An Ode to Speed
by pookeyguru on Feb 18, 2010 7:07 AM PST
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Print(From the FanPosts. pookeyguru has been here with me at Sactown Royalty since the beginning, and I appreciate his thoughts on losing Kevin Martin. -- TZ)
Kevin Martin as I wrote earlier today is one of my favorite Kings ever. Top 5 of all time. Always will be that way. It will take a lot to crack Mitch, Vlade, DC13, Speed, and Reke. Love em all. And Reke is only a rookie. But I digress. This is about Kevin Martin and what he meant to me.
To be honest I don't remember much about Kevin's rookie season. I remember Matt Barnes and Mo Evans, but I don't remember Martin. I don't remember his being left off the playoff roster in that gloomy April of '05. I remember nearly everything since. I remember his amazing 2nd year where I thought he was a multiple time All-Star in a Kings uni. HIs amazing (and badly overlooked) season in 2007 where the Dubs stole everything including Martin's well deserved MIP. (Yes I remember that.) I remember Amick Gate in 2008 where Napear talked shit about Martin implicitly, but tried to act like he wasn't. Yet, one of the enduring memories I have of Kevin remains to be this.
What galls me about this? Not the memory of it. It was great when I saw it on DVR several hours later. What galled me IS WHY I DIDN'T GO. I didn't like Artest, and it let me cloud the last opportunity (as it were) to see my beloved Kings in my new city of Seattle. I also didn't want to put money in Clay Bennett's pocket. As it turned out, a very costly mistake. Kevin not only hit the GW shot in his last game at Key Arena, but he did so with so little fanfare. I don't think fans even remember it. It still burns a hole in my heart. I don't ever regret not going to games. I will forever regret not going to this. All I had to do was take the day off. But noooooooooo, there would be other times. I missed the opportunity to crow about one of the games unusual and enticing talents in the arena where one of his more impressive games occurred. Bitter? You bet your ass.
And that is the essence of SpeedRacer to the fullest. At times when he was successful he was taken for granted. In times of great peril and distress he was tossed to the dogs as if he was a 5 cent nickel steak. Nothing he ever did was good enough; nothing he ever did was important enough. When Tyreke Evans and the younginz came about, it seemed to overshadow him. He lost that spirit, and so have I. May you live long and prosper in the oily shadows of the Toyota Center and Clutchtown Sir SpeedRacer. You will be missed.
(This is a FanPost from a member of the Sactown Royalty community. The views expressed come from the member, and not Sactown Royalty staff.)
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Wow
well done pookey.
What we've got here is, failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach.
Well Put...
When you are classy and respectful like Speed no one notices when you are amazing as you do not puff your chest out or tell the media how great you are.
When you are classy and respectful like Speed you do not confront your skeptics as it would only draw attention away from the team.
Speed was a player who always let his play do the talking; he outscored Artest and Bibby with less shots then both and never demanded the ball. His humbleness was both his greatest strength and greatest weakness.
Its rough seeing such a great player and guy leave, he was the lone bright spot in the previous four years and I wish him the best in Houston.
There now I've met the 75 word count. -pookeyguru
To be fair Mo
I don’t think he was the only bright spot. He was the light in the tunnel as the future. And, then that completely passed him by. I just never saw this coming. Not this way. Not this how.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
The irony is he missed several last night.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
Excellent post, I too am very heartbroken!
You know what I really love, I really love the Lacoste Sport Sweat suit man. The one that looks like the orange that's the same color as fruit loop orange! Houses like clovers, houses like clovers whatever that man says! Twinkle, Stars, Diamonds, Emeralds. We got every color bruh! It's fu@#in crazy man. This fool walked up to me the other day, and was like blood, where did you get them at yo? What, you made them? I said, man we don't make nothin man! We don't make nothin man. We just make your girl give h%@d. When she sees these on sight. She never thought they come in size twelves man. I wear size twelves man!
i can honestly say i'm not happy about this trade
i don’t want to blame this trade on the media but it almost seems like they took kevin under, i guess you just have to be stronger than that whatever great videos
I don't like you Detroit.
Kevin has and will be missed
Pookey, you have shared your love and admiration of Kevin and your pain of seeing him go. You are not the only one who has admired Kevin Martin.
I am a Bay Area transplant, moving here in 1989. I didn’t pay attention to the game of basketball until the 2002 playoffs, when Mike Bibby captured my attention. Bibby was the player responsible for me to even watch a game of basketball. Before Bibby, basketball was just a fast-paced game with players running back and forth across the court making baskets. Mike Bibby showed me that there is a lot more to the game. I thought Bibby would be my favorite player, forever. That was, until Kevin Martin came along. While Bibby started to falter, both on and off the court, Kevin Martin was mesmerizing with his ease of making baskets and his grace in play and his demeanor. Kevin quickly became my favorite player. Kevin Martin personified all that was good in the world. I, too, felt the pain that he was overlooked as a rookie, MIP, and All-Star. He never seemed to get his just due. He never complained and always seemed perfectly content to be the best Kings’ player on a losing team. (Course, it did bother me that he didn’t want to be the best player on a winning team. I wanted him to have higher aspirations for himself.)
However, I have been in mourning for the Kevin Martin from previous seasons all season long. It has been so long that I can hardly remember the Kevin Martin that I once admired. However, we did see glimpses of that this season. I have hardly even recognized the Kevin of late, because something seems to be missing. Not just his game, but something inside of him. Peaches didn’t help. I am sorry that the circumstances unfolded for him as they have. I had hoped that things would work out differently. I was hoping for a happy ending for him here in Sacramento. (I have to admit that I am a bit angry at all the people on here who posted all of those possible Kevin Martin trades. It was just a lot of negative energy focused on Kevin. Some of that negativity gets passed on and indirectly becomes an influence outside of SacTown Royalty. However, I will let go of that because that is all now in the past.)
Kevin Martin is gone and I feel, today, like someone has died.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
by Slam_Dunk on Feb 18, 2010 9:06 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
P.S. If you were one of those people
who was so quick to put Kevin into one of your cute mock trades, don’t even talk about how you are sorry to see him go now.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
Agreed with that...
As much as the notion of trading him was built up by the media et al, I never believed it… I still love Speed
Just because someone made a few comments that they'd trade Martin to make the team better as a whole
Doesn’t mean they’re completely void of attachments, or feelings toward Martin. Many, many fans loved Webber, but he had to be traded to move the organization forward (not in hindsight).
Being a fan of the Sacramento Kings, love for the organization and the team comes first. Love for the players comes second. …But that doesn’t mean there’s absolutely no love there for the player.
You are just going to have to live with your guilt.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
true that
so overshadowed and underappreciated. I wish I would have known about this site from 2005 and on but I’m glad i went through last years terrible season with str and its loyal kings fans.
Well said big guy
I feel like I got dumped. I can’t find the right words, so I’m glad to see you did.
Wait....Why is everybody clapping? Everyone around me is clapping.... I guess I should be clapping too... GO LAKERS!!! I hate living in So Cal
There are no right words 27. Just lots & lots of sad one's.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
by pookeyguru on Feb 18, 2010 9:24 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Nice work Pook.
I am in Vegas for a few days so although I followed along with the chaos of last night and the early morning, I am just now ready to respond via blackberry (its hard to type on this little key pad when you’re sobbing).
Martin is the kind of player that a dad can love. He is respectful, articulate, professional, clean cut and a guy who puts in his time every year to improve. Toby has a Kevin Martin jersey which we will now retire so it can take its rightful place in my eventual mancave. Here is my problem with this deal. I like Landry and I like Evans, JT, Omri and Brockman but I loved Kevin Martin. Again, as a dad, who on the Kings do I go out and buy a jersey of for my boys? Can anyone insure me that JT or Omri will be here next season? Evans? He’s got a long ways to go to make me forget that he was a driver in a drive by shooting where someone died. Martin was our guy. Locked up long term, good looking and a fringe all star, Martin was a guy that a dad wants to tell his son to be like.
The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex.
by jjham15 on Feb 18, 2010 9:40 AM PST via mobile reply actions 5 recs
Great work Pook
Thanks. Rec’d.
Blessings.Love.Peace
by lifestyleforthesellout on Feb 18, 2010 10:49 AM PST reply actions
Liked the videos
but couldn’t tell if this was about Kevin or the author himself.
by KeonClark on Feb 18, 2010 11:45 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Both.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
Considering my comment the other day about
people needing to toot their own horn, in life, or on StR. I’ll rec this solely for myself ;). Glad to see pook is human. Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same.
Bé foréwarnéd: I am a mémbér of StR Groupthink méntality.
You always assumed that I was a cyborg or something Cab?
Awesome.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
Heh. I wish I looked that good.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
Of course not.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
I'm here for the five o'clock free crack give-away!
…Oh, sorry. I saw “Ode to Speed” and assumed it was something else.
LOL. JK, good job, Pook.
"If you told him to head-butt the wall, he would do it." -- Paul Westphal re: Brockness Monster.
Brooks and kmart
Worse defensive backcourt in the league
by elSAVinator on Feb 18, 2010 12:47 PM PST via mobile reply actions
If Kevin gets hurt again,
they can be Brooks and Done.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
Let's enjoy him on the Rockets, and they're incredible upset of the Lakers this postseason.
Screw you Knicks! LBJ to the Kings!!!
"Let's Go Home!"
Good stuff Pook
Don't say stupid shit. You won’t be perceived as stupid. - pookeyguru
I'm going to link this old FanPost here as my
Don't say stupid shit. You won’t be perceived as stupid. - pookeyguru
by Kfan in Korea on Feb 18, 2010 6:33 PM PST up reply actions
Great Diary indeed.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
'm not sure Donald Sterling is a human being. He had to have been manufactured by someone, possibly David Stern, so that one team could solely just make profit for the NBA while doing nothing good for themselves. -- Aykis 16
He was part of the family
That’s why it hurts. But we’ll get over it and the team will move on. I just hope this doesn’t happen again.
"Children want what they want when they want it." ... Andy Sims
It's part of the business
The Kings are a rebuilding team, and Kevin deserves to play for a contender. Hopefully it turns out to be a win-win for the Kings and Kevin.
"The basis for winning an NBA title is having a superstar in his prime. Not an all-star, or a bunch of all-stars, but a superstar."
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 19, 2010 9:57 AM PST reply actions
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