Lord Cornwallis talked about Charlotte's spirited resistance during the Revolutionary War and called its citizens a "veritable nest of hornets." There's a connection between Hornets and Charlotte.

The only Bobcats I've seen in Charlotte are on tires or suspension systems. And Bob Johnson, the Bob in Bobcats, is the worst NBA owner the city has ever had.

I'd like to get behind the campaign to bring Hornets back to Charlotte. Hornets fits New Orleans no better than Jazz fits Utah or Lakers fits Los Angeles.

But I'd be faking it. The only change that will move me next season is if I see DAVIS on a Charlotte uniform. Anthony Davis, who plays for Kentucky, could be a transcendent pro.

Every year fans begin a campaign to reclaim the Hornets name.

The campaign is especially active this season because the New Orleans Hornets are about to be sold and the new owners will, or should, jettison the name. It's what new owners who are looking for a new start do.

If this happens, and the Bobcats decide to become the Hornets, the change would cost $3 million to $5 million, says Pete Guelli, the Bobcats' chief sales and marketing officer. The price includes uniforms and signs, gutting the merchandise in the team store and even replacing the street signs that direct fans to Time Warner Cable Arena, home of the Bobcats.

The Bobcats commissioned a survey by Harris Interactive when Michael Jordan bought the team in 2010 and saw no indication fans wanted a new name.

The Bobcats could not ask fans specifically about the Hornets, however, since the name was not available.

I doubt anybody talked to Charlotte's John Morgan, who started a petition Tuesday on Facebook.

"We Beelieve: Charlotte...take back your Hornets!!! Rename Charlotte's franchise the HORNETS."

When I wrote this Saturday afternoon, Morgan had collected 642 signatures.

Based on Facebook comments, everybody wants Hornets, except residents of New Orleans.

I've exchanged emails with Morgan and talked to other proponents of the campaign. Without exception, they're passionate and sincere.

To underestimate a grassroots campaign is to be a fool. A Charlotte alumnus began the quest for football at the university. The 49ers will play their first game the season after next.

But I have a question for Hornets' proponents: How many more games would you attend this season if the Charlotte Hornets, rather than the Charlotte Bobcats, had a record of 4-28?

Hornets T-shirts and caps initially would sell like Jeremy Lin garb at Madison Square Garden. But would you continue to buy if your team failed to win?

When the Bobcats drafted North Carolina's Raymond Felton and Sean May in 2005, the buzz was tremendous.

Then the season began. The Bobcats won 26 games. The buzz went away.

Hornets evokes a different time, and I'm not talking about the Revolutionary Way.

The NBA's glory days in Charlotte - 1988-95 - were a fairy tale. The town and the team came together in a way that even the Carolina Panthers can't replicate. Finally Charlotte was in the same league as Los Angeles and New York, and the standings proved it.

For 10 seasons the Hornets averaged more than 23,000 fans a game. Where else could Tim Kempton have become a folk hero? We were giddy.

Alas, a sport can be new only once, and it can never be new again.

Bobcats officials I talked to last week did not rule out a name change. But it's not on the agenda.

What's on the agenda is getting involved in the community with the Cats (not Bobcats) Care initiative, and trying to become competitive.

The more the Bobcats win, the less their name will matter.

How many lakes are there in Los Angeles, and when was the last time anybody cared?