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Another entertaining loss as the Thunder clearly showed why they lead the entire NBA in this category with a 130-127 home loss to the LA Lakers.

I’m guessing this was one of the better home games as far as attendance and if you looked around the arena there was quite a bit of bright gold Lakers tops amidst Thunder blue.

Less than a decade ago the Thunder were becoming America’s Team with a core of Durant, Harden, and Westbrook. But now with LeBron and Anthony Davis the Lakers appear to be headed to greatness once again as long as LeBron stays healthy.

If you watched the Houston vs. LA Clipper game last night you not only cursed the Harden trade to Houston, but at this point you have to question Sam Presti not keeping Durant and Harden together following the 2012 Finals appearance versus the Heat.

But that’s another level of hindsight and not completely fair on my part because Harden was horrible in those Finals against Miami.

You have to look at this with some reality attached….WITH CHRIS PAUL AND DANILO GALLANARI the Thunder are 5-10 overall, 0-6 on the road, and have won only one game to date against a playoff team with a winning record (Philly).

If you’re a sunshine pumper…you might want to think what these first fifteen games would have looked like without Chris Paul and Gallinari.

This isn’t a horrible roster one thru ten, but to me what it illustrates is how much of a beast the Western Conference is this season. Imagine what it would be like if Golden State and Portland hadn’t imploded with injuries.

Or throw in the fact the Thunder had the fortune of playing the Pelicans without Zion. The basketball gods have actually been kind to the Thunder so far in this regard.

You’re not going to read me on here bitching or whining though because Presti had no choice. Paul George knew he wasn’t winning anything in Oklahoma City with Russell Westbrook, and Sam Presti knew he wasn’t winning anything without Kevin Durant or Paul George attached to Russell Westbrook.

The Thunder are tanking in order to get a lottery pick with their own pick. They get another first in this draft for trading Jerami Grant and it remains to be been what they’ll get for Gallinari. I have no idea who would want Chris Paul’s contract, but we’ll see.

The Thunder won 23 games their first season in Oklahoma City—so to me that’s the line of demarcation as this Thunder season moves along and less talent remains on the roster as the season moves along.

You would think the core coming out of this season will be SGA, Ferguson, Bazley, Diallo, and perhaps Noel. Presti has quite few buttons to push and it will be more entertaining to witness the rebuild than the basketball itself at times.

There’s no real sense in bitching about how Billy Donovan handled the last 11.8 seconds last night when the Thunder were down by three with a chance to send the game into overtime.

Because as much as it hurts to admit….this Thunder season becomes better the more the Thunder lose.

Next up the Warriors in their new San Francisco arena. This is a game where something has to give as either Golden State wins a game or if the Thunder can win their first road game of the season.

The good news is there are several great Western Conference matchups almost every night if you were a serious NBA fan before Clay Bennett moved the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

In places like New York and San Francisco this will matter. In places like Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Alabama it won’t matter.

Such is the state of our Union and the New Confederacy.

The Fox zombies will roll their eyes in reference to Sondland’s testimony. Union members where math, science, and some semblance of history still matters will regard this as a historical moment we’ll never forget.

I don’t think so.

Because I honestly believe at this point Donald Trump could rape daughter Ivanka and slit her throat on a live Hannity telecast and Trump supporters would maintain it was Obama wearing a Trump disguise. Roger Ailes of Fox founding fame must be proud looking down from Fox heaven at what he created.’

What Ailes created in 1996 is a cable news network which exhibits little shame in pandering horseshit nonsense which a certain segment of white Americans accept as the truth.

So do I think this was that moment in Watergate where the lapse on Rosemary Woods’ tapes did Richard Nixon in?

I do not because from then to now the percentage of Americans who trust their government has dwindled from 71% to 17%. Who do I cite for this stat? Jon Meacham.

Let me give you another prescient stat from a somewhat obscure historian from Norman, Oklahoma named Roger Bishop.

He shared this thought with me this past Sunday over lunch in the heart of Trump Country…. in Seminole, Oklahoma.

What Professor Bishop said to me was this, ” Mike, in all reality—we should have just pretended we lost the Civil War in the 1860’s and perhaps if these dumbasses thought they were the victors it might have turned out differently for the country as a whole.”

So in reality — depending if you live in the Union or in the New Confederacy you probably have a much different take on Sondland’s testimony at the Trump impeachment hearings.

Once again the Thunder showed their roster isn’t trash one thru nine, but by the same token showed something is missing which could propel the team to being a playoff contender.

The Thunder headed West and had to play a road back to back versus the Clippers and Lakers and predictably lost both games in what were competitive games.

I’m very calm sitting here writing about the Thunder on my little blog because I had the Thunder at No. 12 in the West winning somewhere around 34-38 games this season depending on how long this roster stays intact beyond December 15th.

It’s not a terrible team. In a way it’s hard not to like their spirit, but by the same token they’re 0-6 on the road this season to date.

One of the first things I look at in a team is if can they at the least be a .500 team on the road. So far with this team the answer is a resounding no. I mean could this team even be 15-26 this season on the road?

In the West you’re going to have to be able to win some road games to be relevant if you want to contend for the No. 8 slot.

With the Thunder in fact we don’t even know what Sam Presti’s plan is this season beyond December 15th. I’m not rankled in the least. We should have known this was coming and at the least we’re going to see if Billy Donovan should be the coach beyond this season.

To me…if this roster stayed intact then I would have a 41-43 season as a barometer to keep Billy Donovan. Having a head coaching job in the NBA should somewhat be predicated on winning games in accordance with the payroll of the roster. Is there a metric for a coach monetizing his roster’s payroll is what I’m writing here.

So we’ll see if the full tank mode goes into effect after December 15th with some roster changes or if Sam Presti will see what he has in Billy Donovan.

I’m totally good. I love the NFL, the NBA as a whole, the NHL, and I was just treated to one of my favorite World Series of all-time as far as storylines.

I can detach myself emotionally from the Thunder for awhile. I never once wore one of those ridiculous playoff T-shirts the Thunder put on the seats which espouse the oneness of the Trump evangelicals in a place like Oklahoma. The shirts would say Us or Community or Spirit or some other bullshit reference to the MAPS aspect of having Seattle’s team in Oklahoma City.

I just like the basketball and enjoy watching elite players who are coached by coaches who know what they’re doing at this level.

The league best Lakers are in town on Friday and the Thunder to date are 5-3 on the road with a home marquee win over the Sixers on their 5-9 resume.

These Lakers are much better than those Sixers so we’ll see what kind of show the home team Thunder can give the home crowd on Friday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.

I would think there will be quite a few Lakers jerseys sprinkled in the crowd with what to date has been an easy and cheap ticket at Chesapeake Arena.

The birth of Sooner Magic occurred in 1976 when Barry Switzer’s Sooners stunned the Huskers with an improbable comeback which would linger with Tom Osborne for a decade.

As great as many of those wins were…what happened in Waco ranks right there with the best wins ever in the Sooner Magic series.

Whoo! Just win, baby!

I think for the most part as long as Gallinari and Chris Paul are in OKC the average Thunder fan is going to get a fairly entertaining night of NBA basketball in the games played at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

On the road…not so sure.

But on this Friday night the Thunder fans got their money’s worth in an exciting 127-119 overtime win against a legit Sixer team which should be a contender to make the conference finals in the East.

From my view–it was easily OKC’s best win of the season as it was a win over a possible championship contender.

Chris Paul, Big Gallo, SGA, and even Terrance Ferguson were excellent in this game. Especially—Ferguson who despite working thru personal difficulties of late in his life had one of his best games as a professional. Maybe this is something he can build on for the Thunder’s sake and his own.

The Thunder are now 5-3 at home for the season and 0-4 on the road.

The road gets very tough the next two games as the Thunder have a back to back against the Lakers and the Clippers. It won’t get any tougher this season.

But in this season you can’t fret over a tough upcoming road back to back. Instead, when you get a good moment like the one which came on Friday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena you enjoy it and accept it for what it is. You enjoy watching Gallinari’s smooth game for as long as he’s here in Oklahoma City.

So how would have Gallinari and Chris Paul fit in with a starting five of Kevin Durant, Steven Adams, and a healthy Andre Roberson back in 2016?

We’ll never know. But for now we’re seeing them with Adams, SGA, and Ferguson in the early days of Sam Presti’s rebuild in Oklahoma City….and it’s fun when they play in Oklahoma City.

Next up… Kawhi and Paul George on the road.

For the first time this football season the Cleveland Browns almost played up to the pre-season hype which came their way after the Odell Beckham Jr acquistion this summer.

There appeared to be a slight hope at 4-6 and with the league’s easiest schedule the remaining six game there might be a roadmap for the Browns to make the playoffs as an AFC wild card.

It should have been a joyful moment for these Browns who have been the league’s biggest disappointment this NFL so far this season. Add to the fact it was the first time the Browns have beaten the Steelers since 2014. Ask yourself who was the Browns’ quarterback back in that win in 2014….you’ll discover it was Brian Hoyer.

For the third straight game Baker Mayfield and his offense didn’t commit a turnover. Nick Chubb showed he’s on the cusp of becoming one of the league’s best running backs. The front office waived knucklehead wide receiver Antonio Calloway as Kareem Hunt for the time being replaced Calloway as that specific roster designation.

It was a stunning defensive performance by Miles Garrett and the Browns’ defense. They were all over Mason Rudolph the former Mike Gundy groomed quarterback from O State who was intercepted four times on the night. It looked just like another Bedlam beatdown for Rudolph who is now 0-4 versus Mayfield head to head.

But in the blink of an eye in the game’s last eight seconds Miles Garrett ripped Mason Rudolph’s helmet off of him and tried to hit Rudolph in the head.

It was there for all to see. An out of control action and really stupid play when you think about it because Miles Garrett could have injured Rudolph and could have conceivably knocked Rudolph out of the lineup for the next Browns vs. Steelers game in several weeks.

Why would anyone on the Browns want Mason Rudolph out of the Steelers’ lineup?

But in this one play we saw why the Cleveland Browns are the dumbest franchise in the NFL. We saw that the Kevin Costner movie Draft Day is a complete and utter fiction.

In short—we saw why the Cleveland Browns are the Cleveland Browns.

We saw the last of the Browns’ best player Miles Garrett for this season and the end to any hope whatsoever these Browns are any different from what we’ve seen in the recent past.

We saw the Cleveland Browns for what they are….dysfunctional.

You have to take a very gentle/positive approach this Thunder season. There will be tough moments here and there.

The Thunder are 0-4 on the road this season and I have no idea how many of their forty-one road games they’ll be able to win this NBA basketball season. But look at it this way….the Golden State Warriors are going through this themselves this season and don’t feel alone.

I googled up the three worst road losing streaks to begin an NBA season and the ’92-’93 Dallas Mavericks hold the record with 29 straight road losses to begin an NBA regular season. So the glass half full take is the Thunder would have to lose 25 more road games in a row to tie this record.

If Draymond Green has to tank with his three rings—then surely we Thunder fans can tank. Maybe the smart move is to watch home games only this Thunder season and read the Daily Thunder recaps on road losses. I’m keeping my options open.

The Thunder now stand at 4-7 and in 12th place in the West. ..which is exactly where I have them in my DT Regular Season Contest bracket sheet. So…I’m good with all this losing.

My recap for this game will be that the Fox Southwest was running Michael Buble ads all night for his upcoming concert in OKC in April.

You see—there’s always a way out. Just go see Michael Buble in April and attend the home games only.

I love this song. The millennials would never understand this. Everyone needs a couple of shower songs. Try it some time.

I won’t have any problem getting thru this Thunder season.

I attended the Cowboys-Vikings game on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium. It was magnificent even though the Cowboys as a Vegas at home three point favorite found a way to lose the game in the final minute.

The final score was Minnesota 28 – Dallas 24…but it does not matter because these Cowboys are no longer a championship contender but more of a never ending off Broadway show which has its own genre of half sports-half show.

If you attend be sure and get inside at least ninety minutes before kick-off.

It’s simply stunning and a show you won’t you forget even if the Cowboys lose.

The Dallas Cowboys are the highest valued sports franchise in the world at $4 billion dollars. Jerry Jones individually has a net worth of $5.6 billion dollars. Obviously, the Cowboys are the primary holding of his assets currently.

Take the tour on-line and in person to get to understand the utter audacity of what Jerry Jones has done with his football stadium.

Jones to my knowledge is the first owner in the collective bargaining era of pro sports who has proven that a venue might actually be more important than winning on the field as long as you keep the paying customers entertained and diverted from the fact they haven’t won anything in almost a quarter of a century.

Maybe the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley before they finally won a championship this decade would qualify, but looking forward to the future maybe these Dallas Cowboys will be the next version of the Chicago Cubs produced in a high tech level genre.

Winning big and often won’t matter….even in Texas.

TO BOONE’S CREDIT:

In historical perspective you have to give Boone some credit for never hiring Jason Garrett as his head coach of his franchise. At least Gundy got Boone that one Shining Moment championship in 2011 with the same Brandon Weeden he had mired on his bench behind Alex Cate.

I’m thinking this deal with Jerry Jones wasting almost a decade of his ownership time on having Jason Garrett as his head coach should give everyone in this part of the country solace to realize it could be worse.

But it does give me pause, ‘How could one have a franchise worth $4 billion dollars and have a head coach who couldn’t win the American Conference championship running the team’?

The fans in and around the AT&T Stadium jokingly call it the 23 year-old process.

If he does enter the race I hope he’s doing it to actually try to become president rather than just helping the party neutralize Elizabeth Warren.

He’s a guy who would appeal immediately to my moderate leanings. He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s a real billionaire, and he actually believes in helping other people.

But most of all he’s not Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. He’s not a far left Dem who would help Donald Trump sway moderate Republicans and Independents his way if Warren remains the Dem frontrunner.

He wouldn’t have a chance in a places like Oklahoma, but neither did Bill Clinton or Barack Obama.

I hate to be this way, but the two best things Donald Trump has going for him are his Jerry Springer-like dysfunctional base and Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Actually, I guess that’s three things.

If the Dems go to bat with Elizabeth Warren as the Dem candidate they are basically pushing the Republic towards the cliff of another four years of Donald Trump. Not complex.

So, yeah…..I hope Michael Bloomberg runs for president so I could have someone to vote for this time around. If he made Michael Bennett his vice-presidential choice…even better.

As an OU fan I’m totally aware the current world of big boy college football resides in the South. As in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida.

They play real tackle football in these locales while the rest of the Union plays touch football. Maybe it’s a Blue-Red thing. These states all love Donald Trump as well. In Alabama and Oklahoma they love the New York yankee. Very odd. They love Trump in Bama more than they love Jeff Sessions. I won’t play the Dave Chappelle video today.

College football is life in these states. David Boren made a horrible mistake by not moving OU to the SEC for the simple reason his then university went thru a decade of not being able to recruit defensive players from this part of the country on a level with the elites. David Boren never came to the real life realization college football drives the University of Oklahoma…not the other way around.

My wife attended Auburn. We used to go to watch Auburn play Arkansas every other year in Fayetteville. It’s a lovely campus and downtown Fayetteville is idyllic if you love the South. I love the South…I just don’t love Donald Trump. I don’t have a personal thing with Trump. I just think he’d be better suited for hosting a Jerry Springer-like slutfest reality TV show then being POTUS.

SEC football gets in your blood because it’s real football. Sure LSU and Alabama use variations of the spread offense, but the kids coming out of high school in the five or six state region from which these college programs recruit primarily play tough in your face defense in high school. They play tackle football.

With the national attention focused on concussions and making the game more safe only five states in the most recent years have seen an uptick of participation of high school football.

These states are moving from West to East….Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. I need to go back and make sure I read the data correctly on Mississippi.

Another words, these are the states where the data on head trauma associated with the game hasn’t hurt high school football participation rates. These are the states where kids and their families still see football as a ticket to something better down the road in college and maybe at the professional level.

Oklahoma should have joined the SEC when they were asked to join. For crying out loud a group of Oklahoma state legislators are in the process of naming a part of Route 66 after Donald Trump. Are you kidding me? If ever there was a school which was a cultural fit for the SEC it’s OU.

Missouri should have stayed in the Big 12 and it was OU who should have joined the SEC along with Texas A&M.

It’s about recruiting and having a pipeline to a certain type of athlete which separates college football programs. Do you think when Jalen Hurts played at Alabama that Kansas State would have hung 48 points on one of his teams in a must win situation?

I don’t think so.

And so while I still think Jalen Hurts is having a season which should have him in New York as a finalist for the Heisman–he doesn’t have a defense in Norman which will allow him to win the Heisman…and that’s sad for not only Jalen, but for Lincoln Riley as well.

The college football national play-in games start to commence this Saturday with LSU at Alabama. I would think both teams will be in the Final Four unless this is bad blowout loss for the loser. Then it might become interesting.

OU’s chances are two-fold: slim and very slim. When you can’t tackle people at Manhattan, Kansas and give up scores on eight straight defensive possessions you pretty much aren’t sending the right message to the committee. The only difference I have with the committee on OU currently is that I would have OU at No. 8 ahead of Utah.

You make your luck. OU knew they didn’t have the luxury of losing a game this season given the weakness of their schedule. This is on OU.

But I still love college football and I can’t wait for LSU vs Alabama then Alabama vs Auburn.

So why is Nick Saban’s program different? They have better players and better coaching staffs. Duh.