The Sports Guy: Bill Simmons NBA Trade Value rankings for 2009

The Sports Guy: Bill Simmons NBA Trade Value rankings for 2009 - ESPN Page 2

30. Kevin Martin

Seems a little high until you remember he's averaging 27 a game with 46 percent shooting on 3s since New Year's. Wouldn't you try to pry him from the Maloofs right now? If I'm Houston's Daryl Morey during the All-Star break, I'm buying Patron shots for the Maloofs until 3 a.m. Sunday, then offering them T-Mac and a 2009 No. 1 for Martin and Kenny Thomas' deal that expires in 2010. Then again, Daryl went to MIT -- he probably couldn't do three shots without passing out or giving away Luis Scola straight up for Channing Frye. Bad plan.

Speaking of Kenny, did anyone see the irony of the Kings' retiring C-Webb's number last weekend even though his lavish extension genuinely murdered their franchise for the last six years of this decade? Continuing the girlfriend analogies, the poor Kings were like a buddy who had the greatest, most life-altering girlfriend for five years ... right until she gained 30 pounds, gave him VD (in this case, Kenny's unwieldy contract) and left him relatively destitute until 2010. But seriously, thanks for the memories, C-Webb! This is your night!

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - Travis - Last Words

The complete list of Starbucks iTunes picks of the week is here!

Job Losses In Recent Recessions

California Historical Landmark #967

My exfather-in-law served on the board and for a time as the chairman of the California Almond Growers Exchange.

California Almond Growers Exchange Processing Facility
California State Historical Landmark #967
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
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This landmark is at 1809 C Street, Sacramento, California. There are 57 other California State Historical Landmarks in Sacramento County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 38° 35.100 W 121° 28.720.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

 

The California Almond Growers Exchange, founded in 1910, was the first successful grower-owned cooperative for marketing California almonds. It pioneered in many fields, including almond production, mechanization, and marketing. The first structure on this property was built in 1915 and was designed to mechanize almond processing. This shelling plant was one of the earliest structures of its type, and contained the world's first mechanical cracker.

 

The Associate by John Grisham

I finished reading the The Associate by John Grisham. Since June of 1993, I have read 22 books by Grisham; As I have said before, I am not sure that this is something that I should be proud of.

Part of the storyline includes an interesting look at what it might be like to work for one of the largest law firms in the world. In particular, it details how the main character is treated and used as a first year associate straight out of law school.

Some of the reviews of the book have criticized the ending. Although I initially furrowed my brow as I finished the book, the ending seems consistent with the story as I have thought about the book over the last couple of days.

I enjoyed the book more than some of Grisham's other fiction of the last few years. I recommend it as a fast read for light entertainment.

High Plains Drifter

Running on the treadmill on Sunday afternoon, I watched the last half of High Plains Drifter as a rental on the AppleTV. Directed by Clint Eastwood, he had an entire town built on the shores of Mono Lake for the project.

I really enjoyed the scenery. Sharon and I hiked through the tufa towers along the shores of Lake Mono on our anniversary trip to Mammoth Lakes in 2001. Additionally, I took this picture of the lake on a ski trip with Larkin.

NBA Power Rankings 2008-2009 Week 15

The Kings dropped three spots from 27th to last in Marc Stein's weekly power rankings of NBA teams.

NBA Basketball Power Rankings - National Basketball Association - ESPN

Love seeing two of our old faves -- Webber on Friday, Divac in March -- have their jerseys retired. Sad to see that it pretty much takes a jersey-hanging ceremony to fill up what used to be the NBA's loudest building.

2009 PAL JV Rec Basketball Game #5

 

After spending a couple of hours in the morning working on his hitting with the Gunners, Jack played in his fifth JV Rec Basketball game of the 2009 PAL season. They played against Sacred Heart.

With a couple of players missing, Jack played parts of all four quarters. He played 2 in the first and third quarters and 1 in the second and fourth quarters. Jack actually played more minutes at point guard this week with the second unit than at shooting guard.

Jack had four points on 2 for 7 shooting from the floor. He had 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 nice steals. On one of the steals, he went 2/3's of the length of the floor and finished with a layup. On the other, he made a half court pass in traffic to Jake who was out front for an assist.

When Jack is playing shooting guard, the team runs a couple of plays that leave him free along the baseline. He continues to struggle with his shot from the wings. It seems like almost everyone on the team has been struggling with their shot the last couple of weeks. I will bet that they did not shoot 20% from the field as a team this week.

The Eagles won the game by a score of 27 to 2.

Dinner at the Cunningham's

Jack, Sharon and I went to dinner at the Cunninghams. The group included the Sanborns. Although we probably talked too much politics, I had a wonderful time.

2009 Kings versus Jazz plus Retiring Chris Weber's Jersey

Sharon, Jack and I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Utah Jazz NBA Basketball Game. Sharon is a big Chris Weber fan and wanted to see his jersey retirement. I bought some seats in section 113, row F. The team did a very nice job with a long half-time ceremony. A number of Kings from the 1998 to 2005 era attended and spoke including Scott Pollard, Doug Christie and Vlade Divac. Both Sharon and I felt like the half-time program was worth the price of admission. For the first time this season, it was a sell-out crowd!

Unfortunately, the final results for the game were not as satisfying. Leading 105-102 with 55 seconds left, the Kings lost by a score of 107 to 111. Both Kevin Martin and Jason Thompson were called for odd offensive fouls in the last two minutes.

Martin had 37 points on 10 for 20 from the floor, 4 for 9 from the three point line and 13 for 18 from the free throw line. Bobby Jackson was the second highest King's scorer with 15 points.

While Deron Williams scored 34 points, the difference in the game was Mehmet Okur. He added 28 points and 11 rebounds for Utah, including a 3 pointer with 48 seconds remaining in the game.

I have been feeling under the weather the last few days and had a hard time following the game from this angle. While it is fun to sit closer and be able to see their faces, I still feel like I can follow the flow of the game better from our season tickets in the front of the upper deck.

Retiring Chris Weber's Jersey

Living Room Set

We are going to host a living room set for the Andrew Heringer Band at our house at the end of the month. Details coming to your inbox soon!

At Eagles Basketball Practice

After last week's loss, the boys spent almost all practice working on their free throws and practicing breaking a press.

California Historical Landmark #609

D. O. Mills Bank Building
California State Historical Landmark #609
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
See this location on Google Maps
This landmark is located 100 ft from the southeast corner of the intersection of 2nd and J Streets, Sacramento, California. There are 57 other California State Historical Landmarks in Sacramento County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 38° 34.978 W 121° 30.226.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

 

Erected in 1852, this building housed one of the oldest and largest banks of early-day California.

The bank was founded by Darius Ogden Mills (1825-1910). Born in North Salem, Westchester County, New York, Mills was one of the earliest victims of the gold fever, sailing for California in December, 1848.

This is one of four California Historical Landmarks that were destroyed when Interstate 5 was built in Sacramento. The location is now on the edge of parking lot under the freeway.

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - Lisa Hannigan - I Don't Know

The complete list of Starbucks iTunes picks of the week is here!

Octopussy

Continuing my quest to watch all of the Bond films in order, Sharon, Jack and I watched Octopussy on Saturday night. Released in 1983, this is the thirteenth spy film in the James Bond series and the sixth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's title is taken from an Ian Fleming 1966 collection of short stories titled Octopussy and The Living Daylights. However, the film's story is original.

The murder of Agent 009 and a forgery of a Fabergé egg leads Bond to Kamal Khan, a wealthy Afghan prince, and Octopussy, the leader of an all-female octopus cult. Khan ends up betraying Octopussy and teaming up with a rogue Russian general. Octopussy owes Bond a favor for having helped her father long ago. They ally to stop a plot to force disarmament in Europe with the use of a nuclear weapon.

In addition to Roger Moore as James Bond, the cast includes Maud Adams as Octopussy, Louis Jourdan as Kamal Khan and Robert Brown as M. Octopussy is the first movie to have Robert Brown as Bond's boss M due to the death of Bernard Lee in 1981. This is second appearance for Maud Adams as a Bond Girl; her previous character was killed in The Man with the Golden Gun.

Jack loved the opening sequence where Bond ends up piloting a 12 foot jet airplane through an open hangar. Overall, this may be one of my least favorite James Bond films. I found the plot slow and plodding.

American Lion - Andrew Jackson in the White House

Over the last several months, we have seen the author of American Lion on the Jon Steward Show and the Colbert Report. I was impressed with the author (he is an editor for Newsweek) and bought the book. About halfway through, I was ready to dump the book and give it a negative recommendation. Although I am sure that it is not true, it seems like the majority of the first half of the book deals with Jackson's War Secretary John Eaton and his wife Margaret and their struggles to be accepted by Washington society. It seemed like this subject when on and on.

About the time I was really discouraged, the book shifted gears and started to focus on a number of key events, including the South Carolina nullification efforts, Jackson's crusade against the Bank of the United States, tensions with France over a treaty, moving the Indians west of the Mississippi and the conflict between Texas and Mexico. I have not read much about American history from 1800 to 1840. I was fascinated by the how you could see lines being drawn for the Civil War more than 30 year before it took place. I enjoyed the second half of the book.

Overall, I give the book a luke warm recommendation. I am definitely going to have to go back later and find a complete biography on Andrew Jackson.

NBA Power Rankings 2008-2009 Week 14

The Kings jumped three spots from last to 27th in Marc Stein's weekly power rankings of NBA teams, ahead of the Wizards, Grizzlies and Clippers.

NBA Basketball Power Rankings - National Basketball Association - ESPN

They're mentioned in lots of trade scenarios. They're also somehow 0-21 against the East, with only nine more chances to do something about that O-fer. Who says the Kings are giving us nothing to talk about?

Super Bowl XLIII Party

After Jack's basketball game, we went to the Sharon's brother Tim's house for a Super Bowl Party. I am not a Steeler's fan; I was rooting for Arizona. [Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 24]

2009 PAL JV Rec Basketball Game #4

 

Jack played in his fourth JV Rec Basketball game of the 2009 PAL season. They played against St. John Vianney. The Eagles played this team in the championship game of the pre-season tournament and won in double overtime. As I noted at the time, St. John Vianney has an enormous player who has solid skills.

It was a very hard fought game. The Eagles lead by a score of 4 to 0 after the first 6 minute quarter. Jack had the assists on both of the first quarter baskets with nice entry passes to Jake and Andy. Jack does a very good job of keeping his eyes up while he is dribbling the ball up the court. A lot of the kids have their heads down looking at the ball.

Jack struggled with his shot. He was 0 for 5 from the field. Except for a fast break lay-up attempt in traffic, all of his shots looked good, but just could not find the bottom of the basket. He and I had gone to the park for about 40 minutes in the morning to shoot baskets to try and get him on track, but to no avail.

Jack continues to play the 2 in the first line. He played the first and third periods plus the last minute and a half of the fourth quarter.

With the Eagles trailing by 2 points and 2 second left in the game, they had the ball out of bounds underneath their own basket. Jack made a pretty good inbound pass to one of the forwards under the basket, but he could not find the handle. The Eagles lost by a score of 22 to 20.

Jack was very upset after the game; he was blaming himself for the loss, particularly on the last inbounds play. The difference in the game was free throw shooting down the stretch. With the Eagles leading 20 to 19 in the last minute, the other team made three out of four of their free throw attempts, while the Eagles missed the front-end of two 1 and 1's.