(Ladies and gentlemen, louismg and I have a new contributing friend, who will be posting dispatches from years past as well as life right now from Section #214. Without further adieu, section214. -TZ)
TZ asked me if I would explain why I became a Kings fan. This is a lot like asking a person why they have webbed feet, or why their left eye constantly looks at their right eye, or why a person thinks the slogan "Try our thick creamy shakes!" is always clever and appropriate - Welcome to Sacramento; Try our thick creamy shakes!
I saw a lot of games in the old arena, but I began sharing season tickets the first year of the present ARCO. Joe Kleine was entering his third season and was due to have a breakout year. He was coming off an 8 pt., 6 reb. year, and added 30 big blocks (Joe was a believer in quality over quantity). My fellow ticket holders in section 215 (I did not become section214 until years later) decided that we would hoist our beverage every time Joe did something good, yell "Joooooe!!!" and take a big swig. Halfway through the season we realized that Joe was keeping us way too sober, the Kings were losing way too much, and Magic and Bird only came to town a few times a year, so we adapted the rules. Whenever Joe did anything we would drink. Joe throws an in bounds pass - "JOOOOOE!!!" Joe takes off his warm ups without falling down - "JOOOOOE!!!" The seeds were sewn and the roots began to take hold. This was my team and would be for life. You had me at Joe Kleine. Scwarzenegger & Ventura in '08; Try our thick creamy shakes!
The Kings are my vice. I obsess over them, and now in all of you I have found a group of people that share/suffer/revel in that same passion. A group of webbed footed, cross eyed, wonderfully obsessed people. Thanks for showing your true colors, for letting me know that it's alright to obsess. SACTOWN ROYALTY; Try our thick creamy shakes!