Be but for the grace of a Spencer Hawes drop-step, that would have been a complete waste of time. To the Hope Alert System!

Home wins over Detroit, Dallas, San Antonio. Double-digit home losses to Philadelphia, the Clippers, Seattle. Boo.

F.P. Santangelo this morning blamed it on the fans. When the other two Rise Guys pushed back, he called it a 'chicken and egg thing' — as if the crowd sucked because the Kings sucked, and the Kings sucked because the crowd sucked. As if it's some confounding paradox.

The logical extension: I don't know who had good tickets last night, but if that person could stop telling Ron Artest to take step-back 20-footers, that'd be fantastic. If the fans on the sidelines could please stop asking Mike Bibby to shoot every single time he touches the ball, we'd appreciate it. If you fans would stop distracting all these 6'7 players when they're trying to get rebounds over 6'10 opponents, you know that'd help a lot.

This team sucks because this team sucks. It does not always suck; in fact, sometimes this team is good. Really good. But often enough, it sucks. You have to suck to lose by Seattle at home by 13 points; there is little other explanation. Brad Miller is vital, and Beno Udrih's gotten better important to that second unit, yes and yes. That allows for a close game… not the Kenny Thomas white flag.

Of course, this team will come out and stick it to Utah with fire and fury, and we'll all trot our hopes and dreams back out to the yard, and our arrow will get pushed up a bit, and merriment will be had by all. And eventually, the see-saw will pick up speed again, and we'll have a ton of fun, and we'll all be yellin' and scream' and hoping. And then the bell will ring, and recess will be over, and we'll wonder why we feel like that whole recess was just a big ol' waste of time.