Why did you become a Kings fan?
- Thread starter mac
- Start date
I was born in Lake Tahoe but shortly moved to Sacramento when I was 4. I'm now 26 and have always been into sports. In fact, it is probably my most favorite hobby. I eat, breath, & bath in it. lol. My favorite teams are the Kings, 9ers, & Giants (Nor Cal represent!).
Anyways, I became a Kings fan during the Richmond era and although we weren't great then, it was still fun for me to watch. Of course my fan hood for the Kings grew exponentially during the Webber years and those memories will be cherished forever. Now it seems we are back on the upswing after a few down years, with young players that show heart & mad talent such as Tyreke & Donte giving all of us hope for the future..
In retrospect, there have been countless ups and downs with this team throughout the years but no matter what I will always be a fan.
Anyways, I became a Kings fan during the Richmond era and although we weren't great then, it was still fun for me to watch. Of course my fan hood for the Kings grew exponentially during the Webber years and those memories will be cherished forever. Now it seems we are back on the upswing after a few down years, with young players that show heart & mad talent such as Tyreke & Donte giving all of us hope for the future..
In retrospect, there have been countless ups and downs with this team throughout the years but no matter what I will always be a fan.
Michael Jordan drew me into basketball. The first game I ever saw was game 6 of the NBA finals between the Suns and Bulls. Michael Jordan was phenomenal. I grew up in Northern California, but my parents weren't really into basketball until I showed the interest in junior high. While I knew who the Kings were, we didn't have TV, so I couldn't watch any of their games and I didn't really know who anyone was on the team because they didn't get much national coverage. Once we finally got a TV I could watch some local games, and I began to root for the Kings due to their proximity. I remember their win against Seattle in the 1st round series with Richmond and Grant, but it wasn't for another 2 years that I really started to watch the team consistently.
Proximity made me a Kings follower (Grass Valley), and the lock-out year team made me a Kings fan (J-Will + Peja + Webber + Vlade = Magic). The continued development of that group made me even want to spend money and go to their games, and their deep playoff runs cemented them as my team for life. All throughout high school and college I faithfully followed the Kings every move, and lived and died with their 4th quarter runs and shortcomings.
As an aside...I was so sick from their loss in game 6 of the WCF that I decided not to even watch game 7. I drove out to Colorado to go visit a friend in Gunnison. We drove Hwy 50 all the way out, the loneliest road in America...About the time that game 7 was going into overtime, we reached the Utah border. There was a sign that read "Welcome to Utah", and below it was a sign that said "Caution, now entering floodplane". Being June, I didn't take much notice, however, there were some storm clouds above and it began to rain...The rain came down like it was hail, and the water stayed on the road. I was driving 80+ MPH trying to get past the floodplane, and we finally made it into the neighboring hills.
Unfortunately, summer thunderstorms are common in Utah, and lightning was flashing pretty good. You could feel the hair on your arms prick up as the charge in the air was alternating. It was pretty exhilarating driving the windy mountain road. I saw lightning strike behind my car at least 4 times, and finally it actually hit my car! The lightning balled around it and I could see it both in front of me and out the rear view mirror. That was the craziest thing I've ever experienced in my life. The car was grounded, and all the windows were up, so I actually didn't feel anything above a light charge as the bolt passed through the tires down to the road. It did knock out my tail light though. After we arrived in Colorado that morning I heard about the Game 7 results, and pieced together that the lightning strike occurred around the same time as the overtime final. Since then I make sure to catch as many Kings games as I can...
Proximity made me a Kings follower (Grass Valley), and the lock-out year team made me a Kings fan (J-Will + Peja + Webber + Vlade = Magic). The continued development of that group made me even want to spend money and go to their games, and their deep playoff runs cemented them as my team for life. All throughout high school and college I faithfully followed the Kings every move, and lived and died with their 4th quarter runs and shortcomings.
As an aside...I was so sick from their loss in game 6 of the WCF that I decided not to even watch game 7. I drove out to Colorado to go visit a friend in Gunnison. We drove Hwy 50 all the way out, the loneliest road in America...About the time that game 7 was going into overtime, we reached the Utah border. There was a sign that read "Welcome to Utah", and below it was a sign that said "Caution, now entering floodplane". Being June, I didn't take much notice, however, there were some storm clouds above and it began to rain...The rain came down like it was hail, and the water stayed on the road. I was driving 80+ MPH trying to get past the floodplane, and we finally made it into the neighboring hills.
Unfortunately, summer thunderstorms are common in Utah, and lightning was flashing pretty good. You could feel the hair on your arms prick up as the charge in the air was alternating. It was pretty exhilarating driving the windy mountain road. I saw lightning strike behind my car at least 4 times, and finally it actually hit my car! The lightning balled around it and I could see it both in front of me and out the rear view mirror. That was the craziest thing I've ever experienced in my life. The car was grounded, and all the windows were up, so I actually didn't feel anything above a light charge as the bolt passed through the tires down to the road. It did knock out my tail light though. After we arrived in Colorado that morning I heard about the Game 7 results, and pieced together that the lightning strike occurred around the same time as the overtime final
. Since then I make sure to catch as many Kings games as I can...
This is an awesome story. And, considering your sig contains a quote from one of my all time heroes (Carl Sagan)...epic. I was playing a board game recently with a group of my friends (cranium), and I was the only one who had heard of Carl Sagan.
Egads -- I pondered going to Cornell largely just to take a course from him.
Methinks you should not have had too many problems putting away your cranially challenged friends at Cranium.
This is an awesome story. And, considering your sig contains a quote from one of my all time heroes (Carl Sagan)...epic. I was playing a board game recently with a group of my friends (cranium), and I was the only one who had heard of Carl Sagan.
And yes, Sagan should be a household name...
Grew up loving baseball. Then for a long time, I didn't really pay much attention to sports.
I have lived in the Sacramento region for over 40 years. I followed the team a bit for a long time, but only became an overboard fan of the Kings when Vlade, J-Will and Webber came to town. Now I wish I'd been a fan and paid attention sooner.
I have lived in the Sacramento region for over 40 years. I followed the team a bit for a long time, but only became an overboard fan of the Kings when Vlade, J-Will and Webber came to town. Now I wish I'd been a fan and paid attention sooner.
To be honest i never really focused on the kings till Casspi joined as a rookie.
In the start it was the hype around Omri that facinated me.
The more games i watched and learn to know about this team, organisation and the fans especially on this forum, the more i left a side the casspi focus and turned into a sacramento fan.(beside of Noc)
Its easy to cheer for LA or other teams that are winning on a regular basis. But the thing i like about the kings is this young team that beside of Reke doesnt really have any outstanding players till now.
There is plenty of space for development and i can feel that this team will be something special in the next years.
So in total its about seeing a young team develop, suffer during really bad games but learning to cherish wins in a different way than in the past.
Being a Kingsfan in recent years meant to withstand some mental torture, but i feel it will soon change and after it will feel even better to be a kingsfan who was here and supported the team when not all was shiny.
GO KINGS!
In the start it was the hype around Omri that facinated me.
The more games i watched and learn to know about this team, organisation and the fans especially on this forum, the more i left a side the casspi focus and turned into a sacramento fan.(beside of Noc)
Its easy to cheer for LA or other teams that are winning on a regular basis. But the thing i like about the kings is this young team that beside of Reke doesnt really have any outstanding players till now.
There is plenty of space for development and i can feel that this team will be something special in the next years.
So in total its about seeing a young team develop, suffer during really bad games but learning to cherish wins in a different way than in the past.
Being a Kingsfan in recent years meant to withstand some mental torture, but i feel it will soon change and after it will feel even better to be a kingsfan who was here and supported the team when not all was shiny.
GO KINGS!
Back in the late '80s I drove from near Grass Valley where we lived to Sacramento airport quite frequently. One day my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to see what the Kings and Arco arena were all about. Walked up to the ticket window one spring evening to buy a ticket and was told "Standing room only were the only tickets at any price!". Wow, I thought, must be some top team playing. Nope! Was another bottom feeder team with record like the Kings.
Took my SRO ticket up to lounge area where was the designated SRO area in which to stand. NO KIDDING!! Anyway watched the game which the Kings won and was impressed with the fans supporting a below average team. The fans enthusiasm was contagious. Got hooked, bought into a partial season ticket the next year and our own full season ticket in section 104 for 91-92 season which we kept for 6 years until moving to Santa Cruz prior to the 98 season. 21years later we're still fans, just now living down San Diego way along with quite a bunch of So Cal KingsFans as we found out at the Clipper game in February this year.
Took my SRO ticket up to lounge area where was the designated SRO area in which to stand. NO KIDDING!! Anyway watched the game which the Kings won and was impressed with the fans supporting a below average team. The fans enthusiasm was contagious. Got hooked, bought into a partial season ticket the next year and our own full season ticket in section 104 for 91-92 season which we kept for 6 years until moving to Santa Cruz prior to the 98 season. 21years later we're still fans, just now living down San Diego way along with quite a bunch of So Cal KingsFans as we found out at the Clipper game in February this year.
