There are no shortage of famous quotes about hope, about fighting in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, of refusing to give up. section214, one of the most fertile writing minds I've ever known, has used lines from The Shawshank Redemption and, uh, Animal House in talking about why he refuses to abandom his team the way his team may abandon him. These are the best quotes, the pop culture referents to which men and women who refuse to be beaten cling.
I have a bit more trouble finding the resolve to dismiss the anger and hurt -- the incredible hurt -- that comes with watching the invisible moving vans fill up with our most cherished memories. It's only through the efforts, really, of 214 here and Ed, Blake, James and the crew spreading the gospel of Here We Stay that keeps me from a rampage of expletives upon every FanShot that contains the next little bit of writing on the wall. You might notice that these expletives sometimes leak out for a bit, until I read a wise word or two from the aforementioned heroes or another one of the hopefuls among you. You all keep me sane through this great, mindbending travail. You all keep me in the fight.
And for that I thank you profusely.
We fight because something can be hopeless only if we fail to provide hope. So long as we believe that the universe will smile upon our cause, so long as we believe we will be pinched and woken from this nightmare, so long as there is Tomorrow, we maintain hope. Hey, we survived the Eric Musselman era, right?
If the NBA board of governors shock the world and reject or delay the move ... if Anaheim refuses to budge on a lease or revenue-sharing agreement ... if the Maloofs can't secure the funding to pay off their loan to Sacramento and a relocation fee ... if anything derails what looks so certain, we don't want to be caught flat-footed. If anything happens, we have months -- months -- to mobilize and help push an arena plan through. Whether it's helping convince a prospective local owner that committed fans await, or helping Mayor Johnson canvas neighborhoods to earn support for a hotel and rental car surcharge to help fund the Taylor plan, or drumming season ticket support to make sure PBP is packed from 101 Row AA to 217 Row S -- we will be there, ready to capitalize.
You know how Geoff Petrie, at his best, is ready to pounce on any opportunity? That's us, right now. We hurt, we fume. But we're ready. If it does happen -- if they do leave, we'll be right here. Fuming. Hurting. Fighting for an arena, fighting for a basketball team to return.
We know the odds are long. But if a chance of keeping our Kings in Sacramento exists, we will fight.
Help us sell out the April 11 game. This is for us. Fight so that when the night falls, we will know we did what we could do.