CHARLOTTE � Could Charlotte reclaim the �Hornets� nickname that has been associated with the area since the Revolutionary War?
On Thursday afternoon, the name will officially become a free agent for NBA teams when the New Orleans Hornets are officially renamed the New Orleans Pelicans.
That franchise left Charlotte for New Orleans after 14 seasons in 2002 following a messy public dispute between Hornets fans, city officials and former Hornets owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge.
Charlotte quickly rejoined the NBA in the 2004-05 season named the Bobcats after former BET owner Bob Johnson was granted an expansion franchise by the league.
But, whether it was Johnson�s ownership group � whose majority stake was bought by legendary basketball star Michael Jordan in March 2010 � or the team�s struggling fortunes, local fans have never embraced the Bobcats in the way they did the Hornets.
In recent years, fan groups like �Bring Back The Buzz� have come to Bobcats games wearing T-shirts or chanting for the �Hornets� name to return to Charlotte.
Just last Saturday night, a section of fans at Time Warner Cable Arena chanted �Charlotte Hornets� during a 97-93 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
The Bobcats have hired Harris interactive to send out surveys to the team�s season ticket-holders to poll them on their opinion about a potential name change.
Whatever the poll shows or the team decides, it would seem unlikely the team could change names until the 2014-15 season at the earliest due to NBA licensing agreements.
Why all the support for the �Hornets� nickname?
It�s history as well as a romantic vision of the city�s first NBA franchise.
In the years since, three professional sports teams have used the �Hornets� nickname.
From 1892 through 1972, Charlotte minor league baseball teams that won 11 titles in the South Atlantic, Virginia-Carolina, North Carolina State, Carolina, Piedmont, Tri-State and Southern leagues used the nickname.
In 1974, the nickname was used again when the old World Football League (WFL) played at Charlotte�s Memorial Stadium for parts of two seasons.
And from 1988 through their move to New Orleans, the NBA�s �Hornets� endeared themselves to the region by leading the league in attendance for seven straight seasons and by selling out 364 consecutive games. The region�s show of support was cited by NFL officials in 1992 when they granted the Jerry Richardson the Carolina Panthers franchise.