Dear Chris, Mr. Ballmer, Erik and Peter Nordstrom and Wally

Dear Chris, Mr. Ballmer, Erik and Peter Nordstrom and Wally,

I do not speak for all those in the Sonics Nation Army, but I do have a larger voice than most in this situation. I know I am not over stepping my bounds, but from me, the rest of the SonicsRising staff, our followers and every Sonics' fan from Seattle to Spain to Australia and back again is thank you.

For everything you guys are doing a thank you is probably not big enough.

Besides a thank you we want you to know that we are behind you 110%. You have no idea the appreciation and admiration that we have for you and everything you are doing to help get the NBA back into Seattle

You guys are not lying down like former Mayor, Greg Nickels did when the going got tough in 2008. Instead of whithering under the pressure, you have stepped up your game and instead put the pressure on the NBA and on Sacramento.

You've taken the "Hurray we've won!" sentiments to "Please go away, you're really making us nervous."

Despite the national narrative that says we should pack in the tent and go away, play nice and we can have a team down the road.

We've played that game before, Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Walker were part of that game and you know we don't want to go through it again.

Thank you for being the fighter than none of us could be and fighting to bring back the game we love so much. Thank you for bringing thousands of people all across the world together for a cause that we all believe in and have not given up on in spite of our team being moved to Oklahoma City five years ago.

Thank you for being in the public with us, drinking beer with us, picking us up when we were down and always saying the right thing at the right time.

Right now, it is not us who should be the ones being held up. It should be us holding you up, giving you that extra energy, saying the right thing at the right time and making sure that you know that as long as you keep fighting that we are going to be standing right there behind you.

You need us for anything and we will show up en masse. I know some that will quit their job and cross stateliness to be wherever it is you need them to be. We are that dedicated to you. We are that dedicated to the cause.

We do not want to bow out graciously. We want to fight to the bitter end. We want to watch Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp's jersey raised into the rafters with our kids, our friends and family. The countless thousands have shared so many memories together over the 41 years of basketball in Seattle and the five we've had without a team. We've become a closer nit fan base. We're ready to puncture ear drums at KeyArena for the first night back and we're ready to make the ground shake opening night at the new Sonics Arena.

With Love and Encouragement,

Every Sonics Fan in the World