http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14246942p-15064706c.html
Series notebook: Fiesta is being held - but not for the Kings
By Ailene Voisin and Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 23, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - That commonly held perception that professional athletes receive special treatment?
Overrated.
During their first two days here, the Kings are being treated like all those other visitors - and the number is expected to reach the hundreds of thousands within the next two weeks - who are converging on the metropolitan area for the annual Fiesta festivities.
With hotel space at a premium - and rates far above normal - the team was forced to book rooms for the first few days at a hotel on the outskirts of the city, though downtown accommodations have been secured for the duration of their stay.
So what exactly is Fiesta? Think of it as a southwestern Mardi Gras. Or a party that runs 24/7 and attracts shoulder-to-shoulder crowds in Old Sac and the downtown corridor the better part of two weeks.
According to local tourism guides, the multicultural festival began in 1891 when a group of women paraded in front of the Alamo in decorated horse-drawn carriages, pelting each other with flowers in honor of the fallen heroes from the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto.
The "Battle of Flowers," as it has become known, now includes more than 150 events, among them parades, carnivals, memorial ceremonies, dances, rugby tournaments and an oyster bake. Not surprisingly, strolling along the Riverwalk becomes more like a game of bumper cars than a leisurely exercise.
Proud uncles again - Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof recently became uncles for the second time. The sole female among the Maloof siblings, Adrienne, and her husband Dr. Paul Nassif, became the parents of twins Colin and Christian. As for specifics, the best the Maloof brothers could do was flash photos of the infants on their cell phone.
"They were born ... a week or 10 days ago," said Joe Maloof, with a sheepish grin. "I can't remember the exact date. I went over there to see them the other day, and in fact, while I was in the hospital (in Santa Monica), the nurse comes over to me and says, 'I'm Austin Croshere's mother.' It was pretty crazy. It shows you what a small world it is."
A good sign - By the time Game 1 was over, it was clear the Spurs needed no extra motivation.
But as always, it's there on the wall of their locker room if they need it, a life philosophy courtesy of one Jacob Riis that hangs on a plaque in the champs' corner.
"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had come before."
"It's what we try to play and live by," Spurs guard Brent Barry said of the quote. "Subliminally, you see it a little more than you would anything else."
The Spurs, of course, boast a host of international players, explaining why there are French and Spanish versions of the quote hanging in the hall leading into the locker room.
"We have to, or else half our team wouldn't know what Jacob Riis meant," Barry said, laughing.
Tough task - The playoffs are, without question, a whole new season.
But if anything translates from the regular season to the postseason, the Kings - who now have the tall task of wrestling four wins away from the Spurs in a maximum of six tries - hope it's not the infrequency of the Spurs' losses.
This season, San Antonio's shortest span in which it lost four times was nine games (March 22-April 7). At the start of the season, it took 20 games until the Spurs lost their fourth.
Around the AT&T Center - Former Spurs coach Stan Albeck, who suffered a massive stroke four years ago, continues to improve. Albeck has become a courtside presence at home games and has regained the verbal skills to conduct lengthy, informal chats.
* Geoff Petrie continues to enhance his reputation as one of the league's trendiest and, apparently, geographically sensitive dressers. Yes, that was the Kings' basketball president wearing black jeans and
black leather cowboy boots to Friday's practice session.
About the writers: The Bee's Ailene Voisin can be reached at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com. The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
Series notebook: Fiesta is being held - but not for the Kings
By Ailene Voisin and Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 23, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - That commonly held perception that professional athletes receive special treatment?
Overrated.
During their first two days here, the Kings are being treated like all those other visitors - and the number is expected to reach the hundreds of thousands within the next two weeks - who are converging on the metropolitan area for the annual Fiesta festivities.
With hotel space at a premium - and rates far above normal - the team was forced to book rooms for the first few days at a hotel on the outskirts of the city, though downtown accommodations have been secured for the duration of their stay.
So what exactly is Fiesta? Think of it as a southwestern Mardi Gras. Or a party that runs 24/7 and attracts shoulder-to-shoulder crowds in Old Sac and the downtown corridor the better part of two weeks.
According to local tourism guides, the multicultural festival began in 1891 when a group of women paraded in front of the Alamo in decorated horse-drawn carriages, pelting each other with flowers in honor of the fallen heroes from the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto.
The "Battle of Flowers," as it has become known, now includes more than 150 events, among them parades, carnivals, memorial ceremonies, dances, rugby tournaments and an oyster bake. Not surprisingly, strolling along the Riverwalk becomes more like a game of bumper cars than a leisurely exercise.
Proud uncles again - Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof recently became uncles for the second time. The sole female among the Maloof siblings, Adrienne, and her husband Dr. Paul Nassif, became the parents of twins Colin and Christian. As for specifics, the best the Maloof brothers could do was flash photos of the infants on their cell phone.
"They were born ... a week or 10 days ago," said Joe Maloof, with a sheepish grin. "I can't remember the exact date. I went over there to see them the other day, and in fact, while I was in the hospital (in Santa Monica), the nurse comes over to me and says, 'I'm Austin Croshere's mother.' It was pretty crazy. It shows you what a small world it is."
A good sign - By the time Game 1 was over, it was clear the Spurs needed no extra motivation.
But as always, it's there on the wall of their locker room if they need it, a life philosophy courtesy of one Jacob Riis that hangs on a plaque in the champs' corner.
"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had come before."
"It's what we try to play and live by," Spurs guard Brent Barry said of the quote. "Subliminally, you see it a little more than you would anything else."
The Spurs, of course, boast a host of international players, explaining why there are French and Spanish versions of the quote hanging in the hall leading into the locker room.
"We have to, or else half our team wouldn't know what Jacob Riis meant," Barry said, laughing.
Tough task - The playoffs are, without question, a whole new season.
But if anything translates from the regular season to the postseason, the Kings - who now have the tall task of wrestling four wins away from the Spurs in a maximum of six tries - hope it's not the infrequency of the Spurs' losses.
This season, San Antonio's shortest span in which it lost four times was nine games (March 22-April 7). At the start of the season, it took 20 games until the Spurs lost their fourth.
Around the AT&T Center - Former Spurs coach Stan Albeck, who suffered a massive stroke four years ago, continues to improve. Albeck has become a courtside presence at home games and has regained the verbal skills to conduct lengthy, informal chats.
* Geoff Petrie continues to enhance his reputation as one of the league's trendiest and, apparently, geographically sensitive dressers. Yes, that was the Kings' basketball president wearing black jeans and
black leather cowboy boots to Friday's practice session.
About the writers: The Bee's Ailene Voisin can be reached at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com. The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
