Wondering why he didn't get a phone call

Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento is upset, and rightly so.  It turns out that the Kings want to move the team out of California’s state capitol to Anaheim.  But instead of having a nice, sit-down conversation with the Maloof family – owners of the franchise – he found out about their intentions via Google Alert.  According to the Sacramento Bee:

The Sacramento Kings may not have a deal yet to move to Anaheim, but they’re clearly exploring that option.

The strongest glimpse of what’s happening behind the scenes came Thursday, when the National Basketball Association revealed that the Maloof family, which owns the Kings, has requested an extension of the league’s Tuesday deadline for asking permission to move to a new city this year.

In a hastily called news conference Thursday, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson expressed disappointment.

“This means one thing,” he said. “They are trying to cut a deal to leave.”

“I would have preferred a phone call in advance,” said the mayor, a former NBA All-Star. “Sacramento deserves better than this.”

Sacramento has been dealing with this issue for years.  The Kings have never been able to draw what the owners were hoping in attendance and revenue.  The team has been asking for a new arena and the city has yet to deliver.  Although the city did front the Kings $70 million in the 90s to prop up the franchise.  That, however, just informs the idea that Sacramento is not a good place for the continued financial viability of an NBA team.

In fact, it’s really hard to say whether Sacramento is a ‘basketball’ town.  But this kind of move by the Maloof family is reminiscent of Robert Irsay packing up the Baltimore Colts and sneaking off to Indianapolis in the middle of the night.  Did the family really think this wouldn’t be news?  Or did they just not care?

We’ll find out soon if the Anaheim deal goes through.  Then we’ll get to see how the Kings treat Sac-Town on their way out the door.

[PhotoSource: From the Capitol]

Bryant and Family outside Grauman's Chinese Theater

Hey, you got me.  For some unexplained reason NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant was honored this week with a traditional hand and footprint ceremony outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater.  Bryant is the very first athlete EVER to be given such an honor.

The basketball pro’s wife Vanessa Bryant and his two daughters, Natalie and Gianna, came out to support the 32-year-old for the honorary ceremony.

Kobe, the first non-actor to receive his own spot, was all smiles as he got his hands and feet a bit wet after imprinting them onto the legendary sidewalk.

Let’s put this in perspective.  They didn’t pick Muhammed Ali, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Magic Johnson, Joe Montana, a former president, or even Bill Gates.  Nope, they chose Kobe Bryant.  It’s not that he’s not exceptional at his craft, but…Well, maybe they chose him for his upstanding character.  Though there was that little matter of rape charges filed against him for an extra-marital incident that occurred while he was on the road.  Perhaps the selection committee heard about Bryant’s stunning acting debut in “Black Mamba”, a five-in-a-half minute shoe commercial by Nike.  At least that was acting…sort of.

Or, more likely, they chose Bryant because he lives in LA and plays basketball there.  That’s the only logical explanation.  They were looking for an athlete, there are all of two professional sports in Los Angeles right now and Bryant is the face of the Lakers.  The fact that he’ll one day be a Hall of Famer didn’t hurt.

But c’mon, really.  Kobe Bryant?  Seriously?

[PhotoSource: bauergriffononline.com]

After absolutely taking over Media Day at Super Bowl XLV, our super sexy Azteca reporter, Ines Sainz, has returned to stun the crowds – and the rest of the media – at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game.

Ines was dressed modestly for the game, but that didn’t stop her from being noticed and admired by several media members.  Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com tweeted this during the game:

Unless you’ve seen Inez Sainz in person you’ve never seen Inez Sainz. Good googly moogly, the woman is talented.

Whitlock is a lucky man.  Trust me, I read most of his columns when he worked for the Kansas City Star.

Here are a couple of more reasons why we think Ines is so ‘talented’.

Muy Inteligente!

[PhotoSource: BuzzFeed, Diogenes of Draper, celebrity.techwoo.com]

NBA all-star Dwight Howard throwing down a two-handed slam during a pickup game at beautiful Venice Beach in California.

Howard posted the photo on his Twitter (@dwighthoward) to his more than 1 million followers.