Category: Sports

Football in Sacramento?

Denny Green of the California Redwoods
It's worth watching again.

For those that are interested in showing lukewarm excitement for news stories like these, the United Football League is going to make a “special announcement” on Wednesday, March 3rd at 2:30 p.m. live on the Interwebs.

Of course, we all know that the announcement is that the San Francisco football Redwoods will be moving to Sacramento. I know, I know. Crazy, huh?

Coached by Dennis Green (of “…they are who we thought they were! And we let ’em off the hook!” fame) and owned by Paul Pelosi (yes, that name does sound familiar) the Redwoods are one of four teams mixing it up in the semi-almost-better-than-arena-football league entering its second season.

“To fulfill the needs of football fans in major markets currently under-served by professional football by providing a high quality traditional football league comprised of world class professional football players. The UFL will serve its communities with pride, dedication and passion, and uphold a leadership role in the development of football worldwide. The UFL will provide every fan with an affordable, accessible, exciting and entertaining game experience.”

Hey, you never know, right? Will you go?

Reactions to the Kevin Martin trade

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“Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings, Michael Jordan, Jordan Brand” by ballerblogger

It looks like Kevin Martin will be traded to Houston today for two Rockets: Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey. Both are 6-8 “power forwards” and the Kings will also be giving up 3 other players. It seems like Tracy McGrady will probably end up with the Knicks, although there is an outside chance he’ll be coming here. I suppose if T-Mac ends up here it might be with another player from New York, but even Knicks fans don’t want Knicks on their team.

At some point this morning I am hoping I’ll wake up and this will all have been a terrible, terrible dream. As usual I have no idea what I’m talking about, and this Carl Landry fellow seems like he could end up being a great player, although he is the same age as Martin and Martin is already a star. But things must be pretty bad that the Kings couldn’t give K-Mart/#RekeROY even 30 games together. What do you all think (besides you, TS)?

UPDATE: McGrady is definitely heading to New York, Kenny Thomas is staying put, and we get Larry Hughes. Over at Fanhouse, ex-Ragger Tom Ziller analyzes the deal. I am trying to see the silver lining here and I guess Landry and some expiring contracts are that silver lining.

Free Kings Tickets for Your Birthday!

Happy birthday, Aquarians! The Sacramento Kings want to help you celebrate with FREE tickets. According to their website, anyone with a January birthday “can select an upper bowl seat ($25.50 value) or a lower bowl seat ($79.50 value), your choice.”

Being the water girl that I am, I attempted to obtain my free ticket online. One for me, plus one for my January birthday pal. In fact, I probably have a dozen friends with January birthdays. Sadly, the online system won’t allow you to select more than one free ticket at a time. So, you’ll have to link up via cell to ensure you’re all booking seats in the same row. An added burden, but hey, they’re FREE.

Hurry! Tickets are only available for two more games: January 26 against the Warriors and January 30 against the Bobcats.

I want to ride my bicycle, part deux

The Sacramento Business Journal reports that Sacramento ranks fourth in the U.S. and first in California for bicycle commuting among the 70 largest cities.

“I think the city has been good about making conditions better for cyclists,” he said, noting a number of changes the city made last year in midtown.

Several streets, including P, Q, 19th and 21st, went from three lanes to two with bike lanes. The city also converted a number of parking meters to bike racks.

Remind me where midtown is again?

At any rate, we are very fortunate to have the American River Parkway (great article here, btw) and other trails that help make bicycling easier and safer in Sacramento. I do think that employers can make it easier to commute by bicycle (many have already, I know) by providing secure bike lockers and storage areas for equipment. A lot of bicycle commuting has to do with the type of job you have, too.

What have your experiences been with bicycle commuting? When HeyMeg wrote about this topic in 2007, safety was a big concern. Still a major issue? Access to trails from outlying cities?

Two former Marauders named to all-decade Rugby team

Kirk Khasigian and Kort Schubert, late ’90s graduates of Jesuit High School (my alma mater), have been named to Rugby Magazine’s team of the decade for the ’00s. Khasigian is labeled “far and away the best hooker of the decade.” So the one fact most of us now know about rugby is that it has a position called hooker.

All kidding aside, Khasigian and Schubert were early members of a Jesuit Rugby program which won national championships in 2003 and 2004. I’m sure they had more than adequate hookers on those squads. Congratulations dudes!

Advisory committee for Entertainment & Sports Complex issue

Councilman Steve Cohn announces today via e-mail:

The Sacramento FIRST Task Force is reviewing seven new proposals for an Entertainment & Sports Complex. The Task Force is also looking at the current Cal Expo proposal and the option of renovating Arco Arena.

The Task Force is forming an Advisory Committee of interested citizens that will supplement the task force. If you are interested in volunteering to serve on this advisory committee, please let me know by sending an email message to my District Director, Sue Brown, at sbrown@cityofsacramento.org by Friday, January 8, 2010. Our understanding is that the commitment of time is approximately one meeting per month for about 3 months.

I don’t think anyone would disagree that this city needs the Sac Rag readership’s input in this project…

Kings game to be nationally televised

A Kings-sized mixed message
A Kings-sized mixed message

Tonight’s Kings game versus the Washington Wizards will be nationally televised on ESPN starting at 7:30 p.m.

Much has been made about the dollar beer promotion, but times are tough and folks gotta do what folks gotta do, right?

“Our fans’ response to our dollar beverage promotion including beer, water and soda has been phenomenal,” said Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof. “Sacramento and ARCO Arena will look awesome on national TV tomorrow night.”

Hmm, dollar beer night or dollar beverage night? Come on, guys, own it.

NOTE: Fans will be able to purchase 12-ounce domestic draft brews for $1 through halftime and can purchase two at a time. No word on whether this applies to water and soda, too.

How I Met Your Swisher

nick swisher
by Keith Allison, cc

Former beloved River Cat and current evil Yankee Nick Swisher has been cast as himself in the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” entertainment blog “The Wrap” reports.

When Swisher drops by MacLaren’s bar, the women all swoon– putting a major crimp in bachelor Barney’s game.

It’s about time an episode centered on how Barney is a ladies’ man. Swisher’s episode airs February 1, 2010.

UPDATE: Rocklin beats Del Oro, wins bowl game berth

Congratulations to the Rocklin Thunder, who with their 21-14 defeat of Del Oro in the rain on Friday night secured a berth in the CIF D-II state championship bowl game on Saturday in Carson, where they’ll play Servite of Anaheim. Unfortunately they apparently lost their star quarterback to an injury at the game, so they’ll hand the ball to a plucky underclassman QB who’ll try to make his small town proud, while trying to keep the hard-livin’ fullback from going off the deep end and also taking care of his gramma. They should make a so-so movie and then a superlative primetime TV show out of this story.

In reality, though, it looks like the replacement QB was actually their starting QB at the beginning of last season, who they lost to an early season injury last year.

Continue reading “UPDATE: Rocklin beats Del Oro, wins bowl game berth”