, three coaches have been in charge of the team.

Overall, though, MJ has a lot of work to do to bridge the gap between the community and the Bobcats organization, which he is well aware of.

How should he tackle it? Well, everyone has an opinion about that, including me.

After winning only one out of four games on a recent road trip, the Bobcats have a week ahead of them that features three big home games (Mavericks on Monday; Lakers on Friday; Golden State on Saturday). Wouldn’t it be great if MJ showed up and addressed the crowd at one of the games?

Sure it would.

Would it solve all of the problems and wipe the slate clean from all of the buffoonish decisions that were made in the past? Of course not, but it would be one small step in the right direction.

As a matter of fact, after the news broke early Saturday morning that MJ would buy the team, I had a fleeting thought of him popping in that evening during the CIAA tournament championship games to say “hello” and talk about how great it is for the tournament to be in Charlotte -- you know, kind of fill the role as an ambassador for the Qcity as the new owner of the Bobcats.

Well, that obviously didn’t happen and realistically speaking, I didn’t expect it to, although it would have been a great gesture and a PR success for everyone involved.

If anyone could have talked some of these CIAA fans into staying for another couple nights to check out his Bobcats and help fill those empty seats at Time Warner Cable Arena it was MJ.

I know the thought seems farfetched, but who knows what the future holds with his “Airness” in charge? When it’s all said and done, maybe MJ’s legacy off the court as an owner will be just as immense as his legendary status on it.

Truthfully, if it’s even half as good, the Bobcats and Charlotte will benefit greatly.

***

Damon Ford is a former journalist who is now a public relations professional working in the public and private sectors in Charlotte.

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