lemme explain to you why my attitude towards the kings has progressively gotten sour over about the last 2-3 years

(seeing how i just finished my 1st midterm, i figure i'd give myself a break by releasing these words before going back to work)

it's actually a combination of things...

i used to like them in 2000 ish, but then things gradually declined...

and it's not due to the fact that they don't dominate the west like before; wins never factor into how i like a team(too much that is)... TRUST ME; i liked the warriors last year before they even got davis; that should tell you how i feel.

it's just that over time, it's dawned on me how much i dislike their playstyle, the way kings play-by-play announcers go about each game, and their fans.

now, don't get me wrong; there's things about their offense that are good for any basketball team; they have great shooters, and they emphasize a very unselfish way of playing offense. very few teams utilize big men as passers, but the kings do.

but they totally neglect the physical aspect of basketball; team defense, individual defense, rebounding, and post-up play. now, maybe that's just cause i'm a pistons fan that i say this, but surely you can't expect a team to win without any defense, can you? you can't expect to be on fire every night, but you can expect your d to be the same regardless of what night you play as long as you want it. now, you may say that's the limitations of the athletic abilities of some of the players on the kings team, like divac(in past), webber or peja, but i say, it's also in the mentality aspect. ben wallace shouldn't be able to block shots and outrebound a lot of the centers in the league since he's so short, but he does it, because he WANTS it and plays like he wants it(and i'm not just talking about help d; watch him, and you'll notice he's not that bad of a 1-on-1 defender). my point is that the guys on this team don't want it. except maybe bibby. and skinner. tyson chandeler wants it; bowen wants it; ak-47 wants it; tim duncan wants it; kg wants it; jermaine wants it. all of the pistons starting 5 want it. ron artest wants it. i believe shaq also wants it. (yao ming doesn't, sorry jerm :D)

part of why i may dislike their fans flows off of their playstyle; i get a feeling that everybody who's NOT a sacramento native who is a kings fan does not appreciate the physical aspect of basketball.

but if you haven't lived in yolo county, and haven't watched kings television on comcast sportsnet, then you may never understand why i hate the announcers.

basically, watching kings is not on fsn up here; it's on comcast.

and i just generally dislike how they give the presentation of each game.

maybe it's cause they're white, but then espn's commentators are white, but do a great job... of commentating

they don't outright say the team they are playing against suck, but it's all in the subliminal stuff:

-they never show replays of good plays from the opposing team
-you can tell by their level of voice that they never like the opposing team's plays, ie if bibby nails a clutch 3(OMG! BIBBY DA HERO!) whereas if the opposing team wins in clutch(*mumbles about clutch 3*)
-likewise, if the opposing team does something good, they always shift the discussion to some previous kings play which looked good
-ALWAYS, and i mean ALWAYS, saying stuff about how the ref should have called in favor of the kings(looked like chicago was in the foul circle to me, seems like it should've been defensive foul)
-on top of that, they're just not good commentators; always talking to each other instead of giving a play-by-play until something from the kings goes right

so it's not really a show for BASKETBALL FANS; it's a show for SACRAMENTO FANS. the show's not unbiased at all.

do you get what i'm saying?

i'm not saying i don't appreciate a good play even if it's with a team i loathe; they were showing suns and kings last night, and when i saw a putback by one of the kings, and a great block, i had to yell "OH!" but i also did equally when i saw the suns come right back with a huge block.

so it's not really a show for people who love the game; it's a show for people who are so stuck up about their local team that they can't even see a good play if it passed under their nose.

i mean, lets put it this way; if the warriors got posterized by kobe bryant, i might dislike it, but i'd still appreciate it, and maybe in the spur of the moment, go "OH..."

remember when kobe played against twolves in 2003(the year they lost to the spurs?)? i was watching, and when kobe did that nasty reverse dunk, jon went "OOH!!" when i saw the replay i was thinking that was sick, more sick than the crossover he did against the nuggets. even though we hated the lakers, we saw and appreciated a good play when it was there. if that was sacramento they played against, you'd NEVER get that type of reaction from the announcers if it was the comcast announcers. NE-VAR...

and i'm pretty sure this doesn't occur with other sports channels in other areas; i've seen replays on nba.com where they don't show it from abc or espn or tnt, and the commentator, despite being a commentator for a team who just got posterized, will go "OHHHHH!!!"

so now you understand why i hate the kings.

despite that, they might be a little more defensive this year; less white guys :D

and i like francisco garcia, so who knows...

(of course, i've never gotten cable at home, so i don't know if fsn bay area is like this w/every warriors game, but i doubt it can get as bad as the comcast announcers)