Ray McCallum Signing in El Dorado Hills, Ca 11.30.13

Drove all the way out to El Dorado Hills for the Ray McCallum signing today. It was pretty far out there, even farther than when I saw Ben McLemore in Folsom earlier this week. Ray McCallum is a rookie this year for the Kings, and hasn't gotten to play in the regular season yet. There are just too many players at his position on the team. He went to the D-League for some seasoning and played very well. I know he'd be fit into the NBA given the chance! Unlike the McLemore signing, there weren't as many people here tonight. That was ok with me! I got to get my autograph sooner and talk to him a little bit (and other Kings staff) as well.

Slamson was here in El Dorado Hills too! That was a surprise! Before the Kings Store signing, McCallum did a signing for kids who had a stocking. So it made sense that Slamson would be there. He was interacting with all the youngsters in line waiting for an autograph. By the way... El Dorado Hills is a really nice area! The town center was very nice, I wouldn't mind living here!

Here's a close-up of Ray signing for the kids. It was awesome as he was very cordial and friendly to all the folks who came out. A lot of young Kings fans got a very nice present this year from Ray!

Ray took the time to take photos with everyone. The kids seemed to love the opportunity to get a photo with a professional athlete. These kids will show their friends and make them jealous! Well... that's what I would have done if I were their age!

Here's me and Ray! So Ray took the time to take a photo with a big kid too! I actually took a few shots with Ray as the first few came out blurry. Since there wasn't as many people at this signing we had time to do that. I really want to thank Katie (Instagram: soybeanannie) for taking this photo for me. Katie runs the community events and signings and stuff. The ones I have gone to have been great! Props to her, she does a great job! Give her a raise!

Here's the photo I got signed. Ray has a really sweet looking signature... and he personalized it to me! Yay! I think Ray liked this photo I took as it was original and one that he has not seen before. Notice the guy with the black shirt facing backwards. He was at the signing too! I guess he runs security. Ray pointed him out to me and they had a chuckle over it. Ray was really cool to meet today. It's too bad more fans didn't come out to this signing. I think Ray has a bright future ahead of him... and a lot of Kings fans will regret not coming out tonight!

Kings v. Clippers 11.29.13

Today the first 10,000 fans who came to the arena got a free scarf!!! It's actually a very nice item, and I'd be happy to wear this around. The scarf is double sided - one side is black while the other is purple. If you want you can go all black, all purple, or mix and match colors when you wear it. My guess is that this scarf would sell for $15-25 at the Kings store. But... you can't get it there, it was a special edition just for this game. I really like it, thanks Kings!

Here's me sporting my new Kings scarf! I gotta say I look pretty good. Also notice I'm wearing long sleeves today. It's getting pretty chilly outside. Well, good thing I got that scarf! I'm always temped to bring my jacket into the arena with me, but I just feel it's too bulky of an item. The less stuff I can have at the game the better.

Today I got to go to the game with my friend Dave. He split the seat next to me with two other guys (another Dave and my friend Arnold). This was his first time out in our season ticket seats. He picked a good night to come out, as we got free swag today! Dave is from Cleveland... and has strong ties to the sports teams there. He seems to be getting on the Kings bandwagon though, which is awesome!

I saw Grant Napear and Pete D'alessandro chatting it up on the Kings bench before the game. For those of you not in the know, Grant is the voice of the Kings on television. He also has his own radio show on KHTK 1140. On occasion he even subs for Jim Rome when he's out. I love listening to Grant. He has a very strong personality, and can sometimes get into heated discussions with his callers. Pete D'alessandro is the Kings' general manager. So yea... a pretty big guy in the organization.

The pre-game show was filmed outside of my section again so I got to see both Scotts and Jenn Santich doing their thing! They had a doctor from Kaiser as a guess on the show today. You actually see him at the beginning of each Kings' game when they announce the nightly scratches. Before this, I was able to talk to Scott Moak a little. I was really surprised that he recognized me from the photos I put on Instagram!

Tonight we played the Clippers. It seems like we have played the Clippers way too many times already this season. The game when I got to sit in Kings row was against the Clippers, and the team played the Clippers a few days ago in LA. That game was very close, and the Kings lost by just one point. These two teams seem to have a little rivalry going. The Kings always seem to take the Clips to the bitter end and have a hard fought, close game. Tonight was no different!

Before the game started today Ben McLemore came out to greet the fans with a little 'happy Thanksgiving' message. I appreciated this gesture on his and the Kings part. It must be a little awkward for the players to come out and speak like this, but as a fan, it's great. They should do this more often! I'm pretty sure when McLemore got back to the team some of the guys gave him a hard time. Haha... it's all part of the fun!

Here's a nice moment I caught during warm-ups. We see DeMarcus and Hamady N'Diaye sharing a light moment on the court. You really don't get to see DeMarcus laugh and smile too much when the games going on or in interviews, but it's nice to know it's there. Sometimes we as fans pigeonhole players and think of them in only one-dimension, but basketball players are just regular people with a whole lotta athletic skill. It's easy to forget how young and in the spotlight these guys are... and how much pressure they are under to perform and be a certain way.

Tonight's halftime entertainment was definitely unique. I forget the name of the group that performed, but they were very good. They specialized in modern dance that featured some sweet dub step type moves. I was very surprised to see them out there, as this is not the usual entertainment provided to us fans.

Sleeptrain Arena was packed tonight! The fans definitely came out and were loud! I'm really glad the game was close all the way to the end. The fans had plenty to cheer about as there were many sweet dunks to be seen. The newest King, Derrick Williams (no. 13), put on quite a show. Many fans were unsure about him, but he showed that he will be a great player for Sacramento going forward.

The game was so close that the Kings took it to overtime. The team started off very well by scoring first and building a small lead. Unfortunately, the Clippers ended by getting ten unanswered points from then on and won the game. Though we lost, the game was still well contested. I'm not expecting the Kings to have a great record this year. I can definitely appreciate a game like tonight. Good effort and strong performances made this game 'ok' even though the Kings lost. The next game will be on Sunday versus the Golden State Warriors. That should be fun!

Ben McLemore Signing in Folsom, Ca 11.27.13

Today Kings rookie Ben McLemore was scheduled to do a signing at the Kings Store in Folsom, Ca. Folsom is pretty far out there for me, about a 50 minute drive, but hey... I'll make the trek! Thankfully, I'm off this week from work due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I would have made it out there regardless, but not having to go into work today definitely made things easier. I spent the morning printing out some of the photos I had of McLemore at Target. The 8x10 photos turned out pretty good!

In order to get an autograph you have to spend at least $35 at the Kings Store. They didn't have anything like that last year. I wonder if they will make this a 'thing' this year. I'd rather not have to spend $35 each time out for an autograph, but I'll still do it. It's definitely a smart thing to do on their part, as this will generate a lot of sales whenever an event like this happens! I ended up getting this retro Kings track jacket. I've wanted it since the beginning of the season, now was an opportune time to get it. I also had a 20% off coupon from my Kings app that I used. Score!

I was one of the very first people to get to the store. Me and about five or six other people were there two hours before there was even a line. As  you can see, the line got a lot longer. It was cool waiting though, I was able to chat with the people around me. I even found out that one of the people just behind me works across the street from where I do! Talk about coincidence! One of the things I was afraid of was being bored in line getting there so early. I'm thankful for the early birds today being so cool.

Here's McLemore as he comes into the store for the signing. He was very chill as he came in. I wonder how players feel about doing these signings. I bet it's a chore for some of them. I would love to do a signing if I were a player! I guess I just like the attention! McLemore was very low key and didn't say much when he signed my stuff. That's ok though, I know there were many people waiting, and I'm sure the Kings wanted the line to just move as fast as possible.

The one girl in front of me (black jacket) was super excited to see McLemore. She even gave him a note! I wonder what it said... ahaha... I'm too nosy! The blond woman in from is someone I've seen at many of the Kings signings. She seems very nice, and does a good job at making sure everything goes smoothly. Props to her for doing a great job!

So the signing took just a few seconds, but I was happy with what I got autographed. I chose the photo that I took when I was lucky enough to sit behind Mayor Kevin Johnson at the game versus the Clippers. I gave McLemore a gold sharpie to use, and I think it looks really nice. I'm very stoked to get this first autograph of Ben's. Hopefully there will be more to come!

Here's the photograph and signature up-close. Ben's autograph is pretty nice. I love the curves and the way it flares out at the end. Some athlete's autographs are horrible these days. Well, I'm glad to see that doesn't apply to McLemore's. The next Kings game will be on Friday after Thanksgiving. Can't wait for it!

Kings Basketball Card Collection as of 11.22.13

A new Youtube subscriber of mine asked to see my Kings card collection. Currently I'm just collecting autographed cards of the Kings. There are cards with embedded pieces of jersey and other wacky stuff, but my favorite cards are the ones that have the autographs on them. You might think that getting an autographed card is expensive, but it really isn't. You can find a lot of Kings autographs on eBay for under $10 (shipping included!). Just do a search. Type in a player you want to find and include 'auto' with your search. Autographed cards and items will show up. Here are some of my favorite cards in my Kings collection so far (that I didn't show in my other post on basketball cards):

How cool is this card!?!? It was a mash-up of the old Kings and (at the time) new. You've got a lot of things going on in this card. First of course are the two autographs, that's already sweet... but you also have the different Kings logos represented. I, personally, love the old school red, white and blue scheme. You don't know how much I would love to see the baby blue uni's back! Oh yea, notice this card is limited to just 33 in the world! This particular copy is #29.

I hope you know who Spud Webb is. If you don't... you're probably waaaay too young. I suggest looking up Youtube videos of this one. Spud Webb was mainly known for his time on the Atlanta Hawks. He was one of the shortest players in the NBA, but man could he dunk! It was amazing to see him flying through the air with his amazing vertical. He played in Sacramento for a little while. Topps released a card of him in Sacramento gear. It's rare to see this as most of his cards show him in Atlanta's red and gold.

Jimmer has not got a lot of playing time this year, but lately he has stepped up his game. I wonder if Coach Malone will give him more of a chance this to show what he's got this year. There are plenty of Sacramento fans that would love to see Jimmer play more (and an equal amount who wouldn't!). This particular card of Jimmer's is unique. It was a limited run only available through a special Panini promotion. No, not 'panini' the sandwich... but actually Panini the card manufacturer. This card is on extra thick cardboard stock, and I love that instead of a photo they used a black and white drawing. This card definitely stands out in my collection in terms of its looks.

The Kings got Carl Landry back after he went to the Warriors for a brief stint. He has not played a second on the court this year due to injury, and shouldn't be back until even after the All-Star break... which is a long time from now. The Kings would love to have Landry back in action as he is a very solid player. Some Kings players have been lacking passion and effort. Landry could have been one to provide some of that for the team. This autographed card of Landry's was from his first stint as a King. I really like the retro design of this card. It looks like a Donruss card from the early 80's.

I bet you didn't know they had WNBA cards too! Sacramento doesn't have a WNBA team anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't find cards with their players on them. When I found out the Kings were staying, I went searching for all things Sacramento-basketball related. Griffith was a big star for the Monarchs, and I'm very glad to have this card in my possession. Yolanda has a very nice looking autograph!

The Kings are currently on a road trip and won't be back until they fact the Clippers next Friday. I'm definitely missing basketball action right now, and can't wait for the next game. I'll be finding ways to keep Kings related content on this blog though! Keep checking in! If you want to learn more about basketball card collecting, please contact me. There are card shops in Sacramento worth checking out. You'd be surprised at what cards are like these days.

Kings v. Suns 11.19.13

My fellow season ticket holders couldn't make it tonight so I brought Calvin along with me to the game! I actually took Calvin to a pre-season game already this year... and actually it was against the Suns, so this will be the second time he's seen them. Phoenix has been a surprise team this year. They looked to be one of the worst teams in the league, but they have been anything but in this early season. (I realized that though I was wearing a King's jersey tonight, I actually had on a Phoenix Sun's color scheme... WHOOPS!)

Here's the tip! The Kings got off to a very good start, and built a sizable lead. Would they be able to keep up the scorching pace? Well... of course not! The Kings cooled considerably as the game went on. The Suns began to dominate and I was thinking this was going to be another one of 'those' games.

Jimmer got into the game tonight! Now that was a total surprise! This is only the second game Jimmer has been in this season. He definitely looked a bit rusty tonight, but you can't blame him really as he just hasn't had any court time. Jimmer's a polarizing player - some fans really want him to get more playing time while others don't want him to have any at all. As for me, I'd like to see Jimmer at least get a shot. He did well during the pre-season so I believe he has earned the right to play. Marcus Thornton was nowhere to be seen tonight. Did anyone else notice that?

Last year 'THUNDER SWORDS' rained from the skies for fans to distract opposing players as they shot free throws. Since the change of ownership I have not seen a single plastic thunder sword drop from the ceiling. Ushers have begun passing out these nice purple and white balloons though! Do these things really distract NBA players? I have my doubts, but it sure looks cool as they wave around!

During one of the Sacrament Kings Dancer performances confetti was released from the rafters. I think this is the first time I have personally seen the SKD add more to their dance routine other than what they did on the court. It was a very nice addition to the show, and I hope they add even more fun extras like this in the future.

Speaking of SKD, here's Mary brining up some free pizza to a few lucky fans. I don't think I'll ever get a free anything as I sit at the top of the lower bowl. Usually the dancers don't make it all the way up to where I am at. So my chances of getting little Kings balls and t-shirts are slim to none.

I liked this shot I got at the game tonight. One of the fans at the game was taking a lot of video on his phone. I was able to get a little peek at what he was filming on my camera. No, I'm not a stalker or a creeper!

This little fan got one of those $5 foam fingers that I got last game! He's wearing it as a hat... not a bad idea, really. I left my foam finger in the car, but I probably won't be brining it back to any games. It'll be a nice decoration for my office at home. I love adding more and more Kings swag to my personal space whenever I can.

Though the Kings looked like they had dug a hole too hard to come out of... they didn't! The Kings came back to win the game tonight! Yay! Win number three on the year! As the Kings came back with solid defensive and offensive efforts, the crowd responded. Here's Slamson encouraging everyone to get noisy, but really, the Kings fans were already doing that! The Kings really do have the best fans!!!

Kings v. Grizzlies 11.17.13

My wife is a pretty busy person. She works at Nugget Market and has her own bakery business on the side... so she doesn't have a lot of time to go to games with with. But today was different! She had a day off today, so she accompanied me and some friends to watch the Kings battle the Grizzlies on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Please check out my wife's website! She is a baker and makes the most amazing cookies and other baked goods. Here's a link: http://lovebakeddesserts.com/.

Here's a picture taken of my wife and my friend Richard sitting on the Kings' bench during warm-ups. We were fortunate enough to get a chance to watch the Kings for a few minutes down at court level. It was amazing to be so close to the team! Rookie Ben McLemore was practicing his jump shot just a few feet from us. Cap City Kingdom members can actually redeem points that they earn during the season to do things like this! It's a great enhancement to the entire season ticket holder experience.

See just how close we are!?!? McLemore got his third start tonight, but has struggled in each of them. I'm not sure if he's just getting too hyped up or what... but maybe coming off the bench might be a better role for him at this early stage of his career. We the fans so desperately want to see Ben do great things. I'm sure he does too... and maybe that's just a bit too much pressure on the young man.

The Kings got down early to the Grizzlies. As you can see by the stat board, the Kings at one point shot under 30% from the field. That's just not good. There was a stretch where nothing was going in for the Kings. Shots that looked like they might be good rimmed out... and even shots right under the basket were finding ways to stay out. It was frustrating. If even a few of those went in, we might have had ourselves a very different game.

Although it was support Demarcus Cousins in becoming an NBA All-Star tonight, Coach Malone benched him pretty early in the game for his poor defensive showing. Coach put in Hamady N'Diaye for some significant playing time, and he did well for himself... but he's not the franchise player that Big Cuz is. I hope that having Demarcus on the bench will motivate him to perform stronger. Tonight the bench played very well while the starters struggled mightily.

On the non-basketball side of the game, the Kings brought back the soda race. This was one of the most fun and silly time-out games that the Kings did last year. I'm glad that they brought it back. It's great fun watching the three soda containers running around trying to best each other. The race is a total free-for-all so they were trying to mess each other up as they ran around the circuit. Mountain Dew won today's race with a photo finish.

Quite a few of us went to the game tonight. It's always fun when we can get a bigger group to go. Most of the people who came sat upstairs in the upper bowl while my wife and I got to be in our season ticket seats. Though we couldn't really hang out too much during the game, we all went to Bella Bru cafe for dinner afterwards. It was a fun night for sure!

Kings v. Pistons 11.15.13

Tonight was #hereweroar night at the arena. A few months ago ESPN The Magazine said out of all the major sports franchises, the Sacramento Kings was the worst. That's a total load of CRAP! It may have been true when the former owners were here (and that's what they were going with apparently), but with Vivek at the helm, things are drastically different. These earplugs were given out to fans tonight because we wanted to show ESPN just how loud we could get here in Sacramento! Tonight ESPN was here to televise the game. GAME ON.

A Guinenss Book of World Records official was at the game tonight to record how loud the crowd could get. The Kings fans at the arena tonight broke the old record... and then broke their newly made record TWICE! I have to say, tonight was extremely loud. Really good on the fans to participate and show a huge amount of energy. Sacramento Kings fans are passionate and loyal. It's a fan base that is top notch.

One of my favorite new things that the Kings are doing is showing PA announcer Scott Moak as he introduces the starting line-up for the Kings. I love Scott's voice. It's powerful, clear, and full of energy. His introductions are pretty much legendary status, and his in-game announcements are just as good. I'm so glad we have Scott at the helm informing the fans what's up during the game.

Tonight I got to go with my friend Alex. It was totally last minute. He and I have only recently gotten to know each other... through playing basketball no less! Alex is a HUGE basketball fan, and it was awesome to bring him out to a game. He lives really close to the arena so hopefully we can hang out more at Sleeptrain. Check out his sweet White Chocolate jersey! Now that's old school! Well... 90's old school.

Besides all the hoopla about setting the noise record, there was actually a game played tonight. Unfortunately for the Kings, the Pistons didn't want the night to be a great one for the people of Sacramento. The Pistons played very well, and stifled the Kings' offense. The Kings were never out of the game, but the Pistons always seemed to be in control.

I really like this shot I got of the SKD. Just check out the looks on their faces. Perfect. As usual, the Sacramento Kings Dancers wowed the crowd with their performances. Today's capacity crowd was definitely cheering for them.

BMX bikers put on a show during halftime. This ramp was perilously close to the edge of the court. There were no accidents though. It was pretty impressive as the bikers did all sorts of jumps and flips. One of the guys was a local from Sacramento! 

This is Instagram user danger19. So why am I showing him? Well, we got to know each other on Instragram, and found out that we sit in the same section. We say hi to each other at the games. It's pretty cool to have made some new friends through the Kings already. Anyways, he got to participate in one of those silly tricycle races on the court. If he won everybody in our section would have gotten free tacos or something. He came in a valiant second tonight. Good job!

Too bad more of this didn't happen tonight. I felt like the Kings were too slow on offense, and all they did was give the ball to DeMarcus all night hoping that he'd make something happen. It was too predictable, and there just wasn't enough movement by the Kings. Let's hope Coach Malone addresses this and get it worked out soon.