As a teen, I remember NBA games always being on tv. Bulls' games most often. I grew up during the era of Jordan fever. Shortly after MJ retired, I headed off to college. After the school year, I'd come home in the summer right as the playoff season began. With the Bulls out of the picture, new teams emerged.
That's when I fell in love with the Kings. As I broke out on my own, they broke out on the court. They were a group of misfits almost, who made it happen the old-fashioned way-- teamwork and determination. They were young, fast, exciting and actually good. I think the key, as corny as it sounds, was that they believed in themselves.
Jason Williams was the player I noticed first, mostly because he is a hometown boy. (Hometown to me anyway. He’s from WV.) There was the lanky defender, Doug Christie, the sharp-shooter, Peja Stojakovich and of course, their leader, Chris Webber. There was just something about him, something sincere. He seemed to be a man who’d been humbled by his mistakes. He’d matured and was focused on only one thing, winning. Even if it meant winning in a cow town.
The Webber fan in me started to grow. But it was easy. It is so fun to watch a good player play in the four man spot. They can do so much: rebound, block, pass and move on the floor to create a play. They can score in many ways: slash inside, power dunk or get it in with a nice jump or hook shot.
And on a personal level, how could you not like him? To my knowledge, he has not fathered any children and only has one tattoo that can't even be seen when wearing his jersey. He likes art and history. His collection of historical documents and such has been on display at the Crocker. And that smile? It was even good enough for Tyra for a season or two.
It was a fun coincidence that after college, we had the opportunity to move to the 
Sacramento area. I could become a legitimate Kings fan! Even though Chris Webber was no longer playing here, we still had the connection, since one of Dan's first engineering projects was C-Webb's restaurant, Center Court.
So what happened? In basketball it always happens: injuries, trades and the team that I loved started to fizzle and eventually fall apart. They had their run and so did I. My calendar is no longer marked with every televised game, partly because my life started to change as they split up. Some could call it fair-weather. But I still love the game itself and good players. And I have good reason to not be such a follower. I have been mad at the swanky Maloofs ever since they fired Adelman. What a stupid move. Now we have to face it--the Kings are terrible. It wasn't that long ago that they lost a game BY 48 POINTS.
Chris retired last year and a few Fridays ago, they honored my King of choice at Arco Arena by hanging his jersey in the rafters. I decided to not fork out a ton of cash to go watch the ceremony live, but celebrated in my own way. I dug out my baby Webber jersey and threw it on Calli and watched the proceedings online. Here are some of the highlights.
I recommend the short video version of the ceremony, but posted the full-length one also because the beginning montage shown on it was really well done and not included in the short one.
Congrats Chris on your achievement. I enjoyed paying tribute.
Speaking of basketball, isn't March upon us now? Better get your brackets ready.... :)
Chris Webber Top Ten Plays:
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/02/06/nba_20090206_webber_top10.nba/index.html
Jersey Retirement Ceremony Short:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UCjs8KSmfQ
Jersey Retirement Ceremony Full:
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/2/Chris-Webber-s-Full-Retirement-Ceremony-664416.html
2 comments:
What Miss Ashley no longer has every Kings game written on her calendar?! I remember being dragged to SLC after a very LONG day to watch the END of the King/Jazz game by a certain someone (ok, it ended up being really fun and we had a great time...it was a great way to end my long day!). I never thought I would see the day that Ashley didn't love/live by the Kings especially now that she actually lives in Sacramento....but then again, life happens and better things like being a mom take priority and those loves from our college days seem to become less a part of our lives. In all reality, would we really trade our kids for the things we had time for and loved in college? Not a chance!
Just had to give the absolute King fan I hung out with a bad time because I love you! Wish we were closer to hang out after a long day now. :)
PS You are still a King's fan and keep me informed on those players as I wouldn't have realized that Webber retired if you had not have told me, so thanks for sharing.
now this was something that i did not know about you. kings fan, eh? who knew?
i love the shot of calli in the jersey and pigtails. priceless.
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