With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, Julie Andrews and the entire Von Trapp family -

Corliss and Richmond and C-Webb and Martin,

Joe Kleine and B-Jax just can't be forgotten.

We may not own any championship rings,

But these are a few of my favorite Kings.

We all have various players and moments that initially made and later solidified us as Kings fans. It was almost a year ago that I posted when I became Kings fan. The following are some of the players that have helped to make me a hard core Kings fan.

Now, there are those moments that we all share as Kings fans, such as this one. Or this one. But we also have our personal favorite players and moments, and they're not always the players that belong in the rafters or the moments that deserve to be preserved in the collective memory bank of all Kings fans. These are the guys and moments that were crucial in my evolution as a Kings fan.

Joe Kleine - Most of it is in the above link. I will add that my affinity for Kleine is largely prejudiced because I had the opportunity to meet him, and he was perhaps the nicest and most homespun "celebrity" that I have ever met. His misfortune was being the 1st round pick (7th overall) for a bad team that needed much, much more than a journeyman center. He was later well received in Boston, where he was a guy that could lay a little wood off the bench, not a 1st round washout that could have instead been Karl Malone. Because of Joe Kleine I learned that the five stages of grief and being a Kings fan can be interchangeable:

• Denial     C'mon, Kleine has got to be better than this. We drafted him 7th, didn't we?
• Anger     Have you seen this Karl Malone kid in Utah? And we drafted Joe Kleine? Who was the rocket scientist that pulled the trigger on that one?
• Bargaining     Maybe we can bring in a big guy like Bill Russell to work with him.
• Depression     Karl Malone, Karl Malone, Karl Malone, Karl Malone, Karl Malone.
• Acceptance     OK, it didn't work out. But Greg Kite might help us, eh?

Vinny Del Negro - Vinny is on this list for one reason and one reason only. In 1989 I was at a nightclub in Old Sacramento (I think it was Popeye's). A rather attractive and extremely inebriated young lady came over to my table, convinced that I was Vinny, despite the fact that I was eight inches shorter than him. I tried to convince her that I was not Del Negro, but she would not take no for an answer. It was on this evening that I learned how having the Kings in Sacramento was a good thing, even when the team wasn't playing. Good night. Thanks, Vinny.

Danny Ainge - Ainge taught me that the most reviled opponent can become  your favorite player once he is in your uniform. I hated Ainge. Hated him! And I was none too pleased when the Kings acquired him. But his hard nosed play was a breath of fresh air while he was here, and it made me look at guys like Dennis Rodman and Charles Oakley in a different light. I mean, don't you wish that Robert Horry was wearing a Kings uniform in 2001-02 right about now?

Mitch Richmond - I won't spend a lot of time here as Richmond's contributions have been well chronicled. But I'll always remember that 1st shot of civic pride that I felt when The Rock won the MVP award at the 1995 all star game and was on the gold medal olympic team a year later.

Corliss Williamson - Again, a lot has already been said about Big Nasty here. But he was the 1st draftee to come here to say that he was excited about coming to Sacramento. That was huge at the time. And as I've said before, he was the first guy not named Mitch Richmond willing to take the big shot during the Richmond era. That set him apart from Walt Williams, Brian Grant and others.

Vlade Divac and Chris Webber - Yeah, we were willing to pay him more than anyone else, but Vlade Divac came here. That was a new phenomenon. Yeah, Chris Webber re-signed with us because we could pay him more money than anyone else, but he stayed here. That was a new phenomenon. Big moments for this franchise and my psyche.

Sergei Monia - Just kidding. I wanted to see if you were still paying attention.

How about it? What are some of the players or moments that galvanized you as the type of Kings fan that would participate on a blog that talks almost exclusively about the Kings every day? Put another way, how and why has this happened to you? Was it Peja's fault? B-Jax? J-Will? Who do you thank/blame for your current lot in life as it pertains to your NBA rooting interests?

I can't even begin to justify this post, so please feel free to hijack the thread and talk about anything you like...

Note - Heights determined by Kings media guide. Sacramento era players only.

• 5'7"  Spud Webb     The one and only.
• (No players at 5'8" or 5'9")
• 5'10"  Tyus Edney     Sparked our 1st playoff run in 10 years
• 5'11"  Jim Les     Sharp shooting stock broker.
• 6'0"  Bobby Hurley     What might have been.
• 6'1"  Bobby Jackson     Just beats out Jason Williams.
• 6'2"  Mike Bibby     6'2"? 6'2"?!?
• 6'3"  Kenny Smith     Beats out sharp shooters Anthony Johnson, Randy Brown and Jason Hart.
• 6'4"  Vinnie Del Negro     Or you can substitute Terry DeHere or Anthony Peeler.
• 6'5"  Mitch Richmond     'Nuff said.
• 6'6"  Doug Christie     Next best = Jim Jackson.
• 6'7"  Reggie Theus     Beats out eclectic group that includes Ron Artest, Eddie Johnson, Lionel Simmons, Corliss Williamson, and...K9(woof!).
• 6'8"  Walt Williams     What a difference an inch makes? The Wizard nudges out Rodney McCray.
• 6'9"  Wayman Tisdale     Better bass player than Brian Grant.
• 6'10"  Chris Webber     Beats out Peja and Tank Thompson.
• 6'11'  Scot Pollard     Over sentimental favorite Mike Peplowski, but give Pep an assist for Hurley being on the list.
• 7'0"  Brad Miller     Beats OP and (sigh) Joe Kleine.
• 7'1"  Vlade Divac     10 feet tall in the locker room.
• 7'2"  Greg Ostertag     No, really! What, you wanted Dwayne Schintzius or Martin Nessley?
• 7'3"  Randy Breuer     -Insert own comment here-
• 7'4"  Ralph Sampson     Of course by the time he got to us he couldn't straighten out his knees and was actually only 6'9".

Slow...news...day...

First of all, thank you to everyone who was involved in the casting of over 600 votes and over 100 comments. As I said in the initial post, I was very interested in how all of you felt about these folks.

A recap of the voting:

• Chris Webber's #4 would be retired if it were up to you, receiving 119 yes votes out of 128 for 92%.
  
• Vlade Divac's #21 would join C-Webb, as Vlade gained 82 yes votes out of 103 for 79%.
  
• Gary Gerould received 83% yes votes, though only 35 out of 42 cast.
  
• Rick Adelman barely misses, receiving 24 yes votes and 28 no votes for 46%.
  
• Geoff Petrie is a no at 34%, 16 yes vs. 30 no.
  
• Mike Bibby is a no at 24%, 23 yes vs. 72 no.
  
• Peja Stojakovic is a no at 14%, 14 yes vs. 86 no.
  
• Grant Napear is a no at 15%, 7 yes vs. 35 no, though 51% say yes to hanging a jersey for Peaches is he is wearing it at the time.

I think that the results are appropriate. Every basketball "generation" should have representation in the rafters. For Sacramento, there was the Richmond generation, followed by our "golden age," followed by our current malaise. The hope is that several years from now guys like Kevin Martin and Spencer Hawes become topics of this conversation.

Thanks again to all who participated. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Peaches Poll -

Poll

Hoist A Jersey For Grant Napear?

• Yes
• No
• Only if he's wearing it.

  68 votes | Results

OK, to be clear, I don't think that there's any way that Napear gets a jersey hung in the rafters unless he happens to be wearing it at the time. But I am interested in the feedback in regards to his importance vs. Gary Gerould.

For the first 15 years or so there were limited Kings games broadcast on TV. If you wanted to tune into the Kings game you most often tuned into Gary Gerould. I'm sort of curious as to Gary's impact here compared to say Bill King (Warriors, Raiders) or Lon Simmons (49ers, Giants). Gerould's been doing it a long time and he's been doing it well. That may or may not merit a retirement ceremony in his honor.

Peaches, on the other hand, has become a much larger voice of the Kings since the majority (or all) of their games have been broadcast on TV. I'm also guessing that more people hate him as a "radio personality" then they do as a play by play man. I can't imagine voting for "Napes" in a thousand years, but if he does receive a vote then we know that he or a relative is a closet StR member.

Gary's poll below, Napear's to follow -

Poll

Hoist A Jersey For Gary Gerould?

• Yes
• No

  54 votes | Results

And now Rick Adelman -

Poll

Hoist A Jersey For Rick Adelman?

• Yes
• No

  56 votes | Results

So C-Webb and Vlade are in, Peja and Bibby are out. That's two up, two down (I'm going to hear that a lot during Giants games this year), and we move on to Geoff Petrie and Rick Adelman. No numbers to retire, but do we hoist a jersey for either of these gentlemen?

GP's poll below, Adelman to follow -

Poll

Hoist A Jersey For Geoff Petrie?

• Yes
• No

  49 votes | Results

So far, Webb is in and Bibby and Peja are out. While that does not surprise me, the margin does. I did not envision a 90%+ vote for Webber. Once that took place I thought that the vote for Bibby and Peja might have been a little closer.

So that brings us to Vlade. I'll let this one roll on its own and then I'll toss in Petrie and Adelman tomorrow, follow that with Gerould and Peaches on Saturday and that will be a wrap. Thanks to everyone for voting and commenting. I really had no idea what the overall temperature would be in regards to these guys and the results have been quite enlightening and educational.

Poll below -

Poll

Retire Vlade Divac's Number?

• Yes
• No

  106 votes | Results

Peja's turn, poll below -

Poll

Retire Peja Stojakovic's Number?

• No
• Yes

  103 votes | Results

Still waiting for a few precincts to report, but the 12/1 ratio tells me that StR declares Chris Webber's jersey suitable for the ARCO Arena rafters.

Next up, Mike Bibby (and I'm going to throw Peja on right after this).

Poll below -

Poll

Retire Mike Bibby's Number?

• Yes
• No

  98 votes | Results