by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–When I first started working with former late great Sacramento TV-radio personality Ken Gimblin was at the Oakland Coliseum during the great Haas Family A’s teams during the 80s. We were all younger of course and Ken always treated me with respect and we developed a good working relationship and he was a very good man.

I was very sadden to hear the news of his sudden passing last week on Mon 14th, and yes Ken 76 was a real veteran of the business and the Bay Area and Northern California sports, he worked in Sacramento in TV-radio and was a great reporter covering the recent arena developments of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.

Ken supported the Kings when they first moved to Sacramento in 1985 and he had covered the team and really went full tilt in covering the team when the new owners took over the Kings this past year when the NBA allowed the Kings to stay in Sacramento. Ken had an inside track on the Kings and the new owners and followed all the court judgements in allowing the team to start buidling the new arena in downtown Sacramento.

I have great memoiries of Ken and I will miss him sincerely. This week we were supposed meet with Ken and do a radio show in Old Sacramento and this was Ken’s town and he will be there in spirit and we will remember Ken with all the great stories and although the show will go on and I got my train ticket to go and I love to take a ride to Sacramento and Ken was the one who showed me how to take the Capital Corridor to downtown Sacramento.

It was Old Sacramento where we did our last radio show together and the last time we saw Ken, we will do the show again and Ken was great and we will remember him and his spirit and he loved the restaurant we will be doing the show from at Ten-22.

Warriors and Clippers series: These two teams are playing very even basketball, the Clippers need to win on Monday night at Staples or they’ll be down 2-0. The Warriors are a team that are not intimidated by anybody, they pass, score, rebound, well. Stephen Curry is a great leader, the Warriors have a lot assets, they have a lot weapons and so do the Clippers too.

With the Clippers Blake Griffin has been a great leader and the Warriors Stepen Curry is shooting the lights out of the ball this is a series that can go all the way. It’s unlikely that Golden State is going to sweep as these teams are evenly matched. However game two is a pivitol game, the Clippers have to win otherwise the Warriors confidence will grow and the Warriors head coach Mark Jackson is a very successful and good coach.

Curry he’s the guy now sometimes he throws the wild pass and he plays with a lot of passion and he wants to win every game. Curry goes out of the way for his teammates, he’s a great element for he Warriors and everybody loves him and he’s the key he’s the franchise for this basketball club and if he stays hot and he’s a guy who can destroy anybody.

Sharks-Kings series: The San Jose Sharks are incredible, the Sharks what they did in game one against the Kings is unforgettable down 2-0 and came back and won it with seven unanswered goals in a 7-2 win. We have talked about the Sharks and coming back like that down two goals in the Stanley Cup and you don’t see that too often and that’s what the late actor Humphrey Bogart used to say “that’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”

A game like that they have to build to it, they have to build your confidence and it doesn’t matter who you are in the NHL like long time veterans Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau if your a veteran or a rookie in a game like that it has to build your confidence. You know in the playoffs you can come back after you’ve spotted the Kings two goals and then score seven and win it, that’s almost like in baseball losing the whole game and then hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to win which the Oakland A’s have done in recent years.

It’s the sign of a good team whenever you come back from behind like that in the playoffs and it’s a mark of a champion.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish voice of the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk radio