Kings v. Knicks 3.26.14

I realized that I didn't have too many photos of me outside the arena so I thought I'd take one today. Sleep Train Arena looks like a giant office building. It's definitely not a modern wonder... but hopefully the new downtown arena will be. One thing that is cool about Sleep Train, though, is that the team store looks like a shoebox. Funny stuff.

Jason Thompson took some time during the early warm-ups to sign a few items for fans in attendance. That's pretty awesome. I used to carry a few Sharpies around the game just in case, but I haven't done so lately - maybe it'd be a good time to start that practice again.

Wow! Jeremy Lin came to take some photos too! Well, I guess that's not really Jeremy Lin, but this Knicks fan was getting in some camera phone action during the warm-ups.

A few Kings were on the court getting some extra practice in. Rudy Gay was practicing his outside shot.

Derrick Williams and Travis Outlaw were also out there on the court. I like this photo I got of D-Will. Maybe I should get this one printed out and signed one of these days.

Slamson was up to his usual tricks early on. He launched a few reverse half-court shots today. Did he make any of them? Well... I'm not going to say!

Scott Fresh was in the concourse area getting some interviews done. There are always things going on around the arena outside the bowl area. Some of them are highlighted on Game Night Live.

The Knicks came to town today and were ready to take on the Kings. The Kings beat them in New York the last time they met, and the Lakers trounced them the night before. I think the Knicks were plenty motivated for this game.

Here's the tip-off. Demarcus, McCallum, Evans, McLemore, and Gay were our starts tonight. Isaiah Thomas sat this game out with an injury.

Ray Mac got the start and some of the fans came prepared! I was a little surprised to see this gentleman with a McCallum jersey on... but Sacramento fans are definitely on top of things! He knew.

Royce White got extended playing time on the court during the first half. I'm sure it was difficult to get acclimated to the NBA environment. I'd definitely be nervous in my first few games. I wonder if the Kings will keep him on for a longer time or not.

The Kings fell far behind in the third quarter, but they rallied back. The fans totally got behind the team and Scott Fresh got us on our feet.

The Kings made it close, but they couldn't pull ahead in the end. The Knicks just had too many 3-pointers on the night. Sacramento definitely had its opportunities, but we couldn't cash in. It was a good learning game for White and McCallum though. And Cuz... well, he had a monster game.

Kings v. Bucks 3.24.14

Today's game was an early 3PM start so we got into the arena while it was still very bright outside. Leaving the arena was bright as well. I enjoy the 3PM Sunday games as Sunday afternoon is a great time to watch some NBA basketball. After the game there is still a lot of time to relax before getting back to the work week.

I had very hard time finding someone to go to this game with me. My fellow season ticket holders couldn't make it. I turned to Instagram to find someone to take the ticket, but at the very last minute I found my friend Ray. He's a long-time King fan that was visiting home on break from UCLA. It was my pleasure to be able to take him to this game!

The Kings really took it to the Bucks early in this game. It seemed like they could do no wrong! These types of games are few and far between for the Kings, so it was good to just soak this all in. DeMarcus was amazing tonight as he made jump shot after jump shot in the first half.

I just had to get a photo of the scoreboard after just the first quarter of play. The Kings almost put up 40 points in twelve minutes. Incredible. What's more amazing is that the Bucks only had 16 points at the end of the first. It was total domination by Sacramento.

The SKD were looking great tonight as they did their two performances. I really like this shot of them as they blow kisses to the crowd at the end their first performance.

It was really exciting to find out that the dancers would be signing a special poster for fans at halftime of the game. Ray and I were sure to get lined up early. All but a couple of the dancers were there to fill the poster with signatures.

This is a very nice poster, and I especially like mine as they personalized it at the top with my 'blacksheep' nickname. This was a good sized poster, I'm very happy with i!

With the game well in hand, Coach Malone took out Cousins and Thomas. They had the lead up to 40 at one point, but the Bucks got that whittled down quite a bit by the time the final whistle sounded.

Overall it was an awesome afternoon at the arena. It's great to see the Kings win in convincing fashion. Some of the starters stayed in a bit longer than they probably should have, but everything turned out fine at the end. Free tacos for all in attendance!

Kings v. Spurs 3.21.14

Today was a crazy game for me a lot was going on! First, I was able to wrangle up 89 people from my church to come to this game. The Kings were having their annual Faith and Family night, so it just felt natural to invite people from my church to come to this game - I just didn't think there would be that big of a response! Above are some of the people who came early to the game and got a photo next to the Kings shield.

After I met up with the friends from above I was quickly called to head down to the court to meet with Scott Fresh. I used my Cap City Kingdom points for a Game Night Live Experience... and tonight was the night! It was awesome to hang out with all the Kings staff at court level - a bit surreal!

It's always great to interact with Scott Moak. I don't usually get to see him too often at the games as he's busy doing his thing at the scorer's table, but he's always fun when I get a chance to talk to him. 

Last game Slamson got a haircut, but today his hair is miraculously back! It looks like he used that giant bottle of 'Roar-gain' to get it back. I'm sure a lot of people would like to know where they can pick up some of that magic.

The first interview on Game Night Live was with beloved Kings great Vlade Divac. I was right there in front as they were talking with him during the pregame about Unicef and his involvement with them.

Vlade is so popular here in Sacramento! The fans were up on their feet and trying to get photos with him all night long. He did great here in his tenure as a King and the fans are showing their appreciation for him!

Everyone was trying to get a little time with Vlade. I know that even Kings staff had a hard time tracking him down for a short interview. It looks like Andrew with Social Media finally got a chance to talk with the big fella.

During the second quarter of the Kings game Vlade came out to the Unicef booth in the concourse area. As you can see, it was pandemonium! Some lucky fans got to shake Vlade's hand, and he also took time to sign some autographs for a few too!

Oh, that's right... there was an actual NBA game going on tonight too. The San Antonio Spurs were in the house. Isaiah struggled shooting because of a hurt wrist. At one point in the game he took off his headband in frustration (either with himself or with some calls he didn't like).

The Spurs are such a good team. I honestly didn't think the Kings would win this game, but at least they kept it relatively close for a good portion of it. The Spurs were able to pull away in the end though.

When the game was already pretty much decided Ray McCallum got some more playing time as well as Royce White! This was White's first NBA game ever. The Kings signed him to a 10-day contract. He didn't score, but I'm sure it was exciting to at least get on the court for a little while.

My wife doesn't get a chance to come out to too many of these games, but here she is wearing the hat I got her! She got to sit next to our friend Laura, who is from Sacramento.

Now this was a surprise! My former boss Gayelynn came out to this game with a bunch of students of the school she is a principal at. She is an amazing principal, and it looks like she is continuing to touch the lives of all her students! Way to go!

Being as it was Faith and Family night, fans were treated to a free concert after the game. The band Love and Theft were in the house. During one of the time outs Jenn Santich gave out some free CDs to the fans.

Love and Theft went acoustic for this concert. I was really impressed by them - they sounded great! It's awesome that the Kings have nights like these.

Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore Signing 3.20.14

My friend prince decided last minute to come out with me on this autograph hunting adventure! We were going to try to see two Kings players at two different locations with signings beginning just 30 minutes apart! Could we do it? Answer: YES.

Wow, where have all these Shop KP stores been all my life? Haha, this is the second one I've been to in two days. I would've never known about them had it not been for these Sacramento Kings autograph opportunities.

The people who came to the autograph sessions got some free mini basketballs. I think these are similar to the ones that the Kings give out during time-outs and stoppages in play. Pretty cool that fans can score one here!

Rudy Gay was awesome. He's one of the most courteous and nice NBA players I have ever met - and this is the second time I've had an interaction with him. I heard his interview with Grant Napear yesterday, and he recalled a story in which a professional player snubbed him as a fan when he was a kid. He vowed never to do that if he were given an opportunity to be a pro basketball player. He's definitely living out his decision.

Yesterday, fans weren't allowed to take posed photos with DeMarcus. I think they were assuming the wait in line would be too great. But today they realized that it would not be the case. Because of the early start time of this event, not as many fans were able to show up. It was great for those who were able to, but I feel bad for those fans who couldn't come due to conflicting schedules.

Slamson didn't make an appearance to this signing, but Lynsi and Andrea were able to come out! It's always great to have the SKD come out to these types of events.

After we got our Rudy Gay autographs we drove out to the Chick-Fil-A at Arden Way. When we got there we found a line, but it wasn't too long. In fact, Ben was not there yet as he was stuck in Traffic. Ben posted this signing on his Instagram account - good thing I follow him on there, otherwise I wouldn't have know about this! It pays to follow your favorite athletes on these social media platforms!

Ben was great today! He took the time to take a second to talk with the fans and also pose for some photos. As a fan, I really appreciate him doing this. The last time I met Ben, it was a rushed experience - there were 200+ people waiting to get his signature! This was much more intimate and relaxed.

Here's my posed photo with Ben. I was super glad to get this as it means so much more to get a photo with a player than to just get their autograph. You can get autographs of NBA players so easily and cheaply now on basketball cards through eBay. This photo is personal. Love it!

Here's Prince with the poster he got signed. Yes, Ben gave these posters out to the fans who came today. So nice! It's an awesome poster, the same one they gave out at the game earlier this week. Check out the big pile of them on the table!

Here's my catch for today. I think I could have gotten more autographs from both Ben and Rudy, but I didn't need to. This was definitely enough, and I was extremely happy to get these photos I took signed. I particularly like the Ben and DeMarcus dual autographed photo. The black and white with the gold ink looks killer.

Turns out that my wife was in the area. She called me and joined us for dinner. Chick-Fil-A was a great host for the signing. Not only did they provide a place for Ben to sign, they gave out free sandwiches to all the people who came out. I really did like Chick-Fil-A before... but now I love them! They were awesome.

Here's all the things we got today. It was definitely a good day getting all this amazing Kings stuff. Rudy and Ben were great. I have to really thank them for spending time with us fans this afternoon. Tomorrow the team will take on the San Antonio Spurs. Wow, that'll be a tough game. Good luck Kings!