It took six years, but it finally happened: The Charlotte Bobcats have clinched a spot in the playoffs.

Ironically, they did it by beating the New Orleans Hornets, who first called the Qcity home. You know it seems just like yesterday…well, more like 17 years that I remember watching their first playoff series against the Boston Celtics in my dorm on the campus of UNC Greensboro.

It was a classic that ended with Alonzo Mourning hitting the winning jumper at the buzzer and his teammates piling up on him. Everyone in the dorm went crazy!

It was hard to fathom that the same team most of us started watching in junior high not only made the postseason but actually beat the legendary Celtics…broke-down Boston that is – an old Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were the last remaining players from their championship years.

But that little fact didn’t matter. The Hornets won and were on their way to a second-round match-up against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks and all was good.

Back then my college classmates and I cheered for Mourning, Larry (Grandmama) Johnson, Kendall Gill, Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry…now in 2010 Charlotteans are rooting for Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Raymond Felton, Theo Ratliff and Boris Diaw (sometimes).

There were more than a few times earlier this season when I thought the Bobcats were on their way to being a draft lottery team again, but after a few trades and some time for the players to gel on the court, Charlotte will take part in the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Who will Charlotte play in the postseason? With several games left on the schedule, they could still end up matching up with a number of teams – Cleveland, Orlando, Boston, Atlanta...who knows?

And who cares?!

After the miserable season by the Qcity’s other professional franchise, fans are just happy to have something to cheer about after the regular season ends.
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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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