Save Our Sacramento Kings

For years, we've heard the rumblings.

"ARCO Arena is too old. There are no corporate sponsors in Sacramento. T.V. deals in the Capital region aren't lucrative enough. This cowtown is too smalltown. The Maloofs are too tied to Las Vegas. The public won't finance an arena. Developers won't put out enough money to get one done. The Maloofs can't build it themselves and afford to run a top-flight franchise. A new arena for the Kings just isn't feasible, but playing in ARCO Arena also just isn't feasible."

Every week, the media in Sacramento and around the country mention another sign that the Kings will leave. Every month, a new arena plan falls apart. Every year, ARCO Arena gets closer to its death.

Yet every night, 17,317 screaming fans fill ARCO, supporting the home team. We've worn Reggie Theus's #24, Mitch Richmond's #2, Chris Webber's #4 and Mike Bibby's #10. We buy tickets, we attach flags to our antennae and we bang the crap out of our cowbells.

We bleed purple.

But with a 10,000-pound gorilla lurching near us, we get worried. Is the train to Nevada approaching the station? Are the Maloofs quietly convincing the Las Vegas Kings are a good idea? Is Sacramento losing its team?

We need assurance. We see it crop up in an interview every now and then, but we want it told to us very clearly and very bluntly: the Kings are staying in Sacramento.

Forget the statue or the hanging #6 jersey or the "Gold Standard" ad campaign - we don't need all that. We'll still come to the arena.

What do we want? Our Kings. Our Sacramento Kings. That's it.

Joe and Gavin Maloof, Heather Fargo, Bob Thomas's eventual replacement, David Stern, Angelo Tsakopoulos and everyone else in a position of powers with regards to this team and this city: Please, Save Our Kings.