Several pieces of “what appeared to be black tarp continually kept falling down to Sleep Train Arena's midcourt area” during the Warriors-Kings game Monday night, according to Kelly Dwyer of YAHOO SPORTS. Kings coach Keith Smart was the one to "first spot the tarp.” The falling tarps appeared to be “either a part of that evening's ‘Blackout’ promotion, or a reaction to failing advertising fortunes.” One tarp “covered huge gobs of the arena in black.” The tarps that fell were “apparently in place to cover four different massive ad banners that hung from the scoreboard above midcourt.” Dwyer noted the Kings have been “hurting for revenue for years, so it's not clear why they would cover the multi-colored signs for Monday's promotion.” The tarps also “may have something to do with the 'Medieval Times'-styled halftime show” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/6). The AP’s Antonio Gonzalez noted in “separate second-half incidents, three more pieces of plastic fell down from the scoreboard hanging above center court.” Some fans chanted “New Arena!” (AP, 11/6). Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s Jim Kozimor said of the falling tarp, "How embarrassing is that for the NBA? Is David Stern making a phone call immediately to the people who run the Kings and saying, ‘Get it together?’” CSNBayArea.com's Andy Dolich said, “I'm sure he made that phone call earlier today. There is a deal on the table to keep that team there for a long time, and it actually has the city paying more money than most cities are paying. ... If they commit to Sacramento, they'll get their fan base back to what it was ... (which has been) as loyal a fan base as there has been in the NBA for a long time.” Kozimor added, “But that's just an ugly scene right there. That's amateur hour” ("Chronicle Live," Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 11/6).
