Exactly. I always wanted just one last arena attempt and for the potential lockout to be in the rear view mirror before seeing the Kings leave. If a new arena can't happen now, it never will and I'll have a much easier time watching the Kings go.
I am encouraged. It depends on whether the NBA has the default position that a team stays where it is and there needs to be a substantial argument before a move is OK'd. In other words, for a team to move, there has to be a damn good reason and not simply that the grass appears greener.
The substantial problem would be if an arena is not built. Very honestly, I think that the NBA will wait as long as we aren't blowing smoke up their nether regions. They will wait for more than a year if the plan includes organizing as a multi-county entity to get the dang thing built. The reality is that these things cannot be done quickly.
Stern said that talk of building an arena was an "eye roller." Of course! Now his eyes aren't rolling and that is a huge step. A 6 letter word, "BURKLE," turned the tide for the moment.
In the meantime, assuming a substantial turn around of the team which I thoroughly expect, the arena will start to sell out again. Does anyone doubt that? If the arena sells out, even though it is inadequate by NBA standards, the Maloofs will make money and we really have to hope they make money. A modest success on the way to the build of an arena eliminates the uncertainty of a move and the huge expense and subservient role to a guy namd Samueli that this would be bring. I doubt if they want to be subservient to anyone even if it was for their own good.
As long as they are here, I think we should support them and the team. It does us no good if they stay and go broke.
I don't think whatever rift exists between the fans and the Maloofs is permanently damaged except perhaps with the people who didn't like them in the first place. They seem to be nice guys in an emotional semi-bumbling sort of way and I like them. They made a decison that no matter how it was handled would have stirred the ire of the community. No matter how it was handled, the idea that this family would think of leaving this area hits a chord among most of us. Anger is the most prominent and I think the intensity of the anger comes from a complicated place.
Clearly there needs to be movement in the correct direction in a definitive, measurable way. Promises no longer have any weight. Even a talented, well spoken, and passionate mayor is not enough unless people rally around his energy. I don't question where the Maloof's heart is. I also see where their cold finance bugged brain is.
I cannot help but believe that none of this turn around would have happened without the fans, Mike in particular and whoever he hangs with. The political will is energized from the people and the people are speaking loudly and in purple.
The ultimate fate of this team is still in the hands of the area and it's ability to build an arena.
