We think we hear the fat lady singing.

In this case, the proverbial signal that the show is coming toan end is letting folks know that the epic battle of the LincolnCenter has been settled.

It was an eventful two months since the Yankee soldiers of theLincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York first rattledtheir legal trademark sabers over a decision by Lincoln County,Miss., supervisors to change the name of the multi-use facility toour own Lincoln Center. The new moniker, local officials contended,presented the facility in a more august fashion and was morerepresentative of its wide array of hosting capabilities.

Perhaps, but the New York Lincoln Center brethren fearedconfusion could abound over two facilities with the same name. So,for a few short weeks, supervisors and county officials mulledstrategies for responding to the threat from the big city.

Should they keep the Lincoln Center name and face theconsequences? Should they acquiesce and change the name? But towhat, pray tell? How about Lincoln Centre, like the French, for anadded bit of culture?

Most observers took the brewing controversy in good spirits andwith a smile.

“Seriously?,” they said. What about all the other LincolnCenters across the country? Have they faced the same challenge fromNew York over confusion concerns?

But the battle was not simply one of Us versus Them. Some NewYorkers, appreciatively invoking the name of Giants quarterback andOle Miss alum Eli Manning, sided with Southerners in support of theMississippi Lincoln Center keeping its name.

All the brouhaha, though, came to an end Tuesday as supervisorsopted to bring down the curtain on our Lincoln Center name andreturn it – for now, at least – to the original Lincoln CountyMulti-Purpose Complex.

Complex commission forces have been dispatched to consider morenew names for the local facility. Who know what feuds new namesuggestions may trigger.

But the one over the Lincoln County Lincoln Center is done. Andalas, the Yankees won.

However, should Lincoln Countians decide to continue to refer tothe complex as the Lincoln Center – without any official decree -what are the New Yorkers to do?