Will you still be a fan...

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Actually, I don't think that is really true. And indeed, the fans feelings of ineffectualness here is part of the problem. I will be busy tommorow, but over the weekend I intend to take a closer look at the situation and maybe make some calls on Monday for additional info. This is a problem, like any other, and problems almost always have solutions.

Now in the short term, what can any single fan do? Write the decisionmakers in power to let them know that the fans are out there and concerned. At the current moment that wouold be thew Maloofs/Thomas over at Arco, the Bee, the Sacto City Council, possibly the El Dorado people, and Angelo. In the long term, if its not already too late, perhaps what is needed is for the individual fans need a collective voice, an organization that turns thousands of individual voices into one large one capable of swinging the terms of the debate. In the absence of leadership, perhaps the fans can fill the void if given a voice.

You're not seeing this the way it REALLY is. It's a cold hard fact that an arena cant be built with any voice that doesnt have money...hence my reasoning. If no one else sees it the way I see it, then they are denying the reality of the situation. This isnt a debate by the fans...its the voice of businessmen, which is fine in this situation, with as stupid as our city officials are being in this situation. Our mayor sucks, the team president John Thomas sucks, and alot of fans are becoming very delusional. After you look do what you say you're going to do this weekend, you will hopefully see it from the same vantagepoint that I am, and thats the bitter truth. Angelo this, or Maloof that...ah geez, I've heard enough! There is no action in debating! Whats there to be debated about, that does absolutely nothing. The only solution is making this a HUGE and DESPERATE priority and actually bringing this to the forefront that needs to be dealt with NOW by our city leaders and not in the future. And I just dont see this happening with the current pieces in this chess game.

 

[Bricklayer]

You're not seeing this the way it REALLY is. It's a cold hard fact that an arena cant be built with any voice that doesnt have money...hence my reasoning. If no one else sees it the way I see it, then they are denying the reality of the situation. This isnt a debate by the fans...its the voice of businessmen, which is fine in this situation, with as stupid as our city officials are being in this situation. Our mayor sucks, the team president John Thomas sucks, and alot of fans are becoming very delusional.

Did you mean disillusioned?

I think your relative inexperience with the political system may be coloring your attitude. Businessmen are businessmen, but they too can be manipulated because they are 100% predictable creatures -- they are after profit. There are a NUMBER of weak/choke points in this process, or any process, where outside pressure can be brought to bear. There are public money debates, use taxes, ballot measures, zoning decisions etc. etc. all of which at least partially fall within the political spectrum. You individually are not going to make those decisions, but collectively, the voice of thousands of concerned fans needs a place at those tables.

Too many naysayers and not enough doers in this process right now. The question is not whether the fans, as a group, could have an impact on the process, the question is whether it is too late in the game for it to matter. But the loyal fans deserve that voice regardless.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Did you mean disillusioned?

I think your relative inexperience with the political system may be coloring your attitude. Businessmen are businessmen, but they too can be manipulated because they are 100% predictable creatures -- they are after profit. There are a NUMBER of weak/choke points in this process, or any process, where outside pressure can be brought to bear. There are public money debates, use taxes, ballot measures, zoning decisions etc. etc. all of which at least partially fall within the political spectrum. You individually are not going to make those decisions, but collectively, the voice of thousands of concerned fans needs a place at those tables.

Too many naysayers and not enough doers in this process right now. The question is not whether the fans, as a group, could have an impact on the process, the question is whether it is too late in the game for it to matter. But the loyal fans deserve that voice regardless.

Way too late, in my opinion. This should have been a bigger priority and treated with a sense of dire urgency like 3 or 4 years ago, not now. The only way this team stays is if something gets done in the next 6 months to a year as far as something extremely concrete. The problem that I have in this, is with John Thomas, and our city officials. And without ALL of those people on the same page RIGHT NOW, this cant be done. No matter of how many thousands of us fans voice our opinions and solution suggestions, you have to look at the fact that this isnt a 'peace protest' in capitol park that you can just start making up corny little 'keep our team' chants, and cant be solved by voices. All that does is get a canned and politically corrent response by all parties involved, which doesnt do anything in moving forward with this, all that does is create a false sense of hope...'We love the city of Sacramento and are going to do everything in our might to keep the team here.'. or 'We as city officials love the Kings and dont want to see the city without them'...I just dont want to hear anymore talking. All I want to hear is solutions. So until then...I wish all of these players that are 'trying' to help this situation would just stay quiet unless they have forward motion to announce in this.

 

[treewoman]

Back to the original point.....Yes i will remain a Kings fan wherever they go. I am a relative newcomer to loving this sport. . . six years ago when my daughter started playing, I decided to learn more about it and started watching the Kings. And I became hooked, big time. I have never been a TV watcher, or listened to a Radio Sports show in my life...now I find I am a complete nut about it. I turn on the radio as I drive home from work in the morning and much to her disgust as I drive Katie to school - just hoping they talk about the Kings... I watch or listen to every game they play that I possibly can - and in the past couple of years have been fortunate enough to go to a couple of games. Last year I found Kingsfans.com and would have to say that I am now a Kings addict. If I am working and a game is on I try to access VF's play by play (since I can't listen to the radio at work). Last year I started watching other games, not just the Kings and now I watch pretty much any game that's on. I have gone from rarely watching TV to the Queen of Basketball in my home. I LOVE the sport, I like the players, I like learning about the players, the plays, the strategy, etc... I tremendously enjoy watching other teams play and certainly have favorites (other teams other players) but the Kings are my first love and I will remain loyal to that.

I agree with Brick. I believe that fans can make a huge impact and that things can be changed...especially in any matter involving politics & money. I do not believe it is too late. Personally I think the key is involving (somehow) surrounding counties. . . the Kings fan base is far larger than Sac City... and there is a LOT of money floating around Placer County.... surely we can find a way to tap into that and their desire for growth.

 

[kingsville]

Well i became a fan of the KINGS not the Sacramento kings ..... so it wouldn't matter . But i do love the ARCO THUNDER , my friends who were fans of texas teams used to talk about ARCO all the time . But i will miss the aura of ARCO ! . As long as they play that high octane offense , i will root for them regardless of the city .

 

[Odoylerules]

First off, the Kings arent moving. An arena deal will get done. Its only a matter of time.

Second, I would continue to root for the Kings until Sacramento got a new NBA franchise, whenever that may be. Using the Ravens/Browns comparison, I'm guessing many Clevelanders did the same thing.

Of course, within 4 years of the Kings moving, I guaranfrickintee that they would win a title.

That's just how life works.

 

[Lurknomo]

As a Sactown resident and 20 year Kings fan I probably couldn't stand to see them play in another town. I doubt I'd still root for them and probably would like to see them at the bottom. I know that may sound selfish, but I feel attached to this team and were they to leave because of this arena situation it would be hard to not feel jilted in some way. If it all falls apart over the next year or so and no deal can get done when they leave they better take the mayor and city council with them. Our city govt. is a joke (snow white and her dwarfs) . They ought to be part of the team package, and let them be arena janitors so they can keep cleaning up the mess they've created.

 

[bigdog5142]

If the Kings move...I will still be a fan and cheer for them...but I will become less of an NBA fan....and I will not watch as much and I might not even go to games anymore.

 

[nebs]

Second, I would continue to root for the Kings until Sacramento got a new NBA franchise, whenever that may be. Using the Ravens/Browns comparison, I'm guessing many Clevelanders did the same thing.

Your guess would be way wrong. I agree with someone earlier that said people overall in or very close to Sacramento would not root for the Kings if they left.

 

[Evenstar]

i'd probably still be a fan. it's not like i'm a fan of the team in the area i live in ( warriors) i fell in love with the kings a few years ago when my friend on the gymnastics team was a kings fan. she got me into them as i had never been a basketball fan before then.

go kings, wherever you play!

 

[Bibby_10]

Well if they moved to Anaheim I would at least be able to watch more games since I live in L.A. Who knows maybe I would be a Lakers fan. Nah....

 

[thesanityannex]

.

Too many naysayers and not enough doers in this process right now.

True. If I were still living in the area, you can bet your a$$ I'd be out there protesting them leaving, regardless of the effects. You fans up there need to get your voice out, get on the news, hold a rally, do something. From what I've read, it sounds like the fans have done nothing. ( I could be mistaken) Circa1985, you say its too late, what have you done? It may be too late, but the fans shouldn't go down without a fight. I'm in the same situation with the Chargers down here, born and raised in San Diego and they threaten to take the team outta here. What do the fans do? they revolt, they get rid of the congresswoman holding them down, she's out of office. They protest, they fight. Sacramento fans must do the same, this team cannot and should not leave.

 

[GreenKing]

Either the Kings stay in town and force the city to kick down some scrilla or they leave town because they got a better deal. I would like the kings to stay, but as a taxpayer and life long citizen of Sacramento I am against paying for the new building if the ticket prices keep soaring. If there is a new building and it's built on public dollars then the prices for going to games SHOULD be lower. Even if there is a new building and the kings stay, prices will rise. The maloofs are raping the fans with a product that has yet to win a championship. A lot of people might not agree with my take on the maloofs but sooner or later everyone is going to be saying "damn it costs a lot of money to go see the mediocre kings."

 

[kennadog]

Unfortunately, Sacramento has a bad congruence of circumstances. Land and construction costs are extremely high in California. An arena here will cost a lot more than an arena in places like Charlotte, Memphis or San Antonio. Secondly, Sacramento has practically no corporate base. Lack of the corporate base who could provide money (sponsorships) and spend big bucks to have a luxury suite mean the average joe fan is going to spend more for a seat to make up for lack of those big spenders (who get a tax write-off for anthing they can count as marketing, sponsorships, or business entertainment expenses.)

The Bee showed in the paper not long ago, that since the Maloofs took over, highest-priced ticket prices had gone up something like 275%. Team salary has gone up something approaching 1575%. (I believe that was without an inflation adjustment. And the two loans the Kings got from the City when Luckenbill still owned them were to keep the Kings from going into bankruptcy. Maybe cheap tickets, but the team was hemorrhaging red ink.

Personally, I've gone to games on $10 tickets +parking. I can go to Kings' games for a lot less than many other events that come to Sacramento (concerts, traveling Broadway shows, symphony, opera, ballet, etc.) I seldom buy more than a bottle of water, maybe 2. ($3 ain't cheap water, but its no worse then many other concession at events I've been to.)

And I haven't really understood this correlation between quality of the team and ticket prices. Knicks have sucked for a long time. NYers don't quite going. May not sell out, but they don't quit being fans. There are a lot of teams, in a lot of major league sports, that are expensive to go see. A lot of them still seem to sell a lot of tickets.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/13884703p-14723744c.html