http://www.crowndowntown.org/2013/04/05/mikes-memo-the-crown-downtown-nyc-experience/
It all started with an early morning Facebook private chat.
Below is what I wrote earlier in the week.
My flight from Sacramento to New York City was scheduled to leave at about 8:00 AM on Tuesday. I had a quick stop to make in Washington DC to switch planes.
I left Washington DC at the same time when the Kings rally began in NYC. I landed in NYC about an hour later and took a cab to the Public House. Upon my arrival I was greeted by the NYC Kings fans, the media, Kevin Nagle, Phil Oates, Allen Warren and the mayor’s staff. Allen thanked us for all we have done along with Kevin and Phil, but Phil took it a step further and offered to buy me a drink. How cool is that to have a drink bought for you by a future Kings minority owner?
It was great to finally meet up with so many Kings fans who live in NYC but were actually from Sacramento originally.
We took some pictures, talked about our love for the Kings, where they used to live in Sacramento, where they went to high school and college along with what they do today (most are pursuing careers as lawyers).
After the rally was over, Matthew took me to Union Station and we got some pizza. After that we went to Times Square. I have not been to NYC since May 1996 as I went there with family and we stayed at Governor’s Island.
We got up early and arrived at the St. Regis Hotel at 8:30 AM. It was a cold morning but we were ready to outlast the cold weather. As a matter of fact we did not leave until 6:30 PM. Most of the time we were on our feet as if we were standing in line for concert tickets or playoff tickets during the time when there was no online ticket purchases.
Clay Bennett and David Stern showed up just after 9:00 AM. We were interviewed by the media from Sacramento and Seattle. We got out our “Mayor Kevin Johnson: Save Our Kings” banner and chanted “SAC-RA-MEN-TO” as loud as we could. As a matter of fact we were so loud that we got tweets that Steve Large of CBS 13 could not be heard that well due to our chanting as it was broadcasted live on Good Day Sacramento on channel 31.
While continuing to check Twitter we found out that the Maloofs along with Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer got past us through the back door. I wonder if they would have done that if any Seattle SuperSonics fans had shown up (one did show up but not until much later in the day and was there for about an hour).
Yes, we went live on a Seattle TV broadcast while chanting, “Where’s Seattle?”
By 10:30 AM we took a short break to get some coffee, juice, etc. while we sat down at a public place just down the street. It was also a good opportunity to charge our iPhones.
We returned by 11:30 AM and were able to greet Vivek and Mastrov as they arrived together. A little later Mayor Johnson and Senator Steinberg arrived together and spoke with the media before making their way inside.
Carmichael Dave came through with the Playing to Win Tour RV and stopped right in front of the hotel. People began to sign the RV including a returning Vivek. I also got to sign the RV.
I asked Vivek’s personal assistant if I could present him with our Crown Downtown shirt and was told absolutely as they knew all about who we are.
I thanked Vivek for what he is doing and presented him with our Crown Downtown shirt on behalf of our community and then I asked if we could take a picture together. He was more than happy to take a picture while holding our shirt. Once we took our picture he asked that we take another one but this time using his phone. He thanked us for all we have done and shook my hand. Very cool experience.
Things began to settle down and got quiet. The meetings were taking place inside so I went with Ryan to get some lunch and charge my iPhone again. This time I was able to find an outlet by a table instead of standing over an outlet like I did in the Sony store earlier.
Once the meetings were over it was time for the Sacramento press conference. We tried to watch it on the News 10 web site and even though we got a clear picture with no buffering, it was too hard to hear. So we closed the web browser and tuned into KHTK 1140 AM. This was my favorite moment of the day because we were so anxious to hear how things went and we huddled like a team should.
As we were listening, Thomas Huddle (he flew in from Sacramento too) spotted Darius Anderson talking on his phone in front of the hotel. I turned around and we made eye contact and he gave me a peace sign to acknowledge us. Once he was off his phone he walked over to us and said hello and thanked us for showing our continued support. I asked Darius if he could give Ron Burkle our Crown Downtown shirt as Burkle slipped by us and he said he would along with a picture of him holding the shirt up. Darius and I then took a picture together. Darius is an unsung hero in all this and I made sure to tell him that and thank him for all he has done for Sacramento and believing in us.
It all started with an early morning Facebook private chat.
Below is what I wrote earlier in the week.
My flight from Sacramento to New York City was scheduled to leave at about 8:00 AM on Tuesday. I had a quick stop to make in Washington DC to switch planes.
I left Washington DC at the same time when the Kings rally began in NYC. I landed in NYC about an hour later and took a cab to the Public House. Upon my arrival I was greeted by the NYC Kings fans, the media, Kevin Nagle, Phil Oates, Allen Warren and the mayor’s staff. Allen thanked us for all we have done along with Kevin and Phil, but Phil took it a step further and offered to buy me a drink. How cool is that to have a drink bought for you by a future Kings minority owner?
It was great to finally meet up with so many Kings fans who live in NYC but were actually from Sacramento originally.
We took some pictures, talked about our love for the Kings, where they used to live in Sacramento, where they went to high school and college along with what they do today (most are pursuing careers as lawyers).
After the rally was over, Matthew took me to Union Station and we got some pizza. After that we went to Times Square. I have not been to NYC since May 1996 as I went there with family and we stayed at Governor’s Island.
We got up early and arrived at the St. Regis Hotel at 8:30 AM. It was a cold morning but we were ready to outlast the cold weather. As a matter of fact we did not leave until 6:30 PM. Most of the time we were on our feet as if we were standing in line for concert tickets or playoff tickets during the time when there was no online ticket purchases.
Clay Bennett and David Stern showed up just after 9:00 AM. We were interviewed by the media from Sacramento and Seattle. We got out our “Mayor Kevin Johnson: Save Our Kings” banner and chanted “SAC-RA-MEN-TO” as loud as we could. As a matter of fact we were so loud that we got tweets that Steve Large of CBS 13 could not be heard that well due to our chanting as it was broadcasted live on Good Day Sacramento on channel 31.
While continuing to check Twitter we found out that the Maloofs along with Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer got past us through the back door. I wonder if they would have done that if any Seattle SuperSonics fans had shown up (one did show up but not until much later in the day and was there for about an hour).
Yes, we went live on a Seattle TV broadcast while chanting, “Where’s Seattle?”
By 10:30 AM we took a short break to get some coffee, juice, etc. while we sat down at a public place just down the street. It was also a good opportunity to charge our iPhones.
We returned by 11:30 AM and were able to greet Vivek and Mastrov as they arrived together. A little later Mayor Johnson and Senator Steinberg arrived together and spoke with the media before making their way inside.
Carmichael Dave came through with the Playing to Win Tour RV and stopped right in front of the hotel. People began to sign the RV including a returning Vivek. I also got to sign the RV.
I asked Vivek’s personal assistant if I could present him with our Crown Downtown shirt and was told absolutely as they knew all about who we are.
I thanked Vivek for what he is doing and presented him with our Crown Downtown shirt on behalf of our community and then I asked if we could take a picture together. He was more than happy to take a picture while holding our shirt. Once we took our picture he asked that we take another one but this time using his phone. He thanked us for all we have done and shook my hand. Very cool experience.
Things began to settle down and got quiet. The meetings were taking place inside so I went with Ryan to get some lunch and charge my iPhone again. This time I was able to find an outlet by a table instead of standing over an outlet like I did in the Sony store earlier.
Once the meetings were over it was time for the Sacramento press conference. We tried to watch it on the News 10 web site and even though we got a clear picture with no buffering, it was too hard to hear. So we closed the web browser and tuned into KHTK 1140 AM. This was my favorite moment of the day because we were so anxious to hear how things went and we huddled like a team should.
As we were listening, Thomas Huddle (he flew in from Sacramento too) spotted Darius Anderson talking on his phone in front of the hotel. I turned around and we made eye contact and he gave me a peace sign to acknowledge us. Once he was off his phone he walked over to us and said hello and thanked us for showing our continued support. I asked Darius if he could give Ron Burkle our Crown Downtown shirt as Burkle slipped by us and he said he would along with a picture of him holding the shirt up. Darius and I then took a picture together. Darius is an unsung hero in all this and I made sure to tell him that and thank him for all he has done for Sacramento and believing in us.
