Starts With B, Ends With N: Six Letters.

If confronted with this empty space in your crossword puzzle, there are undoubtedly a wide array of solutions. But two featured prominently for me yesterday: Boston and Brogan. On the East Coast for a business trip, I notified my Twitter stalkers followers I was flying out Tuesday, and I got a somewhat in jest reply from social networking maven Chris Brogan and Boston area native, who wrote, "What's the plan?"

After connecting with him via e-mail and phone, I got the opportunity to bring Chris and a few friends to last night's Boston Celtics game, where they beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers by the score of 92-87, in a game that didn't seem all that close.

Though there was a game on, I got the opportunity to learn a lot about what makes Chris tick, what applications and Web services he's most jazzed about, and, continuing on this week's theme, evangelizing FriendFeed, which he joined last night. It was a pleasure getting to know Chris, sharing stories, and personally connecting with someone I already respected online. I believe when these opportunities present themselves, we should take advantage of them, so I appreciate Chris' taking time out of his busy schedule on short notice.

This open offer doesn't just stand for Chris. If you're out of town and visiting the Bay Area, or you find out I'll be in your area, please do contact me and let's see what we can do!

Losing Kings Are Doing Just What I Would Expect

The Sacramento Kings are losers. Always have been. I grew up listening to them lose on the radio and watching them lose gloriously on the rare occasion they made national TV. For nearly a decade, the team would be lucky to win 35% of games. Forget about the playoffs. They had no chance. No good free agent wanted to be a King. No good player wanted to be traded to Sacramento. Their draft picks were horrible, and they finished just about last every year.

But then, for a brief blip in time, they were a good team, running and gunning, and challenging the league leaders, including Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers, and Karl Malone's Utah Jazz. Oh but for a moment. Now the team has crashed down to their historical sub-mediocrity. Yes, they're in last again. Yes, they've lost all their games on the road, again. Yes, we're still paying attention and trying to care. But for some odd reason, this return to normalcy brings comfort, like a beaten prizefighter coming back for more after he's lost his quickness. It's the pummeling that reminds us of who we are as Kings fans.

More of my pessimistic, yet nostalgic, comments can be found on Sactown Royalty:
Now This is the Team I Know

When Can I Celebrate Winning Again?

In my youth, my favorite sports teams seemingly challenged every year. The 49ers won Super Bowl after Super Bowl. The Oakland A's were in the World Series from 1988 to 1990, taking the title in 1989. Before I liked the Sacramento Kings, I liked the LA Lakers, and saw Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar take home their share of championships. But for nearly two decades, as fans from across the country have celebrated their teams, at least for one season, I'm growing fatigued of seeing my hopes for a pennant - in any sport - fade early.

Yesterday, Cal, once expected to challenge for a BCS berth, got dumped on by the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, going down to their second straight defeat after a season opening run to the #2 ranking in all the country. Now, the team will be lucky just to find its way to the unrewarding and poorly named Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

This disaster comes only months after the Oakland A's played their way into near last place in the AL West, avoiding the playoffs, which itself was preceded by a season-long funk by the Sacramento Kings. While the Kings' season is on the verge of opening up, I don't harbor any misguided belief that the team's fortunes will change.

As for the 49ers? First of all, as I've made clear before, I don't really care enough for their wins or losses to make much difference. But the truth is, they still stink. I came home from church this afternoon to see them completing yet another weak showing, as they lost 33-15 to the New York Giants.

A friend of mine says he knows not to jump on to a bandwagon unless he's absolutely certain they will win. I can't do that. I can cheer for the Rockies' improbable run to the World Series, but it's a hollow cheer. I can't root for the Cal Bears to find a way to finish with less than 4 losses. I had higher expectations. And what am I supposed to ask of the A's next year? A record above .500? How can I accept that as a real goal?

I'm not switching the teams I root for just because it's become so inconvenient to see them lose and lose after teasing me into thinking they had a chance. But I would like to be positively surprised for a change. Soon.

Can The Kings Pick Up Yi Jianlian?

Cross-posted to Sactown Royalty...

It has hardly been a quiet off-season already for the Sacramento Kings. They fired their coach, then saw the search for a replacement go from one candidate to the next before settling on Reggie Theus. The team looks to be a mess, with owners forecasting a second consecutive losing season, and last week's draft pick, Spencer Hawes, didn't exactly light the world on fire. That's why when I saw today that Yi Jianlian, a 7 foot Chinese superstar, has declared war on Milwaukee and is demanding a trade immediately, that I'm practically begging for Sacramento to get in on the discussions. After all, the city has an extensive history with its roughly 20 percent population with Chinese descent, and needs a player with his skills in the worst way.

For more of my comments on the Sacramento Kings this off-season, make sure you haven't missed:

• Tark: Petrie Strong-Armed into Theus Hire
  
• Reggie Theus to Be Kings New Head Coach
  
• Left at the Altar: Van Gundy Says NO to Kings
  

With NBA Season Complete, Forecast the Playoffs on Ballhype

For the few of us who remained dedicated Sacramento Kings fans all the way through game 82, the season ended with a whimper. The Kings teased us with occasional strength, but ultimately drove us crazy and fell way short of expectations. Now, our only hope is that they somehow finagle an early pick in the upcoming draft and look to rebuild what is truthfully not a very good team.

Until then, our friends at Ballhype are ready for the next stage: playoffs.

The site is offering Ballhype users the option to choose the winners in each round of the NBA playoffs, just as is popular during March Madness with the NCAA college basketball tournament. Unlike the typical March Madness bracket however, Ballhype will allow you to change your picks after the series have started and give you more credit if you picked against the grain. The earlier you pick correctly, and the fewer the people who correctly selected as you did, the more points you get. Should be very interesting to see how this shakes out.

As of today, my pick to win it all? Houston. Over the Cavaliers. I anticipate being wrong.

Sign up for yourself at Ballhype.

Artest's World: They're All Out to Get Me

Cross-Posted at Sactown Royalty...

Following on to today's news that Kings forward Ron Artest had been jailed on charges of domestic violence, just weeks after being fined for animal neglect...

Ever wonder just what is going on in the head of Ron-Ron? With today's news piling on to issues with coaches, teammates, opponents and man's best friend, we thought we'd give Artest the floor for a bit to tell his side of the story, satirically speaking...


Click for Larger Comic

Take the Poll: Who Is the Real Artest?

The Kings Have Won 5 Straight. So What?

Cross-posted at Sactown Royalty...

Below is a graph showing the Kings' progress against the .500 mark so far this season. It's been quite the ride. Even with the recent spark, we're back where we were at game #32, on January 9th. For the record, that's a month of hoops, running in place.



Are the Kings a good team because they've won five games in a row? No. Are they a better team than the one that lost seven in a row not too long ago, or the one that lost three straight before this current streak? Probably not.

While it's fun to see the Kings finally put a string of W's together, it's not as if the Kings have finally found their true identity. They've been an inconsistent team all year long, beating on the bad teams, losing to the bad teams, eking out wins against average teams and getting blown out by the best.

After this recent mini-streak, the Kings are still 16 full games back in the Pacific Division, in last place, behind the other-worldly Phoenix Suns, and they are two games back of the LA Clippers for the 8th spot in the Western Conference standings, with Minnesota, New Orleans and Golden State needing to be leapfrogged.

Believe it or not, this team is neither good nor bad. After 192 full quarters and four overtimes (all losses), the Kings have scored exactly TWO points fewer than their opponents, with the current tally being "Them: 4,810 and Us: 4,808". Sounds pretty even to me.

For all the latest stats, Download the Database (Updated on 2/10/07).

Stats Corner Shows How to Win 80% of Games

Recent Stats Corner Features:

• Why the Kings Won: Selective Shooting
  
• Kings Drawn and 3rd Quartered
  
• Suckitude Doesn't Compute
  
• Losing the Close Ones
  

Playing the role of sports stats geek for Sactown Royalty this NBA season has been a lot of fun, as it lets me combine my inner nerddom with my fanatacism for sports. Over the months, as we Kings fans have lamented the team's various issues, we can see trends. Oddly enough, by keeping a running database game by game, we're finding our hunches are often correct. Tonight, we exposed an unknown fact - that the Kings win more than 4 of every 5 games in which they make more 3-point baskets than their opponent. Yet, when they don't win that single stat, they tend to lose more often - to the tune of 6 out of 7 times.

It's rare a stat like this will show such a disparity in wins and losses. But don't believe me. Talk to Stats Corner. (Or Download the Database)