After a night full of deep sighs and deep sadness at the reality of the Sacramento Kings taking their game south, imagine my surprise when I logged-on to my Twitter account and saw post after post with the hash tag #HereWeBuild. What? It was obvious to me that this was Kings related, because this season has been "Here We" {insert hopeful verb here}, but Here We Build was a new one to me. So I followed the trail. I had no idea that a movement had started in this city last night. A serious movement. A movement independent of the government, of the politicians and a movement that was as heartfelt as anything that has happened since the beginning of this whole mess.

The people of Sacramento are raising money to build an arena. On TWITTER!

Maybe not today or even this year, but $10 by $1000 donations, private citizens are donating money to a fund called #HereWeBuild.

The idea was inspired by local radio show host and lifetime Kings Fan, Carmichael Dave. Check out his Twitter page to see the donations pouring in from all over the city, even outside of the area. The idea exploded after an innocent series of tweets ;ast night.

CarmichaelDave 
"Anaheim has voted 5-0 to issue bonds for Renovations to the Honda Center."

CarmichaelDave
"I personally have voted 1-0 to issue 100 dollars cash towards a new arena in Sacramento. Who's with me. Any and all amounts welcome"

What followed was something even a diehard Kings fan like Dave couldn't have imagined. Donation pledges came pouring through over Twitter. In just a few hours, thousands of dollars had been pledged and the hash tag #HereWeBuild was formed.

As it stands tonight, a little over 24 hours after this groundswell started, well over $100,000 has been pledged and the media is all over this. Not just the Sacramento media mind you. #HereWeBuild is the number one most used trend in Sacramento and has drawn notice of the New York Times. Carmichael Dave has had a busy, busy day and it has only just begun. He has interviews lined up all night tonight and all day tomorrow. The power of social networking has become a reality.

I spoke with Dave for a few minutes and he seemed grateful, if not amazed by the whirlwind of activity in such a short period of time.
"It is changing hour by hour with fireball speed as most Internet trends do, but what is different is that we have a committed group of people unwilling to let the bumbling city leaders of Sacramento have the last word on the Kings moving. We'll make sure the fans get that."

The power of the people is truly an amazing thing. Just when everyone (including me) thought it was too late, a groundswell of support rises up so big that no one will be able to ignore it. Maloofs, I hope you are listening.