<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> Stern: N.O. Remains Viable</p> <div><span style="font-style: italic">Oct 26</span> - Although Hornets' season-ticket sales have not reached the team's 10,000 benchmark objective, NBA Commissioner David Stern remains optimistic about the franchise's potential for success in New Orleans this season. </p> "My own internal benchmarks, I certainly want them to shatter any notion that it will be worse than it was before," Stern said during a national conference call Thursday. "They are in a better position economically before Katrina hit, and that to me is the best case and that's very exciting to me. They have moved back and have embraced the community." -- <font color="#000000">New Orleans Times-Picayune</font></p></div></div>
