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Saturday night (Jan. 9) may not have felt like there was a shift in the universe. Of course, there was the 6.5 earthquake off the coast of Eureka, CA, but that was at 4:27 p.m. A bit too early to be a definitive portent of things to come.

It wasn't a good game. The Kings looked flat, turning the ball over and unable to hit water out of a boat. Fans sitting in front of their TVs were faced with a couple of choices - stick with it even though they didn't have much hope, watch something else and switch back once in a while to see how bad the carnage was, or just turn it off and wait to read the board after the game.

Regardless of what you did - or if you were planning on recording the game on DVR and watching it later - you will not forget Monday, Dec. 21, 2009 for a long, long time.

With Arco rocking and fans at home all over the world cheering their loudest, the Sacramento Kings battled the Washington Wizards and came away the winners. And they did it on national TV.

This is a young team, a team that is just now finding its identity. The game wasn't perfect and it wasn't without heart-stopping moments of panic. But, in the end, it was just what Kings fans needed it to be. It was a win against a team of seasoned veterans and it showed the world what heart and hustle looks like. And on this night, heart and hustle were wearing the uniforms of the Sacramento Kings.

Thanks to Geoff Petrie for finding the pieces that have started to turn this team around. Thanks to Paul Westphal for being willing to accept a job coaching a team coming off a season so thoroughly mired in the cellar they needed a telescope to spot daylight.

This is the beginning, fellow Kings fans. All the pieces aren't there yet, but we're on our way. Tyreke Evans is so good he scares me. And Omri Casspi is right there, too.

It's about energy and it's about passion. And our young team has it all...and they're at the beginning.

Get your seat on the bandwagon early, fasten your seat belts and get ready for the ride of your life. It's gonna be a whole lot of fun!

And so, for the second time in the 2009-2010 season, our young Kings are at .500 and showing no signs of letting up on either the heart or the hustle.

This group of players has the heart...they don't give up and they don't know the meaning of the word "quit." They give their all and they challenge each other to do better. From the rookies to the veterans, they've all bought into the plan and they're giving their all.

They've got the hustle...they dive on the floor for the loose balls, they take the occasional kick in the head and come back out to play some more, they cheer for each other as though every game is a game 7.

Just how does one go about getting 64,000 posts on a message board?

That's the question I hear - and have heard - for quite a while. So, as the odometer turns over to the magical 64,000, I thought I'd take this occasion to - what else - make a few comments.

First of all, I want to make it clear. I do not look upon this as a great achievement or proof in any way of anything other than that I apparently have a lot to say and lots of time within which to say it. And thanks to Jeremy, our board owner, I have an opportunity to do so.