David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Delcarmen and a whole host of other Red Sox may root, root, root for the Celtics- but northern Cali boy Dustin Pedroia still stays loyal to his hometown Sacramento Kings. (At least he's not alone in shunning the Celts- since Josh Beckett hearts him some San Antonio Spurs.) Back during the World Series, Dustin proclaimed his Kings fandom:
So when the Kings had BeanTown night on the 26th while the Celtics were in town, it's no surprise Dustin showed up to support his team.[Dustin] was asked by a Boston reporter about playing in a sports epicenter, considering the Red Sox are in the World Series, the Patriots are an NFL power, Boston College is No. 2 in the nation and the beefed-up Celtics are a threat to win the NBA title. "I'm a Sacramento Kings fan," said Pedroia, who's from Woodland in Yolo County. "I know they're rebuilding this year, but I don't want to hear about any epicenter."
During pregame, Dustin was introduced to the crowd and given a #15 Kings jersey (though he didn't put it on, and wasn't otherwise wearing any Kings gear -- smart guy, after the LeBron James fiasco). The Kings also played a highlight montage on the jumbotron showing off some of Dustin's best plays this year. The SacBee says Dustin got a standing ovation - but Sactown Royalty describes it as more of a "lukewarm reception". Judge for yourself- here's some homemade video of his introduction:
Dustin did give props to Kevin Garnett- apparently, the two became buddies when Garnett was at Fenway earlier in the year to throw out the first pitch:
The highlight, though was when the Kings broadcasters brought Dustin up to the broadcast table for a two-part interview while the game was in progress. Dustin gave everyone a great look at his buzzed bald head, and generally was his normal charming, funny self."[Garnett] came out to Fenway, and what a great guy," Pedroia said. "He's one of my favorite players to watch because he plays the game the right way."
Here's the first half of the video:
Follow after the jump for the second part of the interview.
on December 29, 2007 3:10 PM
There is a HUGE difference in Dustin supporting his hometown team during the regular season and one where Lebron wore a Yankee hat to a playoff game IN CLEVELAND.
Dustin can support his hometown team and no one should find any problem with it. Lebron was IN his hometown supporting the OTHER team. That is why people were so annoyed by him. Then Lebron made the comments that "Cleveland would have to deal with him being a Yankee fan"
There was a hockey player back in 2004 I forget his name from Boston that showed up in ST Louis wearing a Red Sox outfit and only some fans in St Louis got upset because they knew he was from Boston.