Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to one and all. A power outage at the ol' blogging factory this morning has put a new meaning on IC Cold family but we are secure and warm for the time being and, yep I found some wifi access.

So, the Indiana Pacers are in Memphis to play the Grizzlies at 1 p.m. ET today on ESPN. Can't think of a better way to tip off the second half of the season than with a challenging road game on national TV. The road will eventually determine how well the Pacers finish this season and their current road trip over the next four games should set the tone for that finish.

In other news, it appears the Sacramento Kings are headed to Seattle next season according to several reports. Among the stories surrounding that news from Woj at Yahoo! Sports, is that the new owners in Seattle are looking to shake things up with the Kings in a big way which may include trying to entice Larry Bird to run the team.

There's been plenty of speculation that Bird would return to the NBA, and quite possibly the Pacers, after taking a year off to physically re-charge. I've also heard many say he would indeed return, but would rather do so with another team. The Pacers have Kevin Pritchard in line to work with Donnie Walsh and presumably take over if Walsh leaves. Never made sense to me that Pritchard would hang around to work as number two behind Walsh and then Bird again.

Regardless, what do you think of the prospects of Bird working for Seattle? Seems like a strange fit but the state of that team would be prime for any team president interested in building a winner. Still, working out of Seattle would ramp up the flying miles that apparently cause Bird such discomfort. Other than that, the situation should be enticing for Bird, if not strange for the rest of us.

Check out the links:

• Seattle owners could target R.C. Buford or Larry Bird to run franchise - Yahoo! Sports
• Game Preview: Pacers at Grizzlies | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE INDIANA PACERS
• Pacers Insider: Midseason report card shows room for improvement for division leaders | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
• Granger one of wild-cards that could re-shape East | 1070 The Fan – Opinion & Analysis
• Pacers-Grizzlies Preview - AP
• Pacers face tough road: 4-game trip against 4 winning teams | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
• Pacers looking forward to return of Danny Granger
• Grizzlies Trade Rumors: Zach Randolph to Rockets? - Straight Outta Vancouver
• Reports: Pacers may try to move Granger, but don’t bet on it happening | ProBasketballTalk
• Advanced Statistics for Dummies: Figuring out just what the Grizzlies are doing with all those figures " The Commercial Appeal
• Sacramento Kings owners reach agreement with Seattle group to buy team, sources say - ESPN
• Which team could trade for Hawks forward Josh Smith - Grantland

Want to go to some upcoming Pacers games? Indy Cornrows is your source for Indiana Pacers tickets.