Kamkiriad : The Authentic, Genuine, Original Valley Guy

Authors Note: With college basketball season right around the corner, I hearken back to a simpler time when UCLA ruled the college hoops landscape, and I was fortunate to be a local, a fan, and to have witnessed a remarkable, historical run that may never be repeated. I’m a fish out of water. A stranger in a strange land. The land that I refer to is the San Francisco Bay Area, which is a place where one needs to suppress one's love for Los Angeles sports teams. I’ve lived in the area for nearly 40 years, but was born and raised in Los Angeles. I’ve been defending the Dodgers and Lakers to mostly hostile folks for decades. I’m used to it. Only recently did the question of my college sports allegiance spawn the typical Northern California rivalry reaction: UCLA! How could anyone root for UCLA? For me, the question brought back warm and vivid memories of my youth. Although I love Bruins football, I take more grief about the hoops program, so that'll be my focus. In...

I’m a watch geek, always have been one. Got into the habit of wearing a watch at about age 10 when I was given an age-appropriate Timex, and to this day I don’t leave the house without a watch on. Actually, I feel naked without one. I love everything about watches, but mostly the styles, designs, and the respective brands rich history. I’m supplementing my limited knowledge about the inner-workings of watches by subscribing to some good YouTube channels, spending time on the Hodinkee site daily (absolute leader in watch-related content), dedicating my Instagram space to largely watches only, and, general library research. I don’t have a collection per se, and the kings of the social media watch community would not be impressed with the dozen watches in my rotation. But that’s ok, because I’m satisfied with each one. I have none of the fabled "Holy Trinity" of watches (Patek Phillipe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin) although my “Grail” watch is among them. ...

A close friend, reading Part 1, went into the deep recesses of his memory to pull out a couple of gems from way back when. Mike, his real name, a friend since junior high school, worked with me at the store, and reminded me that Deena had a vicious Doberman that she would often unleash to roam the store. Not sure what she was thinking, but on many occasion the sight of a sleek Doberman, with its tail and ears cropped, running through the aisles would absolutely clear the store, and have us employees seeking safe refuge, usually on top of the counter! Once she realized that an intimidating guard/attack-type dog wasn’t all that good for business, she would lock it in the back room, which was still unpleasant for all of us. Guess it’s good to be the Queen. Eventually we convinced her to leave her “weapon” at home. Mike also reminded me of an extremely-odd colleague and a favored customer, both long forgotten. As I mentioned previously, working at the store had its ups and downs, but...

In 1982 I moved from my hometown Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area with only one hardship, the fact that I was abandoning my Los Angeles Kings. I say abandon only in the sense that with no NHL team in the Bay Area at the time, my only chance to see my beloved Kings would be on trips back home. Remember this was 1982 - Al Gore had yet to invent the Internet - so following a team from afar, while not impossible, was somewhat difficult if you yearn for information beyond a box score. I, of course, could see my Dodgers, Lakers, and UCLA Bruins countless times each year when they visited the area, but the Kings never got closer than their own arena until the expansion San Jose Sharks came into existence in 1991. When the Sharks were granted a NHL franchise I was among one of the first to commit to seats and was a charter season ticket holder for 27 years. Still, during the fall and winter my heart pumps “Forum Blue” (you’re not colorblind, it means purple) as opposed to Dodge...