5K Champions

After a late night in Sacramento made it back to San Francisco a bit before 1am to stay with my friends Nicole and Dan who conveniently live near Golden Gate Park - where we were racing at 8am this morning!

Having never ran more than 1.5miles in my life, and having complained very much when I did, I'm not sure how I let Nicole convince me to do a 5K with her. Other people call this a fun run... I call it torture. Turned out to not be that tortuous, Nicole helped me keep a nice pace so I didn't tucker out. And you can see how happy/ridiculous we look crossing the finish line. Ignore that a small child is finishing the race right behind us.

Then we got to enjoy the free goodies while we waited for Dan who completed the 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours. Way to go Dan!

Then we enjoyed some yummy brunch with Dan's parents who were in town, before I headed back to Vacaville to watch the superbowl with my dad/stuff my face and completely counteract my running.

NBA: Kings defeat Warriors 114-106 in OT

Headed back to Sacramento for match up between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.

In a bit of a quandry (not that it makes a difference) I was torn on which team I personally wanted to win. I consider myself a fan of both, probably more so Warriors, but since Warriors had defeated the Kings in Oakland, it would be nice for Kings to win at their home.

Also, there would be some poetic justice for former Warriors head coach turned Kings assistant coach, turned Kings head coach to beat his former team. Though both Keith Smart and Mark Jackson seem happy in their current positions.

It was also going to be exciting to see Isaiah Thomas, to battle against another Washington Husky alum, the one he modeled himself after, Nate Robinson.

Such an interesting dynamic to want to beat the person who's footsteps you tried to follow. But I'm sure he's watched enough film of Robinson to know his tendencies and know where he could be beat.

All I really wanted was for it to be a tight and close game. And I got that!

Warriors were up by 9 going into halftime.

But Kings came out and meant business

Tyreke Evans going up for the shot against Andris Biendrins

Then showing off his muscles... really? I think every player on the court is pretty muscular, no sense in trying to show off.

In the fourth quarter I was thinking man, this game is so exciting, I don't want it to be over at the end of this quarter!... And be careful what you wish for because the game went into overtime. This would have been awesome if I didn't have to drive back to San Francisco and run my first ever 5K the next morning at 8am... but let's face it, it was still awesome!

Kings were able to control the ball in overtime for an exciting 114-106 win at home!

NBA: Kings defeat Trailblazers 95-92

Headed back to Power Balance Pavilion for the game between the Portland Trailblazers and the Sacramento Kings.

Before the game, the fans behind me asked Portland's Gerald Wallace, a Kings player from 2001-2004, if he missed Sacramento. He didn't say anything, just kind of put his head back and laughed. Ouch!

As the game got going, DeMarcus Cousins picked up two fouls before the first timeout and I thought Kings were going to be in trouble.

Later he was asking the ref to "clean up" the game, after some rough and tumble in the paint.

A foul sent Kings leading scorer Marcus Thornton to floor - in his first game back from injury.

At the half, Kings were trailing the Trailblazers by nine points - thanks in part to leading scorer for the Trailblazers LaMarcus Aldridge.

But with 3:39 left in the third Tyreke Evans put up a huge breakaway dunk to tie the game, and fired up the Kings.

With Kings up by three in the final seconds, Portland got the ball and scrambled, shooting/rebounding for three three-point shots, but none of them went in, and Kings came up with the 95-92 win.

I'm super impressed with Isaiah Thomas, who is 5'9" which might be average for a guy in everyday life, but is about a foot shorter than all of the guys on the court. You might be able to guess that by his speed. But you wouldn't guess that when he goes up to block shots.

Or takes jumps shots against the giants on the court.

Also impressive, he was picked dead last in the 2011 draft and logged 17 minutes in this game... compared to first round pick Jimmer Fredette who never got on the court at all. Not to say Jimmer isn't working hard, but Thomas sure makes ya believe in hard work, chasing your dreams, and cheering for the little guy.

I also like Keith Smart. I'm not basketball savvy enough to argue that it's his coaching style, for me it's his expressions.

And that he puts players where he wants on the court... literally. Haha.

Great win for the Kings and I'm excited to go back Saturday as Keith Smart will face his former team, the Golden State Warriors!