Return of the Kings

For me, at least.

I'm sitting here on my patio listening to the second game of the 2009/2010 season on my laptop. I'd be inside watching the game on the tube, but my housekeeper is in there doing her thing right now, so I figured I'd stay out of her way and enjoy some audio basketball. Besides...this way I can have a cigar while I do it.

As suggested in my previous blog entry, I did watch the opening game of this season for Sacramento's only claim to pro-sports fame. We don't have a football team in Sac. We have no MLB team. No hockey to be found. No, Sacramento is all about the basketball, and has been since 1985 when we got our first sports franchise. And for a magical handful of years at the start of this new century, our franchise was actually one of the elite in the league, an exciting, headline-making team that was a part of what many consider to be one of the best playoff showdowns of all time.

These days? Well, the season opener kind of defined where we are now.

I, once a Kings fanatic, fell away from not only the team, but the sport. It wasn't really a conscious choice. Like many of Sacramento's fans, I had my spirit crushed by the loss to the Lakers (which many of us still consider to be questionable...but don't get us started), but was back again for more the next season. But life changed for me with a lot more work hours, and my Kings euphoria turned to anger is management decided to start selling off my whole team, player by player, and eventually dumped my coach, too. It was no longer the team I knew so well, and while everyone talked about how good all these changes were for the team, I never bought it, and found myself regretfully vindicated as the team continued to decline until, last season, the once championship-ready team become the worst team in the NBA.

But I didn't have to witness this whole descent, as, due to the work thing, I didn't have the time to watch games anymore. I'd just catch the occasional headline, hear people talking (with shaking heads) at the office. I had left basketball, my greatest love, behind. There was a time when I could tell you what was going on with every team in the league, and probably tell you things about your own team that YOU didn't even know. The best weekend of my year was the NBA All-Star Weekend, where I'd stay glued to the set for all three days of festivities. I'd even take the day off work on the day of the NBA draft. I was a junkie. And yet, I didn't so much kick my monkey as let my monkey slip away from me.

This season, I told myself it was time to get the monkey back. Or least hang out with it more.

Not having a job means no excuses as far as time. And not having a winning team is no excuse to not be a fan. I've never seen myself as one of those fans. It was never about the final score for me. I was there for the joy of the game, to watch the passing, the rebounds, the defense. I knew every one of my Kings in complete detail back in my day, their strengths and their weaknesses - cheering when a player did something outside his normal skill set, groaning when another tried to take a shot that I knew (better, apparently, than that player) was just NOT his kind of shot. It was all in the details for me. If my guys were winning? So much the better. But I never booed them when they lost. I felt like I was in it with them.

And here I am now, returning to the Kings, and have come to realize in the past couple of days just how far I am from where I used to be. I had virtually no idea who was on our team anymore. I had to actually pull up a team roster online and check out and read about the players. And what I could find from my reading was that we now have a very young, very non-superstar team. While I still find myself wondering how we could have let that happen, I find that kind of exciting. It seems a good time for me to step back in, as it feels like I'm doing so at the very beginning of a new team area. This could be good news for them, as the team seemed to have stopped winning AFTER I stopped watching. Hoping to bring my mojo back for the boys.

What excites me most about the new team, though, is the new coach. When I first became a true basketball fan, I had just moved to Phoenix, and the coach of that great Suns team was Sac's latest coach, Paul Westphal. Westphal always impressed me not just for his skill, but because he always came off as such a genuinely nice guy. I've been a fan for years, and finding out that he was not only coming back to the NBA but to Sac put a big smile on my face, and raised some hopes for me that this team might have a chance after all.

I don't know the team well enough to discuss the players yet, but after one (very disappointing) opening game, I've already found a favorite player in one of our rookies - Omri Casspi, the first NBA player drafted out of Israel. I love the idea that his nation - like Turkey back when we had Hedo Turkoglu as one of our rooks - is staying up until 2:00 AM to watch Kings games and cheer their national treasure on. Omri, in an otherwise forgettable game, showed some serious skill and coolness under pressure. My eye is on him, for sure. We're going to need bench guys like him to step up, considering our best player - Garcia - is out with injury until mid-season. Some of his teammates are going to need to follow suit.

As for tonight? Things are looking (or, in my case, sounding) better. We're currently in the fourth quarter, and the game is all tied up. This sure beats the 20-point deficits of the opener. Woah! Let's call that a lead, thanks to a three from Nocioni, who's scored 14 points in his 16 minutes. Nice. The other standouts are Kevin Martin (18 points) and our big news rookie, Evans (15 points), and both Brockman and Thompson are lighting it up in their own way with 10 rebounds each. We've got us an exciting back-and-forth game going on between two teams that are each trying to not start their seasons at 0-2. Who will prevail? We'll know in six minutes and twenty-three seconds. I'd hang with you and let you know, but my laptop battery's going to leave you in suspense.

So I'm back with the Kings, and it's good to be home. Here's hoping for a season that'll buck the expectations we managed to set last year (we won 17 games. All season. Ouch). I'll be along the ride, either way. Go Kings.

(The Final) Kings Flashback - Orlando at Kings

Figured before the first game of this season starts (in a matter of minutes), I might as well post the final of my 2000/2001 Kings game recaps. Consider this my symbolic way of letting go of the past and moving on with the new Kings team. S0, one last time, join me in taking a look back at the Kings of old, and reliving some of that old-school Arco magic. Ironically, AGAINST the Magic...

Orlando at Kings
11/14/00

Unagi.

Hey, I’m right up there with every other sports writer in the country in choosing a lead for this story. Tonight was all about Scot Pollard.

So here I am, all ready for Lawrence Funderburke to step in, to get his first start of this season in place of the still-injured Chris Webber and really shine. And what do I find out when the game starts, and Orlando has pulled into town to try and gum up the works in an impressive Sacramento home series? Rick’s decided to start Scot Pollard at power forward instead. Scot Pollard? As in Vlade’s backup center? Stepping in instead of Chris’ regular backup?

For half a second, I was disappointed. For Fundy. And then I remembered that Scot Pollard is one of my favorite players in the game, and that Rick was actually—I repeat—starting Scot in Webber’s place. That’s some big shoes to fill.

Did I mention that Scot wears size 19 Nikes?

Scottie-Too-Hottie, the Butcher, the Samurai Center, stepped up from the opening whistle, quickly passing his game average in the first quarter, and ended this 96-82 battle with the Magic with a career high of 22 points. Those are Webber-sized numbers, baby, and they came from the team’s goofball. Big fat thumbs up for the man.

Scot’s opening, a reminder that a team star was on the bench with injury, was the story of the night for both teams. Orlando walked in minus recently-snatched superstar Grant Hill back home. Grant’s ankle injury has kept him out of the last six games, and frankly, no one knows when he’s coming back. A tough blow for Orlando, who picked up one the truly great ball players in the sport and had such high hopes this season. But hey…at least the Magic still have their other big star, the powerhouse called Tracy McGrady, right? Well, they did. For the first half of this game.

Tracy went down and injured his hip after posting up 20 points. He was noticeably hobbling, and you could just feel the despair setting down on the city of Orlando. What next? It was tough to see, even for someone like myself who’s supposed to be cheering for the Kings. Hey, I was—have no doubts there. But I really have a fondness for Orlando, and Grant Hill, and the amazing T-Mac. I spent the first half of this game—a blow-for-blow battle up and down the court, two teams playing at equal levels and keeping the score tight—applauding Orlando play as much as I did (okay, that’s pushing it a little) the Kings floor work. T-Mac was putting on quite a show. Doleac, coming off the bench, was really raining fire. Bo Outlaw was everywhere—only 7 points on the game, but 8 big rebounds. But the most jaw-dropping performance of the night had to be coming from Armstrong. Wow. I mean, I’ve known of him before, but tonight, I just became a true fan. What drive, what grace, what lethal accuracy! He played a full 42 minutes (so he never got out of our faces), scoring 22 points with authori-TIE and grabbing 8 rebounds, with 8 assists and a couple of steals. He was practically a one-man team. In the second half, he practically had to be.

But the big love out to Orlando goes to the heroic Tracy McGrady. As I mentioned, he was injured after 20 points, and was hobbling up and down the floor. You know what? He came back out. By choice, limping and in pain, T-Mac came back out in the second half. He was in and out of the rotation, and he only put up one bucket in the final two periods, but he played. Now THAT’s what you like to see in an athlete. Willing to go at it for the team, even when the chips are down and the personal cost is high. That goes for him and the whole team, who played their guts out with a lot of bad luck and tough times hanging over them. They gave us a really great, nerve-wracking game, a real nail-biter nearly all the way. Had love for them before, got even more now. My best wishes for team recovery and better days ahead to all of them, and I look forward to playing them again soon, playing them at full steam and seeing a REALLY serious battle on the court.

And, with all that said…

I love my Kings.

Scot was the big news because of the unexpected performance, but for sheer superstar-in-the-making glory, it was Peja’s night. Peja absolutely (I always feel like using a Vlade accent when I use that word) shined, with 27 points, a career high 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. He was outside, he was inside, he was making free-throws, he was gunning the 3’s, slamming it down, cutting and passing and loving every minute of it. It was really his night, and the Sacramento fans couldn’t get enough. It’s a sad thing to think about, but if, in fact, Chris Webber does leave the capital next year (as Jon Barry suggested to Jim Rome that he would. Oh, what a wonderful cleanup job he had to do with the local press after THAT one), the team will certainly not be without a star. Sure, you’d think Jason Williams or Vlade would be that star. But I think at the rate of improvement Peja’s running at, by the end of this season, he’s very likely to be a household name…in households that know more about basketball than the word “Shaq” that is. When it got down to less than two minutes in the game, and Jon Barry had just put up and missed a 3-pointer (don’t worry, he’d made one earlier), players on both teams were just standing still, watching the ball bounce off the rim and start back down…and out of nowhere, the only man, seemingly, in motion, Peja flew in, grabbed the rebound, and slammed it in, picking up a foul along the way. Had to be—what, about his 10th highlight of the evening? Your star is rising, friend Peja. Time to start working on the English lessons a little more, because people are really going to start wanting to hear what you’ve got to say. A star continues to be born.

And speaking of stars, there was Vlade tonight, with another powerful night, taking on a leadership role on the floor and making it all happen. 21 points for the Marlboro Man, 11 rebounds to match Peja (9 of those in defense), and 8 assists. Can this man ever pass! How does someone that big pass so good?! Way to be the captain, Vlade. J-Will had another one of those nights that sportscasters just don’t seem to get. All they can talk about on nights like tonight is that he’s 0 for 5 and put nothing on the scoreboard. How can they continue to miss his role on this team? It’s GREAT when he gets points. I’m all for it. But it’s bonus, not necessity. Jason’s not about getting, folks, he’s about giving. He’s about making it happen for the team as a whole. 8 assists speak to that. And the 3 steals weren’t that bad, either. Give the man a break! He’s helping win these games. As much basketball as these sportscasters watch, you think they’d pick up on the fact that there’s more to the game than just making the buckets. Pretty good night, there, Jason. And I did enjoy the commentary from Greg Poppa (we were catching the TBS feed on this game) pointing out that when Bobby Jackson came in and replaced J for most of the 4th, Jason was Bobby Jackson’s “biggest fan”, sitting on the floor by the bench, cheering Bobby and the other Kings on. Nice reminder that we’ve really got a team that works like a team.

And Bobby was looking great again. 10 points on the night and a couple of steals. Doug? Pretty good effort, with 8 points and 3 steals, still looking solid and really a part of the swing of the Kings. Jon Barry had some home crowd fun, with 7 points and 5 assists (he should really get a commission from his fellow players for making them look so good on those shots they’re making thanks to him). Turk got 4 minutes…pretty early in the game, too…but this just wasn’t his night (for the 1st time in his few showings this year, so I can’t complain). Fundy was in for a little, and didn’t really get a groove on in his 14 minutes, which, again, made me sad, as I was pegging this as his breakout game. And, once again, there was Nick—5 mintues of play, 2 turnovers, 1 missed shot. Okay, don’t get me started on that one. It’s just going to make me sad and cranky. And another game with no Derek. Told you we wouldn’t be seeing much of him this season. And I spotted our “injured” rookie reservist, Jabari Smith, sitting in civvies with Chris on the bench. Wonder if we’ll get to see this kid play this season at all, or if he’s going to be like Ryan Robertson, last year’s donut-fetcher, who only got to play in the last game of the regular season (and make 6 points, if I recall right. Or was it 4)? Hmm. Come to think of it, if we’re going to see him play, that means we’ll probably have to have a couple or three injuries going at once. Maybe you could just keep getting those donuts, Jabari. Don’t think I want to see you play quite THAT bad.

Beautiful game, and even more beautiful is the fact that we just won 5 in a row, baby. That’s now 7-2, putting us a half game behind the Suns for the #1 spot in the pacific. I REALLY want that #1 spot. And what’s standing in our way? The Lakers, Thursday night. On national TV. Can’t decide if I’m nervous or excited. I keep thinking of all those really close-shave match-ups we had with them all last season. And then I think about game 5 of the playoffs. Brrr. Best not to think about that. Think I’ll focus in on the positives, and remember that we really play these guys good, and I think we’re in for one beast of a TNT basketball game. Welcome back to Sac, Kobe. You know…that place you got beat in during the pre-season? History…you may feel free to repeat.

Kings Flashback - Dallas at Kings

With the new Kings season about to begin, I was reminded that I never finished posting the last of my 2000/2001 Kings game recaps. I started re-posting these last summer on this blog...and "re-posted" isn't quite the word, because these sports write-ups had never been seen anywhere before. An ambitious and fanatical Kings fan, I was putting together my own Kings fan web page, and planned to do my own reports on each and every game of the season. Nice idea, but it didn't last too long, thanks to me having a job and everything (come home late from work, watch the entire game, then sit down and write about it? Worked for a few days, at least...). I wrote a total of nine of them, and seven of them I've already put up here, leaving two entries left of my brief foray into sports writing.

These serve as a nice reminder of how good we had it in the golden days of Kings basketball. This was the season when the big run really started to happen. Already getting famous for our dazzling (if not reckless) offense, this was the year we found ourselves a defense thanks to the addition of Bobby Jackson and Doug Christie. This was also the rookie year for our Turkish newbie, one Hedo Turkoglu. It was the year with the cloud hanging over it, as our big star Chris Webber's contract was up and we didn't know if he'd be staying after the end of the season. And it was another year of the unbelievable Jason Williams causing jaws to drop around the globe with his Houdini floor skills. Times were good. For the team, and for what Sports Illustrated voted as the best fans in the NBA - those cowbell-clanging Kings fans.

For me, these write-ups are a reminder of just how obsessed I was with the Kings, and with basketball, during my time living in San Diego (watching every game via League Pass on cable, and watching them with my roommate and fellow King freak Aaron), and how completely annoying I must have been to everyone around me, because I don't think I talked of much else. Had I been living in Sac, that would have been no problem. In San Diego, land of the Laker fans? Well, there was no one in my life there that didn't know who my team was. Or how I felt about the Lakers...

Those golden days are remembered with bittersweet longing now, but we've still got a team, and our new boys (most of them ARE still boys...) deserve their chance to prove themselves and try for their own piece of NBA history. But as we prepare to cheer them on and dare to dream once more, I thought we'd take moment, the night before the 2009/2010 season officially begins for our Kings, to remember those guys who took us from obscurity (I'm being kind choosing that word) and made our team one that no one in sports could ignore...or ever forget.

Travel with me, if you will, to November of the year 2000, and to another sold-out, floor-shaking night at Arco Arena...


Dallas at Kings
11/12/00


Home sweet home.

The Kings continue to pour it on, holding virtual basketball clinics at Arco (and abroad, when you take the Oaktown trip into account) and dishing out mind-boggling (for being the Kings!) defense, tonight rousting the Mavericks in a stunning 109-84 win.

Once again, it was everyone’s game on the Kings side, with masterful (and show-stopping) passing and highlight-making feeds and jams. I should note that Aaron pulled another one on me tonight, as he was apt to last season. Thanks to our schedules, Aaron often ends up watching the games before I get home to watch the tape, and it’s always tricky business, I’m sure, trying to keep from giving anything away. I checked my cell phone voicemail from work, and there was a message from Aaron, telling me he was cooking up some stir fry, so there’d be leftovers, and mentioning, in an unenthusiastic tone, that he was sort of half-watching the game. Leading me to believe, of course, that the two-game trouncing of Golden State was followed up by a little dose of reality for Sac-Town.

Sneaky SOB.

Dallas was looking good for the first couple of minutes. And that’s all they got. It was all Kings after that. Peja got his stroke back in a big way, tacking up 28 points and shooting 4 of 4 for free throws (finally). There was a great moment when he made his first free throw (which we didn’t really get to see, because all cameras were on coach Don Nelson as he dealt with his technical, trying hard to push the ref into bouncing him), and he got some good-hearted heckling from the bench for finally making one. Peja burst into a goofy laugh, and went on to make his next (thanks, Don!). Peja was everywhere again, looking BEAUTIFUL under the net, receiving some great unselfish passing from his teammates. And no slouch from range, of course, Stojk sunk 4 3-pointers to bring the Arco crowd to its feet again and again.

And it was good news/potential frightening news for Webber. Webber was looking fantastic, with more poster slams and slick moves, leading his team to glory as ever. There was one moment of sheer Kings joy, where Chris missed a free throw, which was pulled down by Vlade, and Vlade—with two Mavs on his back—tossed a slick behind-the-back pass to Webb, who leapt up and slammed down with authority. He put up 23 points and 12 rebounds…

…Before we suddenly saw him, out of nowhere, writhing on the floor in agony.

Webber managed to twist his right ankle badly in the middle of a rebound struggle, and fans were deafened by the sounds of a pin dropping somewhere up in the rafters as Sacramento held its breath. This is absolutely the last thing Sac fans ever want to see, especially in the middle of such a joyous game, and in the middle of such a great season-starting run. Chris was helped to his feet and was able to gingerly walk his way to the locker room. Which is good news. As of tonight, Chris’s status is day-by-day, and we’ll need to wait and see if he’s able to come back for Orlando Tuesday…and, more importantly, for the all-important home game against the Lakers on Thursday.

But let’s look at the bright side. Now, mind you, many fans wouldn’t see a bright side in this, but then many fans aren’t the big Funderburke freak that I am. We all know that with Webb down, Lawrence has to step up and fill his all-star shoes. And me, I see this is a golden opportunity for Fundy to really show his stuff. Not that I want Chris out! Even for one game! But if it has to happen, and with how great Larry’s looking this year, we could really see some great stuff off our oft-overlooked bench gem. If Chris needs a break to heal—and frankly, if it has to happen, it could come at a worse time, as once we get past these next two games, we’ve got six whole nights off for him to rehab—I expect to see number 51 step in and really shock some nay-saying sports writers who would be unanimously predicting a Kings slide without our big star. I think they’re in for a big fecal burger, and if they’d look back on last year, they’d maybe remember that the Kings really lit it up during Chris’s injury period last season. Chris is one of the major components to this team—but it’s still a team, and if anything good can come of something like this, it’s a little reminder to the NBA of just how good the Kings as a whole can be, and how deep our bench is when the call goes out. If Chris is parking in the blue spaces for a bit, keep an eye on Lawrence Funderburke, folks. A star could be born.

Obviously Chris and Peja were the big stars of the game, but if I had to pick a player of the game, my vote would go to Doug Christie. The man who’s leading our born-again defense (eight games in, we’ve still held every team we’ve played to under 50% shooting) was on fire tonight, doing it all. Defense. Passing. Offense. It was a big 13 points for Dougie tonight, and the crowd loved it, believe you me. And his 3 steals kept the slaughter going all through four quarters of Big Kings Love. Did I mention how perfect he fits into the Kings style of basketball? I swear, it’s like he’s been there all along. He was heroic tonight, with a couple of his buckets being beautiful, wild fallaways that had no prayer of going in. Ah, but our resident good Catholic boy has prayer on his side. Glad to have you with us, Doug.

Bobby got some minutes, and 9 points of them, and reminded me again what I love about this guy—his hunger. He’s hungry to play, and the love of the game is written all over his face, and in every charge for a loose ball, and in every made shuffle to stick to his man like glue (like Turko-Glue? New, from Romco!). He got a rest, and Rick gave Derek some time, but not enough to make any real contribution. Vlade may have only had 3 points, but his fingerprints were all over this win, with 7—count ‘em!—assists. His court awareness and teammate-reading resulted in a few of tonight’s big highlights. Give it up for the Flopmaster! Speaking of 7 assists, let’s give a shout out to Jason for living up to his reputation, and continuing his masterful late-start season. 12 points for J-Will, kicking it in with the turbos and making the Mavs look like they were standing still. Pollard was large and in effect again, moshing under the boards for 8 big rebounds and a bucket. Jon Barry got his time, and gave up some glory to help teammates look good (like the picture perfect pass to Lawrence for a big jam), managing a fan-pleasing 3 to further coffin-nail Dallas to the Arco floor. And we talked Funderburke? With Webb back in the locker room, Lawrence gave us what may have been a little preview of the Orlando game, chalking up 14 points in his 16 minutes, shooting 4 of 6 and dead perfect for 6 big free-throw points. Rick put in the rookie again for a few, and Turkoglu brought the bench to their feet with his MIGHTY slam in the 4th.

This was a team effort all the way, and Globetrotter-style crowd-wowing. “Unselfish” was the buzz word tonight. They’re going to be showing the 4-main jet pass sequence on SportsCenter, I guarantee you, a textbook (if the Kings were to write the book) example of fastbreak perfection that left Dallas looking like “Hollywood” in Top Gun (“I said where’d he go? Hollywood said “where’d who goooo?”). The boys are in the ZONE, playing Kings ball like the fans want it, and making it count with the newly-found defensive fire that’s giving us the big “W’s” that didn’t always come after a big performance last year.

And then there’s Nick. This really pains me. He pained me last year, because I so wanted him to be part of the team, and he went cold more times than not. This year, things are almost worse, because he has to come off the bench, and he does so, more often than not, desperate, in my opinion. Our bench goes deep, as I said, and a 1st-round draft pick and former superstar like Nick Anderson shouldn’t be the man in the rotation that can’t make it happen, leaving the rookies and non-stars out-performing him. In his 4 minutes (is that all a star rates?), Nick did pick up 3 rebounds, I’ll admit, but for the most part, he just looked sloppy, picking up a foul and giving away an embarrassing turnover. More and more, Nick is looking like the one man who just doesn’t belong on this team. And I’ll say it again…it pains me. I cheer for him when he steps up, hoping the old Nick from his Orlando glory days will awaken, and will join this journey to victory that we’ve set ourselves on. It hasn’t happened yet. And if something doesn’t happen soon, he’s going to see even more bench time, and will be trying to start over next year on another team. I really don’t want to see that happen. I really want Nick to come along for the ride and be a part of the magic. I’ll keep cheering him. I’ll keep hoping. I’ll keep remembering that amazing 25 point game in the early season last year when he shook off his 2- to 4-point games and finally came into his own again. And I’ll keeping waiting to see that happen again. Plenty of games left in the year, Nick. Let’s make something happen.

Dallas, Dallas, Dallas. Don’t know what was up with them tonight, but they have a lot to think about on their way home. Way too much clunk and little if any defense. I’m a huge Finley fan and always love to watch him play, but his 12 points went almost unnoticed tonight. Irk Nowitzki (a little tag from Aaron’s friend Jody, by the way. “Irk”…as in, no “D”) was about the only one bringing any fear with his big 16 (and “big” describes him in just about every way). Laettner (I forgot about his move to Dallas…) made a pretty good showing, tying Finley’s 12. Their bench was actually pretty impressive, outperforming ours and putting a little fear of Texas in us for a while, mainly from Davis and Buckner (11 and 10, respectively). But it was too little, and really much too late. The Kings owned the Mavs tonight, as they have most the last few games against this franchise, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. We need these home games to buff up our record before any of the big road runs upcoming. Home is where we’re going to have to shine if we’re going to improve our standing in the playoffs this year, and so far, we’re off to an amazing start. Arco regulars and long-distance digital League-Passers alike are getting their money’s worth with interest, and we can only hope this stretch can continue, and be indicative of what we’ve got to offer in the months to come.

Now we all start checking the web reports on the Webb, and wait anxiously to see what our hero, maybe our hero for the last season, can do to recoup and get back in game. Godspeed, Webb. The Lakers are waiting for you. And you know how I hate to disappoint a Team of Destiny ™.

Hey, and some NBA news, by the way. Philly’s now 7-0 on the season, and looking like the team to fear. Atlanta, meanwhile, is balancing them nicely at 0-7. You’d think they were playing football in San Diego or something. Cleveland’s looking solid, too, at 5-1. Byron Scott’s New Jersey Nets just beat the living CRAP out of the struggling Sonics last night, 126 to 91. San Antonio—the team tied for my coveted “2nd favorite NBA Team” award with the Suns—dropped one to Dallas a couple of nights back, but are still looking great at 5-2. Did I say Suns? Guess who’s leading the Pacific Division at 6-1 (oddly, losing their only game this year to Golden State), just one game ahead of YOUR Sacramento Kings. The Pacific’s going to be the division to watch again this year. Let’s see if the 3-3 Lakers can wake up and smell the destiny and get back in the race.

Help for Vanessa

For my birthday, I'm asking for a gift for someone else.

On the morning of September 27, Vanessa Teeters was involved in a terrible car accident in Las Vegas. Those of you who've known me for a long time may know my cousins - Melissa, Melinda and Paul, who all attended the Academy for a time. Vanessa is Paul's daughter by marriage. I've known her since she was just a young girl. She moved off to Las Vegas some time ago.

This was a rollover accident, and Vanessa was ejected from the vehicle. Her back was, essentially, crushed. While she survived, Vanessa is now in the hospital, on her second surgery, and is paralyzed from the waist down. Such news is devastating enough, but hurts more for such a young, beautiful girl in the prime of her life.

Particularly one with no medical insurance.

Obviously we can't do too much about the bigger costs, but an immediate concern is trying to get her transferred home to Sacramento, to UCD Med Center. There's apparently some cost involved in this, and funds the family doesn't have.

There's a fundraiser going on this Saturday, October 17th, between 2:00pm and 8:00pm at a bar in Roseville called Trocadero. I plan to be there around 6:00pm. This is the day before my birthday. So if anyone wants to drop in, wish me a happy birthday and have a drink or two, and give a little something to the Vanessa fund, I'd really love to see you there.

Trocadero

314 Lincoln St, Roseville, CA

(916) 783-7892 ‎

If you can't make it there, but would still like to offer your support, there are a couple of ways. There's a donation account set up for Vanessa at SAFE Credit Union. The account number is 451636. Any local Sac people can drop into any SAFE location (such as the one at 3720 Madison Avenue in North Highlands) and make a donation, but you will need to have the account number on you to do so.

Or, as an alternative, you can go to PayPal and punch in my email address (oconnellmd@aol.com) and make a donation, and I'll get the money over to Paul to add to the fund.

If you can make it, I'd love to see all of you there, and seeing everyone would be the best birthday gift I could imagine. My family would really appreciate the help, too. Thank you all. And please...drive safe.

Stormy Sactown

Figured I should get a blog in while I still have power.

Autumn tends to drop like a hammer here in Sacramento and squash the remains of the extended summers we have. Such was the case today, for sure. We've been having clear skies and sunshine, with lots of warm weather, and particularly spring-like these past couple of weeks, hitting highs only in the 70s and 80s (where we were 90s and triple-digits just before the cooling trend began). But today, it's time to pay our dues.

The storm has come.

I was out on the patio last night, late, when the winds first began, and the force of them started to get pretty frightening. I kept waiting for trees to start going over. I got to sleep, and by the time I woke up today, we had a full-on storm raging. Heavy rains, 40 mph winds. And wouldn't you know it, today was the day I absolutely had to go out and hit and ATM machine for a deposit I had to do. Staying home, as much as I'd have preferred it, was not an option. So I put my positive-attitude gears in motion, decided not to whine about going out into it, and decided to look at it as an adventure.

I'd been hearing the storm blowing outside, but didn't really appreciate it until I opened my front door. Immediately, I could see downed branches all over the complex. I could seen rain blowing sideways in the winds. And, my favorite part (always) - I could see that the walkway in front of my building was, as it always is during heavy rainfall, totally flooded. Greeeat. This is loads of fun with my wheelchair situation. I can only use my left arm to wheel myself (right arm, locked at 90 degrees as it is, can't reach). So I end up using that left arm for some propulsion, but also use my feet, and they do most of the steering. The flooding problem means that if I put my feet down, they're going to be underwater (it gets that deep). And I can't steer/move forward with just the arm.

So I did my best. I could getting a fast-rolling start, but I still have to make the sharp left turn to head toward my van, so momentum wasn't going to do much good. I tried to do what I could with the arm, and tried to use just the heel of my left foot in the water to minimize shoe soakage. But soakage there was. Add to this having to fight against the ridiculous wind. On this first part of my journey, I was dumb enough, too, to try to use my umbrella. As soon as I straightened myself out, I got hit with a massive gust that nearly took away both my umbrella and my Kings cap. But I managed to get through the water, and to get to/into the van without getting TOO wet. But it was ugly out there, believe me. But I told myself it was just a quick trip to the bank, so I'd be home before I knew it.

I got to the Wells Fargo, and the storm had gotten even worse. While sitting there parked, the van was getting rocked back and forth, and I started to wonder if I was going to get tipped over. I knew the umbrella wasn't a good idea, so I left it and pulled the hood up on my favorite Kings hoodie instead, opened the doors, and rode the lift down in the rain. I rolled quickly to the small (almost useless at this point) overhang at the bank and tried to use my remote control to raise the lift and close the doors back up, but my battery's low, and the range ain't great, so the snickering universe was making me roll juuuust far enough out where the rain would be coming down on me as I waited for the van to seal up.

I had just finished that, and had just turned toward the ATM machines, when the boom happened.

I saw the flash out of the corner of my eye, and with it came a sound like a cannon going off right next to me. It was so loud that, immediately, car alarms in the parking lot started going off. I'd never been that close to a transformer blowing before. It's quite a sight...and a sound.

And guess what that blown transformer meant? As I feared, I rolled up to the ATM machine, and the power was now out. So I'd left my nice, dry, warm home to come out into this mess because I HAD to use the ATM machine. And then when I got just a few feet from it, the block lost power, and I could therefore NOT use the ATM machine. Again...universe snickering.

Part of me thought about going into the bank, but I quickly put together that they didn't have any power INSIDE now, either, so there wouldn't be anything they could do in there for me. As in answer to my thought, someone ran up and tried to go in, but the bank manager opened the door and advised the woman that due to the power being out, they're not allowed to let anyone into the bank, for security reasons.

Fighting the wind and rain again, I waited the excrutiatingly long time for the lift to come back down so I could sit on it, getting drenched, as it just as slowly carried me back up. I got in the driver's seat and waited for a few minutes, trying to calculate how long it would be before power could be expected to return there, and watched as a number of people ran up to the ATM, did the confused, indignant huffing at its non-operation, and tried to get into the bank, only to be turned away by the manager. The answer to the "how long it would be" question was pretty obvious, of course...too long to bother waiting around. So I started the van up, drove across Carmichael (dodging fallen branches and flooded-out areas on the streets along the way) and headed for the Bel-Air where I often use the Wells ATM inside.

They, thankfully, still had power. But the rain got gotten even worse, and there was no protection to be had from it here. Just had to sit and take it for the lift ride, and put up with it blowing into my face as I waited for the doors to close back up. I hurried inside, fearing that another power outage (and another universal gag) might follow me, and handled my deposit. Whew. With one more umbrella-less lift ride, I'd turned into quite the sponge. The sponge headed home.

Back at my place, the wind seemed to have died down a little, though the rain hadn't, so I decided to risk the umbrella again, holding it tightly as I disembarked and headed for my apartment. Now I had to deal with the walkway flood again, but this time, as I'd hoped, the wind was on my side. I actually did a little better on distance by using the umbrella as a sail, the wind blowing from behind me and all, and it helped pull me along through the water. That did good to get me to the right turn to my front door, but the turn itself ended up requiring both feet, so my shoes got fully sogged.

With all my clothes drenched, and me paranoid about getting sick right now, I went ahead and got into a hot shower. After, while I was sad not to be able to use the hoodie that I all but live in right now, I switched over to my warm Kings pullover that I haven't worn in quite some time. And switched to an alternate pair of (dry) shoes to go with some dry socks. All this just to hit an ATM machine. No wonder I stay home as much as I do.

The storming seems to have died down quite a bit, but it's due to be with us the rest of the night and through tomorrow. My hope as that I won't have to deal with any power outage (and the boredom that comes with it) here at home, and I really don't want a repeat of big several-day blackout from a couple of years back (which led to several days of whiny blogging from me, where you'd have thought that I was the last survivor after a nuclear holocaust or something). But I've got my flashlights and candles all ready, just in case. For now, just happy to be warm and dry, and happy that I shouldn't need to worry about going anywhere else for a couple of days.

Sorry to see you go, summer. I'll miss you. But let's get together next year, shall we? Trust me, my feelings for you will have grown even stronger.