Larry and Apple Lane

If you’ve frequently attended Hornets home games this season, you may already recognize this married couple, who reside in the French Quarter. They’re the married couple in Section 103 that brings homemade Hornets signs to virtually every game in the New Orleans Arena.

“We try to make one or two signs for every home game and have made over 100 signs since the first year the Hornets were here,” Apple says. “We’ve got three good signs for Julian Wright: ‘The Wright Stuff,’ ‘All Wright,’ and ‘JUJU.’ ”

After the Hornets struggled mightily in their most recent full season in New Orleans, the Lanes are thrilled by the club’s impressive turnaround this season.

“Watching the team become an NBA powerhouse in four short years has been great,” Apple says. “We suffered through the 18-64 season. This year has been a rush we hope will last until June! And the fans are great! Much more civilized than football fans… but just as enthusiastic.”

The Lanes now list the March 12 game vs. San Antonio as their most memorable Hornets game in the six seasons they’ve owned season tickets. “The crowd got loud after a hard foul by Bruce Bowen on Chris Paul,” Apple remembers. “The crowd didn’t stop until the game was over. If there was any doubt about New Orleans fans understanding this team and the NBA, it was erased with a roar that night.”

Elisa Cossey

Elisa Cossey is a lot like many 2007-08 Hornets season ticket holders. Well, other than the 1,500-mile round trips she regularly takes to come to New Orleans home games. And the fact that her devotion to the team has been the subject of countless newspaper articles, radio interviews and television features.

Cossey, an Oklahoma native, became a huge Hornets fan during the team’s two-season temporary stay in the Sooner State. After the Hornets returned full-time to New Orleans last summer, she considered buying a season ticket, but ultimately decided it would be too expensive to commute back and forth. That’s when her husband – realizing Elisa’s love for the Hornets – chose to purchase a season ticket for her.

Now Cossey – also responsible for the ear-piercing yell you hear in the Arena when opposing players shoot free throws – is one of the team’s most recognizable fans.

“It has been really interesting and fun to be walking out of a game and hear people say, ‘That’s the lady from Oklahoma!’ ” Cossey says. “One lady told me her stepdaughter wanted to meet me. She was about 8 or 9 years old and had so many questions and was so excited to talk to me. At the end of the conversation, she asked me if I knew the players and I told her yes. She said, ‘Wow, you are so lucky!’ ”

Cossey explains that one of the best aspects of her experience this season has been watching the city of New Orleans embrace the Hornets, and the way fans here have treated their frequent guest from Oklahoma.

“The staff at the Arena has been great and they keep me from being lonesome since I’m gone from home so long,” she says. “I’ve even had people offer me their homes to stay in here. The people of New Orleans have been great.”

Sarah Tolcser & Michael Wawrzycki

Tolcer and Wawrzycki were the grand-prize winners in the CP3 for MVP video contest. To see the winning video, click here. New Orleans resident Sarah Tolcser admits that she was not a huge basketball fan when the 2007-08 NBA season tipped off in October. She wasn’t all that familiar with the Hornets back then, either. Somewhere along the way, though – during what has become the finest season in team history – Tolcser was hooked.

For their video describing why they believe Chris Paul should be the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, Tolcser selected the heartfelt song “Change in My Life,” by the group Rockapella (you can view their five-minute piece by visiting Hornets.com or www.cp3mvp.com).

Tolcser interspersed several messages that help make CP3’s case for the MVP trophy, including, “Because size doesn’t matter… as much as heart” and “Because he made a city believe in a team.”

“I wanted to make sure I hit on all the big points and all the stats,” says Tolcser, who also notes in the video that Paul is the first player in 15 years to average 20 points and 10 assists. Tolcser, a teacher, and Wawrzycki, an attorney, became so devoted to the team this season that they decided to start their own Internet blog in January, called Hornets Hype. As the season ticket holders describe on their website, Hornets Hype’s explicit goal is “to spread the love for the Hornets and CP3.”

As you might imagine, the couple is thrilled by what has taken place both on and off the court in New Orleans this season. “I thought it was important to talk about the team,” says Tolcser, whose concern over the Hornets’ early-season attendance figures factored into the decision to launch Hornets Hype. “It’s been very exciting to see more people coming to home games.”

Brian Lopez

New Orleans’ Brian Lopez chose to fan up by letting everyone around the office know that he’s an avid Hornets fan. Lopez used wallpapers from Hornets.com and named each of his workplace computers after a member of the team’s starting five.

Earl Gorrondona

When Earl Gorrondona began filling out 2008 All-Star ballots in mass quantities early in the 2007-08 regular season, he never imagined the reward his efforts would yield. The semi-retired Gorrondona and his wife of his 41 years, Barbara, have been casting a significant number of All-Star votes for Hornets players ever since the team arrived in New Orleans in 2002-03. This year was no different.

To Earl’s surprise, after turning in an incredible 7,700 All-Star ballots, he captured first place in the Hornets’ All-Star balloting contest. The former Mandeville fire department chief’s prizes included a personalized Hornets jersey, a tour of the team locker room, tickets to NBA Jam Session at All-Star Weekend and an appearance on the BuzzVision screen during the Feb. 9 Memphis game. Another highlight for Gorrondona took place when Gorrondona chatted with head coach Byron Scott and Hornets All-Star nominees Chris Paul, David West and Peja Stojakovic, who personally thanked him for his prolific ballot-casting (the fourth Hornets player nominee, Tyson Chandler, was not in the New Orleans Arena on Feb. 9 due to illness).

“They were very gracious. Getting to meet everyone was great,” said the grandfather of 15, who also picked up a pair of free Melvin Ely sneakers. “Byron Scott spent several minutes talking to me (about an hour before tip-off), even though he was getting ready for the game. That made me feel very good.

“None of this was expected and that might be the best part of the whole thing. I do this every year. I didn’t ever think I was going to win a prize.”

Barbara Johnson

Pre-Katrina, Barbara Johnson lived in Gentilly and was a Hornets mini-plan holder, attending 15 games a season. So when the storm flooded her home and forced her to relocate to Brandon, Mississippi – a 2 1/2-hour drive from the Big Easy – you might’ve thought her days as a regular attendee of Hornets games were over. Wrong.

Last summer, Johnson decided to upgrade to a full-season ticket package for all 41 home games in 2007-08. She often leaves her home at 2 p.m. to watch the Hornets play. By the time she returns to Mississippi on game nights, it’s after midnight.

“I didn’t start out thinking I was going to buy all 41 games,” says Johnson, an associate professor at Jackson State. “But I thought about it, and I was like, ‘I want to be able to go to any game that I want to see.’

“I really enjoy the games. When I’m in the arena, I don’t think about anything other than basketball.”

Johnson has marveled at the increase in crowds at home games since the early portion of the regular season. She loves the enthusiasm New Orleans has shown for the Hornets, but admits that there is a small downside to it.

“Since there’s so much more traffic in downtown and near the arena (compared to a few months ago),” she says, chuckling, “it means that for me to get to the game on time, I have to leave my house even earlier!”