"We ran into a friend recently at a local watering hole and naturally the subject turned to sports – specifically the Kings and their future.

He's a huge sports fan from the East Coast who moved here about 12 years ago, so he's been in Sacramento for some of the Kings' best – and worst – years. He owns a successful local business, employing dozens of people, owns his home, etc. – he's put down some roots.

His business doesn't depend on the Kings, he said, yet he has strong feelings about their future. He wants to see an arena built, doesn't want to see the Kings leave town.

"I don't want to live in Podunk," he said. "If the Kings leave town, that's what we'll be – Podunk."

Some folks insist Sacramento will still be just as great a place to live, work and hang out without an NBA team.

But would it?

Maybe for people who were here before the Kings or those who haven't lived in a city with major-league sports. But for those of us who have lived in cities with big-league teams, we understand his "Podunk" remark.

And for those of us who have lived in a city that has lost a team, it's a blow to civic pride."