Love and Basketball: And Basketball...

Best Looking NBA/WNBA Combo

I was born in San Diego, lived in Great Falls, VA, San Diego again and San Francisco, but no city has been better to me than the city of Sacramento. Sacramento is where I got through high school (surprisingly), college (by the skin of my teeth) and had my first job - thanks for taking a chance Dos Coyotes.

The Glory Days

But the best thing Sacramento has offered me and millions others is the Sacramento Kings and the former Sacramento Monarchs, who were taken from us in 2009.

Classic Kara!

We are the CHAMPS!

As an employee for Maloof Sports & Entertainment for far too long and during the Kings glory years, I can honestly say I wanted to work for the Kings and stay as far away from the WNBA as possible. However, like most employees will say now, the Monarchs were the heart and soul of the company. Those women work harder than almost any NBA player can ever say and for what an NBA player pays in fines. The Monarchs fans were the best in the league and came to every game for all 12 years. All their hard work paid off in 2005 when they beat Connecticut to win the WNBA Championship. ARCO has been loud, but I don't ever remember it being louder. As a member of the media staff, I had to stay somewhat composed, but I can tell you that no employee felt composed that night as Kara Lawson jumped on the scorers table with the game ball, that she would never let go of. In 2006, the Monarchs were even better and back in the WNBA Finals against the Detroit Shock. I promised all of my interns the best night of their lives before game four, the game the Monarchs could have closed the Shock out. Instead, I went home at 1am and packed for a 6am flight to Detroit. Players and employees, who will remain nameless, promised me a victory and felt that that alone would give me good reason to spend over $300 on a Coach purse (that $300 was my entire per diem for the whole trip). Every time I use that purse, I am put right back into that locker room after the Monarchs loss in Detroit. Most players were crying, maybe because we lost, maybe because we had to get on a flight in two hours to go back to Sacramento, maybe they felt bad for the purse incident. Even the sad times are some of my favorite memories. I know it was a necessity for the Maloof Family to fold the Monarchs, and even though most Sacramentoians don't know, the city lost a great franchise that day.

The money woes certainly didn't leave the Maloof Family and they are in the position that most basketball fans know they are in right now; relocating a team. In February of 2011, it became public knowledge that the Maloofs were shopping the Kings around and looked like they found a home for them in Anaheim at the Honda Center. Also in February, ARCO was re-named whatever it was named, it is ARCO to me. We wont know the fate of the Kings until May 2, possibly, but I would say their chances of staying are slim to none, leaving Sacramento without basketball for the first time in 26 years. But more importantly, leaving 1,500 people possibly without a job. I promise you, you wont find harder working or more dedicated employees at any other arena in the NBA. And that is from the ticket takers, to the ushers, to the OLD president. It seems like such a far cry from the Glory Days when the Kings were contending for Championships and the seats were filled with 17,317 faithful for eight years straight.

Me and Monarchs Coaching Staff at a Kings game

The possible last Kings game was played, fittingly against the long-time arch rivals Lakers, on April 13th at ARCO. The arena reached far beyond capacity with people sitting in back rooms watching the game on a big screen. I will now jump on my soap box for a minute; if people want a team to stay or come to Sacramento, remember to buy tickets even when they are re-building, remember to buy merchandise at the games, remember to watch the games on TV, even when it seems like you are watching an AAU game on TV. But most importantly, know that ARCO, while full of memories, has seen better days. Without a new arena, our kids will never know basketball in Sacramento. And, I can vouch for that, no air conditioning in the summer, a mouse living in my desk drawer for who knows how long, too many cats born to count and a snake crawling under my desk in the middle of the day (I will never know how he got to the third floor, did Barbra let him on the elevator?). Most importantly, more luxury boxes to keep up with a 21st century NBA so whoever owns this team can make money and keep them in Sacramento. Remember, even though emotions are involved, sports is a business and they have to make money like every other business. Stepping down off my soap box..

I will share with you my favorite moments, but the Kings era can only be best summed up in this video produced by the amazing audio/visual team.

HOORAY for the Holidays

Painting with Pam

The players show up!

5. Tie - Season of Holiday Giving, HOORAY for the Holidays (convicted felons and wasps were a great touch), Cesar Chavez Days of Giving and every time I saw a child smile because of what we did, even though they thought the players did it and we worked our asses off - it was worth every stressed out moment.

Best Mascot in the Biz

Weirdest Mascot EVER!

5. Every Monarchs season day-game. A special shout-out to Monty for bringing in the best mascots, besides him/her, in the WNBA to celebrate his/her birthday!

4. Every time Allen came to town. A special thanks to every boss who let me sit courtside to watch him warm-up.

Warming Up!

3. Watching Michael Jordan play Patrick Ewing one-on-one in the middle of a work day. Followed by watching Michael Jordan playing his last game at ARCO.

PEw and MJ

2. Climbing the (very unsteady) catwalk before every 2003 playoff game to throw toilet paper to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie theme song. If you were up there with me, you understand...