Category: Sports

Art Savage Memorial Saturday at Raley Field

River Cats owner Art Savage, who passed away last week at age 58, will be remembered Saturday in a public memorial at Raley Field. From the River Cats:

The entire River Cats family is shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of Art Savage. Art was an extraordinary person whose dedication to his community was only surpassed by his commitment to his own family. All those who were lucky enough to have had their lives touched by Art were far better because of it. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Savage family during this incredibly difficult time.

The Savage family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, those who wish to show their support and honor Art’s memory can do so in the form of a donation to the River Cats Foundation. The River Cats Foundation was created to serve and benefit children and families in need in our community. Donations should be made to:

River Cats Foundation, Inc.
Attn: Dan Vistica, Chairman
400 Ballpark Drive
West Sacramento, CA 95691

Art Savage Memorial Service
Saturday, November 28 – Service begins at 1:00 p.m. (ballpark opens at 12:00 p.m.)
Raley Field
400 Ballpark Drive
West Sacramento, CA 95691

Art Savage, RIP

Art Savage, the owner of our beloved River Cats, died today at age 58. His death was sudden and shocking; he had recently beat lung cancer. A family member of mine who had a personal and professional relationship with Mr. Savage writes:

Would you please let the Sac Rag readership know that their community has lost a truly good and decent man.

Most will know that he was a hugely successful in professional sports and that he brought that success to Sacramento. Those who knew him know that he could have been successful at anything and that he shared his success with those who worked with him. Those who knew him the best know that none of his success, though, was anything at all compared to his love for his wife and family and his loyalty to his friends.

What a legacy he has built in the River Cats. He will be sorely missed and my heart goes out to his family. RIP

The Monarchs are dead, long live the Monarchs

Sad news for women’s pro sports today as Maloof Sports & Entertainment folds the Sacramento Monarchs:

“Our focus is to turn the Kings around, and to do that, we have to put all our efforts and good salespeople on the Kings.”

The recently-turned-around, .500-for-the-first-time-since-forever Kings could not be reached for comment.

Maybe the Monarchs will end up in S.F.?

Hornets soccer kicking ass!

Most Sac State sports seem to slip under the radar, especially if it is not football. This year, the Hornets men’s soccer team is having their best season in history. They finished the regular season undefeated in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference play. For the second time in team history, they are the #1 seed in the upcoming MPSF tournament which begins in Denver today with the quarterfinal matches. The Hornets have a first round bye, which automatically advances them to the semifinal round. Two wins will result in an automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament, which will be a first for the team.

Brackets for the Men’s College Cup will be announced on Monday, let’s hope that the Hornets get an invitation!

Kings game to promote Glee

Whether you enjoy the popular Fox show “Glee” or not, this special package for November 17th’s game against the Bulls is hard to beat.

The “Glee” ticket package includes:
1) A ticket to the Kings vs. Bulls game
2) Entry to the exclusive pregame Q&A session with Morrison
3) A Glee Locker Mirror
4) A Kings Value Meal (arena dog, regular soda and regular popcorn)

The value meal alone has to be pushing $15 these days, right?

As part of the Kings tribute to “Glee,” fans will be treated to live musical acts and “Glee” video segments throughout the game, along with a special live Kings halftime musical in the spirit of the show.

This has awkward mashup written all over it.

(via @sacramentokings)

Around the Web today

Our old pal Tom Ziller has his official Kings 2009-2010 preview up at Sactown Royalty. Though since we’ve already played a game I guess that makes it just his view now. “Last Year’s Record: No Comment.” Heh.

And a little blog called the New York Times has “36 Hours in Sacramento.” The discuss Ella, Tower Cafe, Old Sac, the CA budget crisis, and Faces. They also slyly call our “more trees per capita” status into question. It’s not like we say “prettiest trees in the world,” right? It’s a statistical fact that should be easy to confirm. Big city jerks.

Adventure Cyclist Shares Globe Travel Tales Tonight

Weir's new book: Travels with Willie
Weir's new book: Travels with Willie

Ever picture yourself traveling across the globe?—by bicycle? Sacramento native Willie Weir has done it, and done it cheaply. Across the United States, Canada, and even through far-flung places like South Africa and Laos, Willie has put his pedal to the road. He shares his travel tales tonight at REI in Sacramento at 7:00pm.

Weir is a cycling columnist for Adventure Cyclist magazine and a public radio cycling commentator. He’s experienced it all, and done so on a tight budget. He’ll go so far as to call himself “cheap.” In fact, one five-month journey cost him only $400. Find out how he does it tonight for a cheap $5, which benefits the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates.

If you can’t make the event, his adventures can also be found in his new book Travels with Willie: Adventure Cyclist.

Bold new arena finance plan: Charge people for seats

Arco Arena
Creative Commons License photo credit: Bo Knows California

The city’s groundbreaking new idea for financing a replacement for Arco Arena is to charge fans for their attendance, as this Sac Bee article explains. I’m kidding, though I’m not quite sure how $40,000 over 40 years, paid as $1000 per year ($24 per game) is different than a $24 season ticket (and $24 at the current Arco location basically gets you a parking space). If it had to be paid upfront I could understand.

Also, I’m not sure why anybody would pay for a seat at an arena over 40 or 50 years; after all, Arco has been marked for replacement for almost a decade. There must be something to this seat mortgage idea that I just don’t understand. It would be the first time I have ever, ever blogged about something without complete understanding of the issue, so you know I’m being truthful. 🙂

State Parks cutbacks announced

In the face of a public outcry over the possible closing of many of California’s 278 State Parks, the Governor has announced his alternative plan for funding our State Park system. As announced last month, all parks will remain open, but more than $14 million will be cut from the budget through various means. Services to many parks will be scaled back, including hours of operation, maintenance, staff, and educational opportunities.

After the jump, I will provide a summary of all cuts to Sacramento area parks. If you are planning on visiting any State Park, make sure you research the location to insure that your visit is not adversely affected. And, please, remember that we all own these parks. With reduced services, it is more imperative than ever that we all be good scouts and clean up our own messes, pack out what we bring in and leave no trace of our visit behind.
Continue reading “State Parks cutbacks announced”

Waxing nostalgic

In the early days of this here web log, I wrote about former Grant High football star Onterrio Smith’s infamous run-in with the “Whizzinator” which is used to beat drug tests.

Well, it’s more than four years later and I came across this article on news10.net earlier today and I had to share (yes, I know Fox40 covered it before it happened, and yet I still press on, crazy, huh?)…

Former NFL player and Grant High School star Onterrio Smith was arrested Wednesday night in Truckee on an outstanding drug possession warrant, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department.

Just when you think you’re out, they PULL you back in.

Truckee?