The fans chosen to sit in Roy Hibbert's Area 55 cheering section in Indianapolis were notified Thursday, a day after their in-person final auditions at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Hibbert and fellow Pacer George Hill had some fun while notifying two brothers who won, turning their notification call (above) into a prank.

There's a lot of new members this year. Hope the sophomores n the juniors show the rooks the ropes this year. Their ur new family. One Team!

— Roy Hibbert (@Hoya2aPacer) August 30, 2012

Hibbert and a panel of judges chose the lucky 55 crazed Pacers fans, who will each get a season ticket for a prized seat in the rowdy section behind the Pacers' bench. The team's Area 55 site features the winners and their original entries.

Area 55 hopefuls waited anxiously by their phones Thursday:

Is your phone ringing? Be sure to answer it as @hoya2apacer may be calling you about Season 3 of #Area55.

— Area 55 (@PacersArea55) August 30, 2012

Among the lucky winners were Steven Berry and Dana Williams -- both spotlighted earlier this week in Trending.

Just got off the phone with @hoya2apacer and I made it into Area 55 this year!!! I didnt know it was possible to be this happy!Thanks Roy!

— Steven Berry (@stevenberry_1) August 30, 2012

They will be joined by Rory Osborne and Sarah Senff:



Meanwhile, returning Area 55 ticket winners Scott and Annie Cline used a send-up of the Apple versus PC ad as their audition tape:



Others shed tears of joy. You can view this winning tryout here.

@pacersarea55 I'm in....and bawling my eyes out. So grateful for the call @hoya2apacer !!

— Barb_IndySports (@Barb_IndySports) August 30, 2012

The winners came in all ages, shapes and sizes -- including one youngster from Franklin, Ind., who received her notification in person:

Roy Hibbert visited NW today to let 4th grader Julia D. know that she was the newest member of Area 55!! @hoya2apacer twitter.com/myfcs/status/2…

— Franklin Schools (@myfcs) August 30, 2012

Others went to the mat to show their passion for Hibbert, the Pacers and a spot in Area 55:



Then El Pacero showed his musical skills in the final:

2-year veteran El Pacero breaks out a drum set for his Season 3 audition.twitvid.com/FXF0Z

— Area 55 (@PacersArea55) August 29, 2012

Area 55 veterans Cathy Holland and Donald Hopson -- seen above with Hibbert's "55" and a "Believe" sign during the playoffs in May -- will also be returning this season.

Hibbert tried to console the ones who didn't make the final cut:

@thesandman21 man it was a tough decision. Seriously ur awesome.

— Roy Hibbert (@Hoya2aPacer) August 31, 2012

For others, it was time to move on:

@pacersarea55 well didn't get into area 55 had to get on a new team

— Tyler Scanlan (@tylerscanlan) August 31, 2012

Special shoutout to comedia Ben Schwartz, who probably produced the funniest video for the contest.

"First off, I'm a diehard Knicks fan. I'm a huge Knicks fan. Let me get that out there first," Schwartz told ESPN's Lynn Hoppes. "But I'm friends with Roy because he had done a couple of episodes of 'Parks and Rec.' So to help him out we put this together as a joke."

If you see any offbeat links from your favorite sports site or catchy tweets that might be of interest to others, pass them along to me @billsperos or bsperos1@gmail.com.