Arena Bowl Back in New Orleans!!!

For the second consecutive season, New Orleans will be the host of the Arena Bowl, the AFL’s Championship game played at the end of July.

Things will be boomin’ down here for sure, along with the BCS Championship game, the NBA All Star game, and not to mention the groundbreaking of the Trump Tower all happening early next year.

Hornets Struggle

Hornets Fall to 15-10, going 6-8 since their 9-2 start. They fall to the Trailblazres 88-76.

PORTLAND, Ore.(AP) The last time the Portland Trail Blazers managed a winning month was November 2004.

At least, it was. Brandon Roy helped Portland to its eighth straight win with 24 points and eight assists in the Trail Blazers’ 88-76 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night.

“When you’ve won seven in a row you start to believe you can win every game,” said Roy, who was 10-of-17 from the field and made key baskets in the fourth quarter as Portland pulled away.

David West had 21 points and Tyson Chandler had 16 points and 19 rebounds for the Hornets, who lost for the fourth straight time at the Rose Garden.

Martell Webster had 13 points and Steve Blake had 10 for the Blazers, who started off slow, shooting just 34 percent in the first half. Portland (13-12) last won eight straight during the 2002-03 season.

The Blazers last won eight straight in 2002-03. They are 8-1 in December.

Chris Paul had 11 points and eight rebounds for New Orleans. Rasual Butler had 10. New Orleans was coming off a big win over Phoenix on Saturday, in which Paul had his 12th double-double of the season, but he made just 5 of 15 shots against the Blazers.

“If we make shots we win the game,” Paul said. “That’s all it was. We didn’t make shots.”

Both teams were missing starters they had hoped to have back. Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge has battled plantar fasciitis. Peja Stojakovic sat out with a strained left groin for the second game after reinjuring it.

The Hornets shot 40.8 percent from the field. They might have fallen behind earlier in the game if not for a 47-36 rebounding advantage, and Chandler’s dominance on the offensive glass, where he had 12 of his rebounds and many of his points.

“When you don’t have shots falling it’s going to be tough some nights,” he said. “(The Blazers) are playing great at home. They definitely have home-court advantage because you couldn’t hear anything out there.”