Finally.

A plan.

The Sam Hinkie hiring is second to only the 2008 Phillies in my hierarchy of Good Things That Have Happened To Professional Sports Teams I Root For. And certainly the most important thing the Sixers have done in my lifetime.

***

I am not a normal person. I spend hundreds of hours a year writing about a basketball team that, most of the time, I want to lose. I just snacked on bacon at midnight on a Wednesday and I am in good shape. Last week, I went on a date with a girl because of Harry Potter. Backstreet Boys just came up on my iTunes and I didn't even think about changing it.

I couldn't be any more self-aware that my opinions and interests are not shared by the populace. And especially not the predominantly ass-backwards populace of Philadelphia Sports Fans.

***

The Sixers have not had a concrete plan in decades. Iverson wasn't a plan, he was a highly unique and highly flawed player that they built a little shack of a team around because they didn't know what else to do. Since they traded AI, there's been no plan. No roadmap to championship contention they had any intention of following aside from 1. Get Guys We Think Are Good 2. Cross Fingers 3. Profit.

Well, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Sam Hinkie and Josh Harris will operate with an end goal in mind. Sam Hinkie and Josh Harris will implement a system and acquire players that fit that particular system. Sam Hinkie and Josh Harris will adhere to the process, not the result. Sam Hinkie and Josh Harris will be patient.

But most importantly, Sam Hinkie and Josh Harris will be around a very long time.

***

I cannot tell you what a tremendous feeling this is, because you already know. Competence has been long ignored. No longer.

The Sixers are the smartest guys in the room. The Sixers won't stand idly by while other teams craftily move up and down in the draft. The Sixers will shortly have a real life basketball team that is fun to watch. The Sixers won't be The Sixers.

I would argue that this move is a bigger deal than the Andrew Bynum trade. Bynum was one player -- one very, very good player -- that seemingly dropped into their lap when the perfect deal came along. 99% of teams would make that move, even with Intern GM driving the train. There was no telling, really, how much things would change.

This represents a philosophical shift in the way the organization will be run. A complete and total overhaul of the team-building elements of this franchise. Bynum was a makeover. This is liposuction.

***

It's at the point right now where I need to invent new words to illustrate how excited I am about this. Painful, Futile, and Frustrating are the first three words that auto-populate in my online thesaurus. I have no idea how to write about a non-painful, non-futile, and non-frustrating basketball team. This will be my ultimate test.

I'm the cool girl who's terrified of commitment that finally gets swept off her feet by the right guy. I'm Lizzy Caplan.

I have no choice but to trust everything they do. We have an owner and a GM who get it. They will find a coach who gets it. If the populace isn't on board now, they will be. The Sixers will contend for a championship someday soon. Not today. But soon.

Persizzling. I am Persizzling.