"I thought about buying him a Mercedes Benz for his birthday, but he's pretty attached to his pickup truck." -Grandpa

Yesterday we celebrated my dad's birthday at the greatest little Italian place in Seattle: Mt. Baker's That's Amore, which is never crowded, has a fantastic view of the city and the Olympics, and everything tastes good. No matter what you order.

Conversation ranged from my date campaign ("You shouldn't eat that chocolate if you're planning on dates anytime soon" - Grandpa) to politics ("I still love you daughter, even though you're voting for Obama" - Dad) to sports ("Seattle's a bandwagon town."- my cousin Danny).

Mom: What does that mean?

Danny: It means that when they play like crap, they don't got fans. A Cubs fan is a Cubs fan until they die.

But some Seattle fans aren't just bandwagon fans. My friend Andrew is pretty passionate about the Sonics, and he's been writing the governor. He'd like you to join his campaign: contact the governor about the Sonics' importance to our state.

So would Bill Simmons, he just wrote his longest column ever about the travesty...

And Save Our Sonics has this alert out today about calling the legislature before the 13th, when the legislative session ends.

My dad loves the Sonics. He's been a fan since we moved here in 1981. Give him a good birthday gift and write the governor or call the legislature.