In the aftermath of complaints about lawlessness in Las Vegas, there's been much public hand-wringing this week about the problems that may crop up at next year's game in New Orleans. Since Las Vegas appeared to lack enough boots on the ground to deal with the crowds, the thinking goes that the already crime-ravaged city of New Orleans will be completely overwhelmed next season.
It's not just the media saying this either. The Rockets'
Tracy McGrady and
Rafer Alston, the Hornets'
Desmond Mason, and player's union chief Billy Hunter all went public this week with concerns about the Big Easy's suitability for hosting the event.
I think this analysis is off base in a few places. For starters, people are thinking New Orleans will draw the same throngs that Vegas drew in '07, when it's probably going to be more like the crowd that Houston lured in '06 sizable, yes, but not completely out of hand. There's no doubt the fact that the game was in Sin City, with all the gambling and prostitution and whatever else is supposed to stay in Vegas, lured in tens of thousands of people who would have stayed home had the game been in Milwaukee or Sacramento. That was compounded by the fact you can easily drive to Vegas from the nation's second-largest city.
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John Hollinger
