That was the easy part, the transition from awful to good. Next step is the tough one, good to great.
Kings fans are thrilled with this season’s progress, a hungry audience given a meal of rump steak, starchy potatoes and organic lettuce. Now let’s talk about dessert and remember reaching the NBA playoffs is not a major accomplishment.
I have two healthy habits. One is a long walk every morning after breakfast. The other is looking for ways Sacramento political leaders blow opportunities to create a wonderful city.
After a walk the other day, I dug through some Sacramento Library archives. I wanted to learn how various neighborhoods came to be, how industrial operations were shoved north of B Street, how R Street was filled with warehouses, how businesses districts were dislodged from residential streets.
Inside remembers the life of Jim Hastings (1928 – 2023).
I still have nightmares about a guy who came to City Hall and talked about floods. He worked for the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency and spoke words that terrified me.
Growing up in Sacramento, I knew about floods and the dangers they presented. Thankfully, those dangers were always theoretical or viewed from safe distance.
When big floods came they inundated Peach Tree Mall in Yuba County. Or they swamped roadways and overflowed canals in rural areas such as Wilton or Arcade or Dry Creek. That’s what I knew.
Floods didn’t happen in Sacramento, at least not anymore. A system of dams, weirs and levees guarded the city. The last time rowboats floated on Downtown streets was 1862, when a levee broke near today’s River Park and flooded the town.
My kid got mad at me the other day when I said esports were video games masquerading as athletic competition. He said I didn’t know what I was talking about. He said esports require tremendous coordination, concentration and stamina, and involve lots of money.
Those qualities define modern competitive sports, he said.
My kid’s in graduate school, which means he’s smarter than me. But I was a professional sportswriter for 20 years, and still know a few things. For instance, I know a great way to get sports fans arguing is to suggest their favorite game isn’t really a sport.
