Author: CoolDMZ

"X-ray vision to see in between / Where's my kimono and my time machine?"

Perspective on the Kings coaching situation

As RonTopOfIt pointed out in a great comment, the Kings won a scrappy victory against Milkwaukee last night under interim head coach Keith Smart. But clearly fans’ and players’ relief after one victory is premature; shouldn’t the new coach get at least seven games before we decide that we made the right call?

On the flipside, it wasn’t just seven games, it was 2+ seasons of misery under Westphal. I’m just asking for a little perspective: clearly it’s not just the coach’s fault. After all, as Paul Wright (@HKronin) said after @JimCrandell wondered whether there would be a coaching change, the coach doesn’t tell his players to turn the ball over, not get back on defense, to ignore the extra pass. Like RTOI said, how much actual coaching should a group of grown men actually need? Maybe some of these players are just not fundamentally sound at this point in their careers. Continue reading “Perspective on the Kings coaching situation”

Kings fans need to lighten up! UPDATE: Westphal fired


From Kings.com

UPDATED 1:22 PM While I was typing my original post, the Kings were busy firing Westphal. I will still never understand how fast some teams move when there are problems. I’d love to do a thorough examination of situations where sports organizations left pieces in place that weren’t very successful and allowed them to come to fruition vs. markets that throw tantrums when things don’t go their way for a single calendar week. Anyway, my original post follows.

So yeah, at this point the Kings are 2-5 and at the bottom of the Western Division. There are reports of DeMarcus Cousins impetulantly asking to be traded, a rumor that both Cousins and the Kings appear to deny, though that hasn’t kept it from becoming a thing that other teams are talking about. The consensus appears to be that Westphal is to blame for the recent woes, and should be run out of town on a rail.

I’d like to see the Kings win too. I guess it’s the nature of sports to demand heads roll one week into a season that starts poorly, but it seems a bit premature to me. Continue reading “Kings fans need to lighten up! UPDATE: Westphal fired”

Sac Press contest awards local writers

writing in spiral notebook
Creative Commons License photo credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom

The Sacramento Press recently announced its third annual Journalism Open, a unique contest for local amateur journalists:

Holding true to its strong belief in community engagement, The Sacramento Press accepts writers of all skill levels to enter the Journalism Open. This pro-am approach allows the community to report on a wide range of issues that are most important to and affect local neighborhoods. Stories can range from insight on an upcoming City Council election to a favorite landmark in the Sacramento region. The Journalism Open encourages participants to report on stories that they are passionate about – reiterating that no story is too small.

2011 grand prize winner Isaac Gonzalez parlayed his success into the launch of ranSACkedmedia.com. Continue reading “Sac Press contest awards local writers”

Top articles for 2011

Fireworks 3
Creative Commons License photo credit: C.M. Keiner

Happy 2012 everyone! For your enjoyment here are the top posts on this site that were published in 2011. Of course, Julie Durda, How to pronounce Goethe and The Shins making headlines continue to be curiously popular as well.

  1. Band Tesla ft. Nick Toma
  2. Sugar Plum Vegan- No More Excuses
  3. New Midtown Goodwill Opens with Boutique Flare
  4. Hitt leaves CBS 13 (published December 2010)
  5. 60 Minutes airs story of local climber
  6. Kings rally Tuesday, Don G has details
  7. The Brunch That Nightmares are Made of, or How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Sunday
  8. Quick Bites: Good Eats shutting down, THIR13EN meets expectations, Doughbot news
  9. Brew It Up! is shutting down
  10. “Rise Guys” leaving for SF with Don G move, new show for Carmichael Dave

Holiday fun in the Capitol District

My family and I took in The Nutcracker at the Community Center Theater Saturday afternoon. Ron Cunningham’s staging was enjoyable as always, and even the littlest ones in our party enjoyed the heck out of it. I love the whole vibe of that building, and as it turns out I dig the vibe of the Capitol District in general.

After the performance we checked out Buckhorn Grill for the first time. Though they are known for their tri-tip I opted for a full rack of ribs. The place smells terrific, as you’d imagine for a place grilling tri-tips non stop, and the fare is really good. The layout is a little weird with the lobby filling up when it gets a rush but other than that, this is a great casual place. Continue reading “Holiday fun in the Capitol District”

Parking lease proposal stinks?

Sheedy, literally asking the speaker to define "monetize"

The more I think about the current proposal to lease the City’s parking operations to fund a big upfront payment on the arena, the worse the idea sounds. I guess you could say I’m approaching Heckasac levels of frustration with the idea.

Last week Cosmo Garvin highlighted the numbers in the initial report on the parking proposal, and it’s pretty obvious that the City would be giving away half a billion dollars of future parking revenue for the prospect of getting half that up front. As Garvin points out, the high-end figure of $245 million is probably not realistic. And even that number means giving up $205 million–5 times the City’s budget deficit. Councilwoman Sheedy said as much during the Tuesday night meeting, citing Chicago, “The Big Windy Apple” as they call it, as a large city that sold some of its parking interests. Continue reading “Parking lease proposal stinks?”

Adrienne welcomes latest KCRA weather person, mentions what we’re all thinking

KCRA’s Adrienne Bankert welcomes the newest member of the weather team, Tamera Berg. Toward the end of the clip she mentions what everyone is thinking…

Let’s just hope Tamera fares better in the online search creepos department.

As RonTopOfIt put it, you gotta love being the person who gets a start on Sacramento weather forecasting in early December… “Morning fog, highs in the 50s” can get you through your first month, at least!

December MOBS: Replacements doc, Christmas films

The Replacements.
Results not typical.

The Movies On a Big Screen schedule for December was announced, and if you’re a fan of hearing about The Replacements without actually hearing the Replacements, or of Christmas films both great and terrible, this is your month.

First up is “Color Me Obsessed,” the new documentary about “the only band that mattered,” seminal 1980s rockers The Replacements:

Continue reading “December MOBS: Replacements doc, Christmas films”

Stereogum features the 916


Sister Crayon

Music blog Stereogum posted a nice little feature on Sactown late Friday, as a part of their “Area Codes” feature highlighting music happenings in the outer outer boroughs.

[O]nce you take into account all the distinct, separable types of music, from Raleigh Moncrief’s moving style mishmash to Chelsea Wolfe’s dark, spare rock incantations, it’s not so easy to put Sac-town in a box like that.

The piece features up and coming hardcore band Trash Talk, as well as Raleigh Montcrief and Sister Crayon lead singer Terra Lopez; the latter two give some choice quotes about the idiosyncrasies of life in Sactown. There is a nice rundown of venues, bands and bars in the 916 for interested out-of-towners. And no mention of Tesla!

Mythbusters coming to town!

They are not bringing their friends.

Sacramento is on the docket for the recently announced Mythbusters tour! Hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will be at the Community Center on January 9th for the “Behind the Myths” tour.

The all-new, live stage show … promises to be an unexpected evening of on-stage experiments, audience participation, rocking video and behind-the-scenes stories. For the first time ever, fans will join Jamie and Adam on stage and assist in their mind-twisting and not always orthodox approach to science.

Super fun!

MythBusters: Behind the Myths Tour
January 9, 2012
Community Center Theater
1301 L St
Tickets available online, starting at only $15!