Charlotte's new arena
The Charlotte Bobcats' new downtown home arena has opened, and from this vantage point, only a few miles away, as the SUV flies, it has its share of fanciful flourishes.
Among the amenities, a sculpture of the Charlotte skyline mounted atop the scorebard and a section without a seats, but with a bar, for standup cheering and inbibing. There's also a mosaic devoted to North and South Carolina basketball and two contemporary posters of Germany's Queen Charlotte, one black and one white. There's an upscale restaurant and a play area for children. There's even an outdoor terrace.
But in one important area the new facility comes up short. It contains only 18,500 seats for basketball, nearly 3,500 fewer than the Greensboro Coliseum.
Charlotte may essentially have conceded the ACC Tournament to Greensboro, when it's in the state.