Hello there. Remember me? Y'all met me way back when at the very start of the season. I started making some predictions about the chances for the Charlotte Bobcats this season. I was innocent, nay even naive some would say. Ignorant, stupid, a dreamer, and an idiot were far more common terms used to welcome me to ROF. I was frequently laughed at and berated with untrue statistics and bad math as I was shouted down. It was tough to be a newbie back in those days. I had to drive uphill in the snow 15 miles both ways in my wife's Jeep Cherokee to even get to the blogsite. The heater took a solid 5 miles to warm the interior of the car to a climate-controlled 70 degrees and I was only getting 19 miles to the gallon. I had to listen to hand-made mix tapes in the car because there was no built-in CD player. But I was lucky! There were others that only had the unibody model without the body on frame chasis that came standard with our Grand Cherokee model. Sure I was forced to wear Air Balance sneaks, but there were less fortunate souls still sporting old Rebok Pumps! I (sniff, sniff) still played NBA 2008 and unlike you kids today, I still had to actually PLUG my joypad into my game system.

But what a difference a season makes.

You remember, don't you? You were the ones making statements like:

"there's no WAY the Bobcats will make the playoffs until at least 2012-2013."

"those idots in the front office have destroyed the future of the team for another 3 seasons at least."

"You're crazy. In order to make it to .500 the Bobcats will have to play 10 games over .500 for the rest of the season and that's just impossible."

"there is no way this team is making the playoffs. They'll be lucky to get 30 wins and there is no way in hell they will win 35, let alone the 40 they'll need for the 8 seed."

"it will be a miracle if they even win 25."

"The team sucks and the rest of the East would have to collapse in order for the Bobcats to avoid the lottery."

"There's no way the team will fill more than the 6-8 thousand seats in that building."

"As long as the team has Jordan running the show, they will suck."

"Nobody will support this team because without Okafor they don't have a prayer."

"even if they DO get to the playoffs, they lose their draft pick only to get their butts kicked in the first round and the team will be even worse because of it."

"the Bobcats should just all go eat worms and DIE!" (okay, I made that one up.)

Well, the season isn't quite over yet and although most of the above statements (or something almost exactly like them) came from one individual, there were many others making similar comments. There were Felton haters, Chandler haters, Jordan haters, and many a person still worshipping at the Tomb of the Unknown Hornet. There were threads giving game-by-game breakdowns of Okafor and Chandler that were regularly updated to show just how hapless the Bobcats decision-makers were.

Oh, I met some optimists. We would gather together at unknown locations to lick our wounds and promise that some day we'd show them all. We'd come back battered, bruised, and broken and some day we'd by-God make the playoffs and show them all! On that great and glorious day we'd make them all pay!

Hey guys? Some day is now.

The Charlotte Bobcats are 3 games over .500 for the first time ever and riding a 6 game win streak.

Not only is the team sitting in the 6 slot as I type this, but the members of ROF are now debating WHICH of the top contenders the Cats have the best chance of knocking off on our way to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

The debate is no longer about who we'll have to get to replace Felton or if we can get someone decent for Augustin. It's about how deep we'll have to dig in the wallet to have the honor of KEEPING RayRay in Charlotte.

The Charlotte Bobcats only need 1 win to make the 35 win plateau. Oh yeah - there are 17 games left for them to "luck up" and win that 1 game y'all said we'd never see this year.

They also need only win 7 out of those 17 games to have the .500 season that was declared a pipe dream and an impossibility.

We've also helped our situation by winning the tie-breakers against some of the teams vying for the same playoff positions we are.

The haters are now reduced to saying that we had to mortgage our future draft picks to achieve these heights and we better enjoy our short ride because we'll be in the cellar for the forseeable future after this. What's that you say? Some day you'll be back and the Bobcats will suck again and THEN we'll all be sorry and you'll make us all pay? Could be, could be.

But right now the Bobcats definitely do NOT suck and you guys are rarely, if ever, posting here. Oh, we know you're out there lurking and hoping against all hope that the team folds up and collapses so you can commence to gloating and crowing about the shortcomings again. It's okay. Come back and enjoy what's happening here in Charlotte. There's an entire post-season to talk trash about so don't give up now. You can still smear ashes in Cinderella's face. It's just likely you'll have to wait until she comes back from the dance to do it.

For the real fans of the Charlotte Bobcats, THESE are the good old days!