Not sure where this thread is coming from. Craig Patrick played the hand that was dealt him through circumstance, mostly Baldwin being an absolutely pitiful excuse for an owner (who turned down a new arena by the way for a few upgrades but mostly to pocket the cash). Baldwin left the team bankrupt, not from lack of support but by his own mismanagement. Mario was the largest creditor, and Mario who had no money other than what came in from the gate to spend, became the new owner. Not from choice but through no choice of his at all. So we have been the last decade to some extent, last five years especially, a franchise in survival mode and often forced to sell off talent. This despite being at least a middle of the pack franchise in terms of support, and in many ways (local FOX broadcast ratings which are consistently top 3 at least in the american market, perhaps any market, etc etc.) much higher support than almost any franchise, through our history. Finally we are being sold to a guy with money to spend. But you tell me, detractors. How else could Patrick have played the last five years or so? We dived? Please. We survived as we could. And yes, we got lucky too. I am not going to apologize for that. Especially with this last lottery. 6.7% chance. Just a pretty minor bit above even the lowest percentage pickers in this lottery. How anyone can complain about how we ended up with this pick I have no clue. Just pure luck of the draw.