The highly-regarded 6-foot-8, 280-pound player from Elk Grove has chosen Oregon state to be his home for the next four years. The top recruit in the west will play basketball and football for the Ducks.

“I’m going to play defensive line,” said Armstead. “They are going to run a 3-4, which was also big for my decision. I see myself fitting in with the team and working with Coach Azzinaro. Hopefully he can turn me into an NFL draft pick.”

Continue Reading

The Sacramento Kings have fired coach Paul Westphal. He has been with the Kings for about two seasons and leaves with a record of 51-120. Assistant coach Keith Smart will take over until a replacement is found.

“The overall performance level of the team has not approached what we felt was reasonable to expect,” said the Kings president of basketball operations, Geoff Petrie, in a news release.

Westphal saidn in a new release, “Geoff Petrie and his staff have been nothing but honest and supportive throughout my time here, they are first class in every way and I wish them nothing but success. My hope is to see the fans of the Kings and the city of Sacramento rewarded with many years of great basketball.” “Finally, I want to thank my loyal staff and players for their efforts in attempting to climb out of the hole we shared,” “Nothing comes easy in the NBA and I know they will not rest in their efforts to rebuild this team.”

Continue Reading

On Saturday, Granite Bay beat defending champion Pleasant Grove 30-24 at Sacramento State. The Grizzlies
ready and confident and it showed. After beating Lincoln of Stockton 28-21 in a semifinal they were the team to watch.

The win also answered any remaining questions about who would be invited to the bowl games. Pleasant Grove had a chance to be invited if they had won the game. Even though Granite Bay played well and won the game they have no chance of going to a bowl game. De La Salle of Concord and Bellarmine of San Jose have the best chances of going to a bowl game this year.

Continue Reading

Despite the NBA lockout the new Sacramento area sports complex is moving forward according to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

The NBA has canceled the first two weeks of games, but that is not going to stop Johnson. He issued the following statement:

“While like many others we hope that the NBA and the players are able to come to an agreement, our focus has always been that this facility is more than just a professional basketball arena but rather, similar to what has taken place in Kansas City, an entertainment and sports complex that will generate economic activity and create jobs,”

Continue Reading

Just when things could not get worse for Sacramento’s chances of keeping the Kings in town, the NBA cancels two weeks of games. This is all due to a work stoppage and labor impasse in the National Basketball League. NBA team owners continue to lock out players as both sides keep bicker over how to split league revenue. The owners want a 50-50 split of all revenue. Players previously received 57 percent in the previous, now-expired collective bargaining agreement. As one fan put it “this is just a bunch of millionaires arguing with other millionaires about how to split millions of dollars”

NBA Commissioner David Stern said he is canceling the start of the season, including at least four Sacramento Kings home games. Many feel this could jeopardize Sacramento’s efforts to get a new arena built in downtown. Who wants to pay for an arena when there are no games to watch?

Continue Reading

The Sacramento City Council voted 7-2 to approve spending $555,000 on the consultants for the new arena. The only decenting votes came from Sandy Sheedy and Darrell Fong. Sheedy said “a limit to what we can do in terms of funding an arena.” . . . “We are moving ahead with money that we can’t spend,”. While Darrell Fong wanted more outside involvement saying he had “serious concerns” that other local government are not spending any money on these consultants.

The money will be spent on lawyers, investment bankers, municipal financing consultants, parking experts, and other consultants. The consultants included firms like Barrett Sports Group.

Continue Reading

SureWest Communications today announced the re-launch of SureWestSports.com, transforming it into the most comprehensive source for local youth and high school sports coverage in the Sacramento region. Home to the popular SureWest Sports Show, the redesigned site continues to feature the weekly video program as well as new content such as in-depth game stories, blogs, photos, stats, rankings and the SureWest players of the week.

“As youth sports have grown over the past several years, so has the following of our weekly video show,” said host Mike Finnerty. “Every day, I hear from kids, coaches and families who want more coverage and our newly redesigned site delivers.”

Continue Reading

Vista del Lago falls to Casa Roble in overtime, 50-49. Vista del Lago trailed for most of the game, but tied the game in the final minute. The score was 42 to 42 when they went into overtime. Both teams scored in overtime, but Casa was able to execute a two point conversion.

“You have to walk away from a game like this with a bitter taste in your mouth because these are the kind of games you want to win, but you guys have to take the positives out of this game,” Jones told his team. “There was a stretch of time there that you guys could have caved but you didn’t. In the last six minutes of the fourth quarter I felt us start to come together as a team. I felt us get stronger as a group.”

Vista’s touchdowns were completed by several players including, Logan Smith, Josh Pfeffer, Taylor Wisinksi, Tyler Kaim, Austin Eberle, and Ethan Pipion. This depth shows a strong offensive.

The Vista JV team lost 40-12. Vista’s JV touchdowns were scored by Mike Majeski and Andrew Schantz.

The Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) has partnered with the Sacramento River Cats to raise funds for the EGUSD high school athletics program.  EGUSD will receive 50 percent of the ticket price for tickets purchased for two Sacramento River Cats playoff games on September 9 and 10.

Special promotions will be featured at each game.  The game on September 9 is $1 hot dog and $1 dessert night.  A fireworks show will occur after the game on September 10.  Game attendees wearing school spirit gear to either game will receive $2 in Cat Cash – which can be used to purchase food and souvenirs at the ball park.

Continue Reading

On Thursday August 11th there is a Town Hall Meeting. The agenda is to discuss the economic impact to Natomas without the Sacramento Kings. If you would like to attend the meeting will be held at the Natomas Charter School, 4600 Blackrock Drive, Sacramento, CA.

Much of the the hype surrounding the effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento has died down. There is still no plan to pay for a new arena. Without a new arena the Sacramento Kings have already said they will leave Sacramento.

Continue Reading