Month: January 2021

This should in no way have been a surprise to anyone. This is precisely why Donald Trump decided to run for president in 2016. He knew then and now ‘men’ like Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, Little Marco Rubio, and Lyin’ Ted Cruz were the weakest field ever to be considered for the presidency in the history of the GOP.

I’ll give Donald Trump credit on this issue…. on this he was spot on. These four in my lifetime are the most feckless, gutless, pathetic candidates to ever be allowed to take the stage of a presidential debate stage from the same political party which at one time represented the values of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.

The five GOP senators who voted to proceed with ‘this’ impeachment trial were Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Pat Toomey.

Mitch McConnell taking the sleazy way out in no way should be a surprise either. It is what it is.

This means forty-five GOP senators believe viewing evidence and hearing from witnesses is not at all the thing to do moving forward following the January 6th premeditated insurrection of the U.S. capitol. The fact five people were killed and the mob was screaming to lynch just retired Vice-President Mike Pence in no way weighed in on their vote.

Mike Pence, dude….now you can become a charter member of Black Lives Matter. You just became black within the U.S. Senate Chamber. Your fellow party buds just deemed your life wasn’t worth the time to conduct a trial.

This means when a politically gutless senator like James Lankford from Oklahoma took to the floor after the deadly riot….his then changed post riot vote to not object to the certifying of the election was the typical political shade this feckless coward has exhibited for the duration and beyond of Donald Trump’s rogue red presidency.

Job well done former Christian youth minister, James Lankford. I knew you wouldn’t let Oklahoma down, sir.

So now the Dems will go to trial on February 8th already knowing that forty-five of the jurors aren’t going to consider the evidence, the testimony of the witnesses… or the severity of the deadly January 6th capitol riot.

But again this in no way surprises me or anyone else who weighs political matters with some objectivity.

Since most of these forty-five GOP senators have law degrees it is an even sadder day because it means in essence these senators have no respect whatsover for the law.

What they just displayed to the world is the fact the U.S. Senate Chamber is nothing more than a political whore house where political self survival trumps the law every day of the week with these political cowards who even after Trump left office and was banned on Twitter…don’t have the collective balls to for one time do the right thing.

Mike Pence meet George Floyd.

Your life didn’t matter with your political friends. But you did do the right thing in following the law.

In closing…what really happened yesterday was the GOP decided to go all in on Donald Trump as the soul of the Republican Party moving forward even after he on tape in essence called for the execution of his own vice-president.

This symbolic GOP Banana Republic microcosm is what’s left of the Party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt moving forward.

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Footnote video: This is Nicole Wallace former presidential aide to Bush 43 with Steve Schimdt former John McCain campaign coordinator discussing yesterday’s disgraceful vote in the United States Senate. I will for the most part always try to limit any MSNBC footnote on my blog to GOP members only to encourage objectivity. Likewise…the only person at Fox at this point I would consider using on a footnote would be Chris Wallace, possibly Bret Baier, or the now departed Shep Smith. Now on to the video.

Pharrell Williams – Happy (Official Video) – YouTube

It wasn’t pretty at times, but Lon Kruger’s team did just enough at the right times to get a tough hard fought 80-79 road win over #5 Texas in Austin on Tuesday night.

Austin Reeves led the way with 23 points in getting the Sooners within a game of second place in the Big 12 standings. Not bad for a team which was picked by most to either finish 6th or 7th in the Big 12 this basketball season.

OU made it tough on itself with DeVion Harman having a tough night with seven turnovers. The Sooners had a rough night from the free throw line as well, but when it mattered OU made a play or came up with enough of the fifty/fifty loose balls to win its second game in a row over a nationally ranked Top Ten team.

OU is now 7-0 in games in which they’ve scored 78 points or more. We’ll keep track of that stat moving forward.

I’ve been an OU hoops fan since the Johnnie Mac days in the 70’s and this team Lon Kruger has put together is what I would describe as sneaky good with a chip on its shoulder, but with something to prove on the national level beyond the Big 12.

The whole chemsitry of the team changed when EJ Harkless and Moj Gibson were given this year by the NCAA and removed from redshirt status due to the Covid eligibility ruling this season.

This is a very talented, deep team. They somewhat remind me of Chris Beard’s Texas Tech team from two season ago which made that magical run of theirs in the NCAA Tournament.

#9 Alabama comes to Lloyd Noble on Saturday to play in the Big 12-SEC challenge. This should be a great basketball game. In all my years of following OU hoops… I don’t believe they’ve ever won three games over three Top Ten teams in the same week.

The basketball gods have blessed us in Oklahoma. Instead of watching an NBA team go through the arduous/painful task of tanking…we now have two NCAA Tournament caliber team in the state who will finish the regular season with back to back Bedlam games.

Take a look at the college hoops landscape. The Blueboods are struggling. Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas are all in rare territory. It would appear to me the college national championship picture is WIDE open.

Even harder to believe in these days of Covid…Virginia is still the defending national champion.

Alabama in Norman on Saturday.

It was a great night of basketball for me…a tripleheader in essence. For the first time since the NBA came to OKC the Thunder are not my basketball scheduling priority. On this night with the Thunder in Portland they were third on my watchlist…and a half-hearted third at that.

No. 1 was O State at Iowa State…the Pokes without Cade Cunningham romped the abysmal Cyclones. Hard to believe Johnny Orr, Tim Floyd, and Fred Hoiberg all at one time coached at this once proud hoops program. No. 2 was the Big 12 headliner with #11 West Virginia hosting # 10 Texas Tech. This was a great game with West Virginia battling back from a double digit deficit to win on their last possession. Excellent college basketball game. Both of these teams could make the Sweet 16 with the right draw.

OU cracked the AP Top 25 yesterday for the first time this season and will be at #5 Texas tonight in the only basketball game I plan on watching. Six Big 12 teams are now in the Top 25 with O State one more quality win away from becoing the seventh team.

Portland only played eight players and were not the Portland team which eliminated the Thunder in five games two seasons ago. Even more telling for Portland… out of the eight who suited up who played …two of the eight were Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter.

It is for this specific reason that I will not hold this win against Sam Presti when he should be losing games. I get it…this would rank right up there with to losing to Kevin Durant or in reality much worse.

How could any basketball organization sell tickets next season if they couldn’t beat a team with two of the most glaring defensive liabilities to currently set foot on an NBA court in Carmelo and Enes?

I mean, it’s one thing for Terry Stotts to throw one pylon out there, but two? No…that’s too much even for a tanking team to accept and lose a basketball game.

In fact…I would hope NBA commish Adam Silver sends the Portland organization an email pointing out there could be potential ‘integrity to the game’ issues at play with both Enes and Carmelo on the floor together.

I thought Mikey Muscala, Shai, and Lu Dort were OKC’s three best players. They’re my three stars of the game.

I like the Oklahoma City players and Coach D. But they’re going nowhere towards relevance if they don’t come out of this summer’s draft with a top five pick and another pick in the top fifteen or so.

Let me make a football analogy. You know why OU will continue beating O State with constant regularity…because they have elite talent with excellent coaches and now that’s extending to both sides of the ball. O State is never going to beat OU with any consistency with their two and three stars up and down the roster. Not happening. That’s why Boone dropped all that money… ostensibly–to level the talent pool. But unfortunately Boone and Holder never hooked onto a coach like Matt Campbell at Iowa State.

If Sam Presti wants his team in Oklahoma City to stay relevant he better not screw this draft up this season by not losing enough. I undertsand there’s a delicate balance to the culture of a team in not accepting the concept of losing. But if you have a list of NBA top tier free agent talent coming here, please show it to me.

But as I wrote yesterday…OKC out of the thirty NBA franchises plays in a state which unfortunately is right there with West Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama as rogue red Birther Trump states. Have you noticed West Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi don’t have NBA franchises?

Before Black Lives Matter even became a thing….Bill Russell and his Celtic teammates wouldn’t even play in an exhibtion game in Louisville.

Elite black free agents aren’t coming here. Why should they? It was almost impossible getting even elite white free agents here during the apex of Durant and Westbrook. Pau Gasol ring a bell?

This is the one opportunity for Oklahoma City to somewhat balance the scales of talent in a year. Granted—there will still be development, but this is the time. Look how long even in big markets like Dallas and LA they got nowhere for a long time after the primes of Dirk and Kobe.

Add to the fact …in spite of the excellent job OKC did with MAPS you can’t put a non-relevant team out there for an extended period of time in Oklahoma. Ask the restaurant owners and ticket brokers in Bricktown if you doubt me as to the cash flow relevancy of having a relevant team.

Keep in mind, with the NCAA’s position on Covid eligibilty this season both OU and O State who are Top 25 programs this season they both could conceivably return everyone minus Cade Cunningham next season.

Let me give you another example…in Denver you have both the Colorado Avalanche and the University of Denver hockey teams. Both are elite, but if I lived in Denver… and the Avs weren’t relevant I’d spend more time watching the excellent DI college hockey team.

If I were Sam Presti I’d make sure I have a top five draft pick to if nothing else stimulate interest and ticket sales next season.

With all the great things in sports going on right now…I will admit it’s been hard for me to focus in on the tanking Oklahoma City Thunder of late.

I’m not into losing on purpose or by design. But given OKC can’t keep elite black athletes in a Trump city like Oklahoma City this is pretty much the template Sam Presti has to work with going forward.

Sam Presti basically has two contracts with his players here in Oklahoma before they’ll leave for other corners of the NBA where the new Jim Crow laws aren’t as strident as they are in Oklahoma. You get a player on his rookie deal and then perhaps Restricted Free Agent contract and that’s it pretty much except for Russell Westbrook.

The notion Paul George was a free agent signee was Fool’s Gold Given he asked to be trade after two years.

I’ve always been clear on my blog that if I were an elite black athlete in the NBA… Utah and Oklahoma City would be the two cities I’d least like to play in for more than a year.

The cities I’d most prefer playing in would be Toronto, Golden State, and maybe Denver. Those would be the three at the top of my list for beauty, culture, restaurants, things to do, etc.

If I had to pick between Utah and Oklahoma City…I’d pick Utah because of the mountains and the fact that at least in Utah politics aren’t as toxic red as they are in Oklahoma. Give Utah at least some credit for having a U.S. senator in Mitt Romney who can vote to do the right thing every now and again beyond the dogma of the Tea Party and the American Freedom Caucus. Not the case in Oklahoma where the politics have never left the 1950’s. That wasn’t sarcasm.

So…with no other path available to team building in Oklahoma City the Thunder need to keep losing more after losing three straight to fall to 6-9 on the season and in the 12th seed position in the West.

Don’t look now but Minnesota at 4-11 is the current No. 15 seed in the West. If Oklahoma City can lose to Damian Lillard and the Blazers tonight in Portland they’ll fall to 6-10 and only be one down in the loss column to the Timberwolves.

The good news for me is I enjoy watching other teams in the NBA and both OU and O State have entertaining teams who should both be NCAA bound if O State is cut some slack on the LaMont Evans penalty. They should be allowed in the tournament given the lattitude the NCAA gave Bill Self and Kansas.

Here’s a Kenrich Williams video. I’m familiar with Kenrich because he played for TCU in the Big 12 and played against both OU and O State.

I love Kenrich’s attitude and hope he can turn this opportunity in Oklahoma City into an NBA contract at some point.

You have to look for the glass half full stories when your team is tanking.

Draft Workouts: Kenrich Williams (6/3/18) – YouTube

Packer’s coach Matt LeFleur should be flogged. Seriously flogged. I have no idea what thought could have been crossing his mind on that late decison to kick a field goal. He basically took the ball out of his best player’s hands and decided he’d opt for a fairytale scenario ending where his defense would get Tom Brady off the field.

Matt LeFleur meet Mike Gundy, dude. You can’t be serious.

I’m not angry in the final outcome as a Packer’s fan per se. Just disappointed Aaron Rodgers didn’t get the nod of confidence from his young head coach in this tragic ending for Aaron Rodgers.

If Aaron leaves Green Bay after this ….. I won’t hold it against him. I seriously thought Mike Gundy was over there on the Green Bay sideline when the field goal team came out.

As an NFL fan I feel cheated we didn’t get to see that fourth down play. If they hadn’t converted then Brady would have been deep in his own territory and Matt LeFleur still would have had those four time outs.

If that decison to kick the field goal was based on metrics then LeFleur in the very near future should see what it’s like to coach at Green Bay next season without Aaron Rodgers. Matt LeFleur meet 6-10, buddy.

Al Pacino on Any Given Sunday would never have taken the ball out of Aaron Rodgers’ hands in that situation. He would have given Aaron that Pacino wink which said, “This is life. These are those six inches we fight for every day. Go get us a touchdown, tiger.”

I can’t even complete my entire recap on the game ot Kansas City’s dismantling of the Buffalo Bills. The KC game didn’t at all surprise me given the Chiefs were let off the hook last week by Cleveland. You never give a dude like Patrick Mahomes a second life. Kind of like you never give the ball back to Tom Brady thinking you’re going to get a three and out with the game on the line.

Tom Brady at home in the Florida sun for his 7th Super Bowl ring. Why should any of us be surprised?

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Matt LeFleur…First Rule of Coaching–PLAYER MAKES THE COACH. Watch the video and learn how to be a championship head coach.

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Kansas vs Oklahoma Men’s Basketball Highlights – YouTube

I actually called this one with Chris Jackson in Denver the other night on the phone. I said, “Be sure and watch OU on Saturday..they’re going to beat Kansas.” I pretty much Jimmy the Greek-ed it. No points…outright winner.

Here’s the deal…OU after a Covid delay to their season is game by game becoming a dangerous basketball team as each game passes.

I’ll even go a step further… this Lon Kruger team has more depth and more talent 1 thru 11 than the Final Four-Buddy Hield did several years back.

The season started slow for Coach Kruger’s team because of their first two games being canceled. Then there was the rough road loss at Xavier. But since that loss this Sooner team game by game has become a legit Sweet 16 type of team if they can stay away from anymore Covid issues.

This is a deep athletic team which can defend and get out in transition. Coach Kruger has multiple guys who can score and he has three guys in my view who can lockdown defend against anybody in the country… Harmon, Harkless, and Gibson. Plus, Kuath Kur has blossed as an athletic rim protector with a bit of an offensive game as well.

I’d say Devion Harman and Austin Reeves are the two most dependable scorers on the team, but there are seven to eight guys behind them who can play all aspects of the game within the prism of being role players.

Let me put it this way… Brady Manek is about to replace my second favorite Sooner hoopster of all-time Mookie Blalock as the tenth all-time scorer in the program’s history…and quite frankly if Brady doesn’t pick it up his minutes should be cut.

My favorite Sooner of all-time is of course Waymon Tisdale. My third favorite Sooner of all-time was a realtively unknown 6’6″ center Billy had on those those Skeeter Henry teams by the name of William Davis. I to this day love the toughness William Davis brought to the game… as did Billy.

These Lon Kruger guys have bought in on the defensive end and two new additions in Moj Gibson and EJ Harkless give this team a look OU hasn’t had since the Buddy Hield group. You put Buddy on this team and I’d be floating some Elite 8 talk on here.

The thing is though in the rugged Big 12 there’s not much time to celebrate a win over Bill Self’s Jayhawks as a road game at Texas awaits on Tuesday evening.

Texas is now second in the Big 12 standings and very much a national surprise. OU is now third in the Big 12 and this game on Tuesday will be another test to see how much OU’s team defense can travel in a road hoops version of the Red River Rivalry. I would guess Texas at -5.5 or so.

Since the Thunder now appear to understand they are in full tank mode on this West coast road trip…the Sooners and Cade Cunningham should take front and center stage basketball-wise in Oklahoma. I will definitely be in Norman for the Baylor, Texas, and O State games since I won’t be paying for any Thunder playoff tickets this season.

I’ll do my NFC and AFC picks tomorrow before our family gets together in Seminole for a Green Bay watch party.

LET’S GO PACKERS!

I was all set to do my first Smeconish Saturday in the Joe Biden era when I heard Larry King passed at the age of 87 the day after Hank Aaron passed at the age of 86. What a tough two day span for America.

Larry King in his prime was the best interviewer of his time. His stinct at CNN in a way shaped me in the manner in which I would consume the biggest news stories whether it be sports, politics, entertainment, or even foreign affairs.

I just read Larry’s Wiki profile and it doesn’t surprise he never graduated from college because there was a street smart saavy to Larry’s style which never would have been taught in broadcast circles.

Larry King had an insatiable quest to acquire new knowledge on a myriad of topics. This curisoity of his transmiited to his viewer like me who wanted to see the most recent bestseller author or sports phenom or politician on the air with Larry one on one. I would say Larry King to an extent shaped me a bit as did Tim Russert and Howard Cosell as well.

Unlike Tim Roussert or Howard who asked tough questions like a prosecutor…Larry would simply ask… “How” “Why” “When” and then listen intently and let the person being interviewed be the center of the interview and not vice versa.

Larry King was a complete natutal at the art of the human interview. He was the one person who did interviews my father would actually watch from time to time. My father being the criminal trial lawyer he was couldn’t turn Larry off during the O.J. Simpson trial.

Larry would interview various lawyers on the case from both the prosecutorial and defense teams and Bob would give his oral takes aloud as Larry interviewed say Marsha Clark, Chris Darden, F. Lee Baily, Robert Shapiro, and Johnnie Cochran. This was part of the Bob Jackson School of Law degree I attained. Trust me. In the last week of my father’s life the book he was reading was Jeffery Toobin’s best selling book on the O.J. Simpson case.

Larry King would have been a natural trial lawyer in that he would have easily perfected the knack of making the jury love him with that voice and infectious smile of his.

I’ve missed Larry King being on the air in his latter years. He wasn’t blue, he wasn’t red…he was an old school broadcaster who had the best people from around the world clamoring to be on his show for one hour.

There is no one even close to Larry on any of the three cable news or network news who can interview like Larry did in his gravy days.

So sad to hear Larry passed, but what a tremedous life he truly lived and that’s how I’ll remember Larry King…that being, as a person who took each day as a new challenge and tried to learn something a new and share it with some one else in the process.

God bless you Larry King and the very best wishes on your new journey.

Vin Scully calls Hank Aaron’s historic 715th home run – YouTube

Hank Aaron passed earlier today. Truly one of baseball’s greats both as a player and a human.

To me, Hank Aaron not only passed Babe Ruth’s immortal record of 714 home runs, but his historical significance paralleled that of Jackie Robinson.

There was always a dignified grace in the manner in which Hank Aaron carried himself not only as a ballplayer, but as a man as well. Not just a black man, but a man. Truly a significant man in the history of baseball, but just as much as an American as well.

Here’s a link to an ESPN mini-documentary on Hank Aaron hosted by a then very young Chris Fowler. Please take the time if you don’t know the Hank Aaron story.

Hank Aaron – Sports Century – YouTube

The country lost a great man in Hank Aaron.

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Below is an additional footnote which might interest NBA fans. If you look at the clip above with the Vin Scully call you’ll observe a young Craig Sager trying to get to Hank Aaron in the aftermath trying to get some words following the historic 715th home run. Look at that hair Sager was wearing at the time…OMG.

Below is Craig Sager’s entire bio if you’ve never read it.

Craig Sager – Wikipedia

If you hate LEBRON JAMES watch this – It will change your mind – YouTube

I have Lebron and Michael pretty much in their own basketball universe. I’ve always liked LeBron. The only negative with Lebron for me was the goofy televison show when he left Cleveland the first time to join DWade.

But otherwise … how as a passionate fan of the game can you not love LeBron James?

If you didn’t love him before you saw this video…I’m pretty sure you’ll love him now.

Due to Covid protocol Oklahoma State has had its last two games versus Oklahoma and West Virginia postponed. O State stands 9-3 with a big home date scheduled this Saturday against top-ranked Baylor. This should be a great measuring barometer for Cade as the Bears feature one of the best players in the Big 12 in guard Jared Butler. Baylor is loaded…period. The most athletic team I’ve seen so far this season.

Cade is currently the No. 1 ranked player on the ESPN Big Board for this summer’s draft. He’d clearly be the player I’d take because of his NBA ready made frame, his BBIQ smarts, his skill set in that he does everything relatively well… plus his 6’8″ body allows him great defensive flexibiity to effectively guard multiple positions.

If I were Presti and I was fortunate enough to land Cade I’d team him with Shai and Dort and create a three headed guard tandem with Cade being what Chris Paul was last season. Then maybe what Coach D could do is move Bazely to the Sixth Man coming off the bench like some sort of Lamar Odom type. I could see Bazely developing more game to game consistency in this role. Maybe move Roby to the starting four at some point with a physical rim protector at the five. It’s fun to visualize a team as the process evolves.

With the Houston pick if it stays outside of (1-4) I’d look for a mobile rim protector. I actually like some of what I’m seeing from Isiah Roby, but with another young big it would give the Thunder some much needed punch defensively. I’m looking with that pick to make my team much better defensively down the road.

Cade is currently the leading scorer in the uber rugged Big 12. His stats so far read… 17.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1 bpg, 1.2 spg. I’m not worried about his assist numbers because O State is an extremely young team and his teammates have been streaky shooting the ball at times.

Cade’s shooting efficency so far this season goes…45% fg, 39% 3pt, 81.7% ft. His balanced shooting numbers are a microcosm of the overall balance to his game. He does everything well and is an excellent rebounder. He’s too unselfish or else his rebounding numbers would be higher. He is clearly not a Russell Westbrook stat padder. A great kid. Excellent family. Super teammate.

Sam Presti…that’s who I’d take.