ABA fever coming to town

The Sacramento Business Journal reports that the Fresno Heatwave of the American Basketball Association is relocating to Sacramento “for its basketball enthusiasts.”

The two leagues (NBA & ABA) are as different as McDonald’s and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, he added. But former NBA players are coaches, owners and players within the ABA. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman plays for the Hollywood Fame, which Sacramento goes up against Dec. 4 at home.

Interesting simile. Let’s see, both leagues use a ball, a hoop, with 5 players playing against 5 players trying to score more points than the other…

Tickets cost $10 to $12. The ABA markets itself to the urban and Hispanic market, Newman said. The league expects to have 75 teams next season.

Is “urban” now an ethnic category? What’s going on here? Do the Kings market themselves to the suburban market? Or the foothill market?

Sacramentans in the news

Why does it take me like a week to find out that the UCLA taser student was from Sacramento? Is it because I don’t pay any attention to anything going on outside Nor Cal anymore, even when it has a local angle? Yes, it’s definitely because of that. And because of my YouTube non-participation.

Young mister Tabatabainejad is probably not going to have the same kind of winter as the other Sacramentan I wanted to mention, Demarcus Nelson, who seems poised for a breakout year for some school called Duke. (I think it’s a junior college in the midwest or something.) This is the sort of thing that gets me excited to watch some college hoops.

David Stern, the world is watching

I found an interesting editorial addressed to David Stern, commissioner of the NBA, regarding his taking over of Sacramento’s arena negotiations:

Nov. 19 – Dear David Stern: Thanks for deciding to be a lead negotiator for the National Basketball Association in efforts to build a new arena in Sacramento. The last arena proposal — Measures Q and R on the November ballot — was so strange that not even the Sacramento Kings ended up supporting it. Even you wondered why anyone would vote Yes. You sensed the pickle Sacramento is in. A respected outside influence sure would be helpful, maybe even necessary, to figure out a solution.

It’s an interesting, and might I say, refreshing take on the future of Sacramento’s arena issue.  Whether David Stern was brought in to try to get a deal done, or if he’s simply coming to town to eventually say that a deal can’t be done, time will tell.  However, the final thought of the article is what I found most compelling:

…The Sacramento arena problem is a symptom of a broader problem with the NBA. Medium-sized markets like ours need huge government subsidies to deal with financial inequities within the league. The league’s business model is screwed up more than Sacramento’s priorities are.

This community won’t and can’t paper over the NBA’s problem with gobs of new taxes. It can work with just about anyone for a worthy civic goal. Keep that in mind. And welcome to town.

Sacramento’s local issue might have great implications for professional basketball in the United States. Indeed, whether the Kings stay in this town is not just a measure of Sacramento, but also a measure of the NBA.

City settles with Joe Sun

This made the news last week but it looks like the City has finally agreed on a price with Joe Sun and now can proceed with developing the 700 block of K Street. For the building and the business itself the City will be shelling out almost $6 million. This made for steamy debate here when it first made headlines. The settling price ended up somewhere between what the City was originally offering and what Joe Sun was asking, closer to the City’s original offer. I have yet to be enlightened on why this is how redevelopment has to be done; I have no idea why Joe Sun couldn’t have stayed right there on that block. Wouldn’t a few hundred grand for some new signage and rehabbing on the building have been money well spent? If the city allows developers to buy up blocks won’t we just end up with a ton of big modern looking buildings suited only to being shared by big retailers like Z Gallerie? Also how exactly is this just not going to happen again in 30 years?

‘Tis the season

It just wouldn’t be the holidays without a heaping helping of disheartening crime in Sacramento. While PS3 mayhem is so last week, never fear as we’ve had our first Salvation Army robbery.

Sacramento police are still looking for a group of teens who robbed a Salvation Army bell ringer at knife point during the noon hour Friday outside a grocery store.

That’s noon, people, as in post meridiem. I think that is what is really shocking about crime these days. There really is no safe time to be out and about…however, Continue reading “‘Tis the season”

Views On Development, Sacramento Style

-This morning, my Peet’s coffee jerk said something shocking. There is a new building going up on the corner of 19th and S in the Safeway marketplace across the parking lot from Peet’s, and in reference to it she said, “How funny would it be if a Starbucks went up there.” Then she laughed maniacally. I love Peet’s employees for their coffee cockiness. They basically dare SBUX to move into their neighborhoods so that they can demolish them.

-A prominent article in the bee discusses development for West Sacramento. From the tone of the article, it sounds like most folks are looking forward to the change and the facelift planned for Capitol Ave. However, one resident complained that development brings traffic. “West Sacramento used to be sort of country, and now it’s getting like the rest of the county,” he says. Good point, sir. Things aren’t what they used to be since the Indians left.
Continue reading “Views On Development, Sacramento Style”

Mulvaney’s Building and Loan

Before dining at Mulvaney’s B&L on Wednesday night, I knew the following things: 1) “Mulvaney’s Building & Loan” is a charming name dreamt up by owner Patrick Mulvaney inspired by the name of Jimmy Stewart’s little bank in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
2) Mulvaney adheres to the “what’s good today” style of chefery using local, in season ingredients and changing the menu on an almost daily basis.
3) Mulvaney’s was opened in a beautiful old firehouse on 19th St. former home of many a failed gastronomic enterprise.
4) Haggar slacks are not “fashion forward.”

Continue reading “Mulvaney’s Building and Loan”

Lost in the zoo

Zoo on-site veterinary hospitalI haven’t seen the Zoo’s new veterinary hospital yet, but my wife and daughters saw it yesterday, the day after its grand opening. As you can see from the thumbnail image (all I could find), it is a rustic building in the middle of a jungle-like setting. Mrs Cool caught a glimpse inside the open door, though, and spied a fully stocked operating room with an empty operating table, which put her immediately in mind of a certain TV show about people who are Lost on an island. That tall shaggy-haired orangutan better watch out, because Pickett has got that gleam in his eye…