By Brian A. Lester

Once upon a time, the Charlotte home arena would have been rocking if the Hornets took to the court for a pair of pivotal playoff games. The Hive would have been filled with deafening cheers that created concentration problems for the visitors and at the same time, pumped electricity into the home team.

The Hornets could have used that type of atmosphere for its home playoff games against the Nets this past week. Apathy, however, has replaced passion, and it's clear Charlotte is a much different city this week than it was back in the good old days.

Yes, the Hornets were at home for the third and fourth games of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series against top-seeded New Jersey, but because of the doomed fate of the Tar Heel state's NBA franchise, signs of life were difficult to find inside the Coliseum on Thursday night and Sunday afternoon.

Instead of thousands of frenzied basketball lovers raising the decibel levels to that of a jet engine just before takeoff, the Coliseum was only half full. Blue seats greatly outnumbered the handful of diehard fans who still truly care about the Hornets.

And now, even those fans must realize the death march of their Hornets is almost complete. Despite buying an extra day of postseason life with a 115-97 victory over the Nets in Game 3, the Hornets fell 89-79 on Sunday and sit one loss away from the official end of their existence in North Carolina.

The NBA owners approved of Charlotte's move to New Orleans on Friday with a decisive vote. It's really only a matter of time now before the moving trucks come rolling in to finish the job.

Maybe the Hornets will win Game 5 against the Nets and extend the series, but it's a long shot. Looking back, perhaps it would have been better had the Hornets been swept out of the playoffs. At least then, the death of this franchise would have much less painful for the fans to deal with.

It's just hard to believe the Hornets are actually leaving a state that loves basketball the way teen boys love pop sensation Britney Spears and headed to a place famous for wild parties and Cajun cooking.

What's even worse is that no one really seems to care. The citizens of Charlotte have known for quite some time now that the Hornets were as good as gone after this season, and in that respect, you really can't blame them for their apathy.

It used to be different. Much different. The Hornets, after struggling in the early years just as all expansion franchises do, created excitement for the fans.

Much of that excitement was produced during the 1993 playoffs when the Hornets, behind the efforts of stars Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson, knocked off the Boston Celtics in a thrilling four-game series that ended on Mourning's 20-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Riding the emotion of its first playoff series win in franchise history, Charlotte headed into its series with the battle-tested New York Knicks brimming with confidence. The Knicks would win the hard-fought series in five games, yet the Hornets proved they were clearly a team on the rise.

Injuries plagued the team the following season, but the Hornets won 50 games during the 1994-95 campaign and brought playoff fever back to Charlotte. Had it not been for Michael Jordan's return to professional basketball in March, the Hornets might have enjoyed a lengthy playoff run. As it was, they were dispatched by the Bulls in four games.

Two seasons later, the Hornets won 54 games under first-year coach Dave Cowens but their playoff run was again cut short by the Knicks, who swept the Hornets in the first round. A year later, Charlotte advanced to the second round, losing to the Bulls.

Nevertheless, the Hornets had become one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, and they even reached the playoffs in 2000 despite the tragic death of Bobby Phils.

Now, though, despite four trips to the postseason in the past five years and despite having a roster boasting up and coming players such as Baron Davis and Eddie Robinson, the excitement has worn off because the fans realize nothing can be done to change their team's fate.

Team owners George Shinn and Ray Woolridge don't care about the fans and are as giddy as children on Christmas morning about the Hornets' upcoming move to New Orleans.

Life is no longer good for the Hornets, but once upon a time it was. Now, the fairy tale is nearly over and the ending isn't one that will leave a smile on anyone's face.

Brian Lester is a sports writer in Ohio and can be reached via e-mail at BAL4@hotmail.com.