For the never-say-die Kings fan, Jan. 9 was an important day. It was the premiere of Small Market, Big Heart at the historic Crest Theatre in Downtown Sacramento. A documentary designed, as their promo states, “to share the compelling 26-year story of the people of Sacramento and their battle to get and keep a professional sports franchise” The film played once more on January 21, on KXTL FOX 40, but then went silent. On Tuesday, May 15, the outstanding documentary and collective vision of producers James Ham and Blake Ellington as well as director Tobin Halsey, will finally be available across the nation by way of the Small Market, Big Heart website (www.smallmarketbigheart.com) for th

If it wasn’t enough that it was Grateful Dead night and fans that bought the special ticket package got to talk to the legendary Bill Walton, members of the band and got a special T-shirt to mark the occasion. Then, the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, former Kansas City Royal Oscar Robertson was being recognized. How about that it was Fan Appreciation Night at the ole barn and nearly half in attendance was rewarded with some kind of prize for being a loyal purple-wearing fan. And finally, outstanding Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Isaiah Thomas was honored as this year’s winner of the team’s Oscar Robertson Triple Double Award during the game. Oh,

Coming into Thursday night’s contest at Raley Field, the Sacramento River Cats were on a roll. As winners of four of their last five, the team’s confidence was riding high, especially considering the pitching staff had only given up seven runs in the last five games. All that changed with the Tacoma Rainiers in town. They brought their ace, Anthony Vasquez, who had a streak of nine consecutive quality starts on the line dating back to last July, pitched a gem and kept Sacramento’s bats confused by changing speeds often. The pitching performance allowed the Rainiers to win the game 1-0 on a beautiful 79 degree evening in front of 4,304 fans. For the River Cats, the action got started in t

As the season winds down, the challenge becomes: How do you keep a 20-41 team still yearning for more wins and team cohesion? How about play the San Antonio Spurs (45-16) in front of a nearly packed house and learn from the seemingly simple way the team from Texas goes about its everyday business? The plan worked for 24 minutes. After halftime, the Spurs decided to lay the smackdown and really show the Sacramento Kings (20-42) how the formula translates on the floor by outscoring the home team 69-42 in the second half on way to a 127-102 rout at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday evening. The good news was that the Kings took an early 6-0 lead on the backs of Tyreke Evans and Jason Thomps

In the first two series of the year the Sacramento River Cats won both of them by winning three of the four games played in each. In the third series of the year, it was a close one, but the Cats beat the Reno Aces 2-1 in a classic pitchers’ duel on Monday night at Raley Field. The Aces were the first to scratch a run onto the huge Raley Field scoreboard when Ryan Wheeler ripped a 3-0 pitch from Cats starter Jarrod Parker that went screaming over the right field fence on a rope for a solo home run. Parker was solid though three innings of work. One-third of the way through the game, he had four strikeouts, three hits and a walk. In the bottom half of the third, Cats left fielder Grant G