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From my perspective, the two best speeches of the convention came from Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump. It was the highlight of the convention in what otherwise looked like a glorified Trump rally from the GOP primary race.

Donald Trump’s children  stole this convention. They make jaded people like me think ‘if he’s really such an arrogant asshole then how did his children turn out so well?’

They did for Donald Trump what he still wasn’t able to do on his own in his record setting in length acceptance speech–namely make him appear human.

Was it enough to sway me? No. Not even remotely close. I might vote for Donald Jr or Ivanka down the road for something if they ever run for something, but in no way did this sway me or change my mind about their father.

I don’t hate Donald Trump, but I just don’t think he has the temperament to be  leader of the free world. Nor do I feel he’s qualified.

But you never know what might happen in those debates. He ran roughshod over sixteen Republican canidates in his trek to the GOP nomination. I think more  what we saw tonight was a Donald Trump deposition of what awaits Hillary Clinton the next three months.

This will be very ugly.

Historically ugly.

 

Marco Rubio did a brief one minute infomercial which at best looked like he was told to do so by GOP officials in Florida if he ever wants to be elected for anything again. Obviously, he hates Trump, but he hates Hillary even more so I guess he got through it like a good soldier.

Then Ted Cruz took the stage and talked for twenty-three minutes. He never endorsed Donald Trump. Even told the delegation to vote their conscious in November as they went up and down the ballot sheet.

Pretty much par for the course after what we saw from these two during the primaries.

Kind of sad to watch. Hard to imagine why he was even allowed to speak during the prime time portion of the convention, no less as a lead in to Mike Pence’s  acceptance speech.

Yet, like with so many things regarding Trump it will probably help him with his followers even more.

Cruz would have been better served just staying home like John Kasich, Jeb Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, W, and others from within the party.

What Cruz did actually made Trump look like the adult option of the two.

 

 

 

This was actually a very good speech. Better than anything I’ve heard from his father in the previous twelve months. Never was there a mention of building a wall. Never the crazy statement of Mexico paying for it. Not once did I hear a word about banning Muslims from the country.

No overkill on the hatred of Hillary and Barack Obama like we’ve heard endlessly from his father. Never once did I hear a reference to low energy Jeb Bush, Lyin’ Ted Cruz, or Little Marco Rubio. Not once.

It was a speech which would resonate with independents like me for it’s core thoughts of choice, hard work,  individual responsibility, and other core values of voters in the middle.

In a word it was an excellent speech which touched all the bases. The only problem is it didn’t come from his father.

The father would be well served to study his son’s speech from tonight and incorporate this tone into his general campaign and be more inclusive in the coming months.

Good speech. The only saving grace from this convention I’ve seen so far.

 

 

On a day where the Thunder finally signed Alex Abrines and said good-bye to Dion Waiters how is it I’m on here doing this. I swore to myself a thousand times over I in no way would post anything on here in relation to Trump and this GOP Convention. I’m not a Hillary Clinton supporter, I’m still going to write in John Kasich and basically piss away my vote so it’s not like I have a dog in this fight.

But here we are only one night into the convention and it’s apparent the Trump campaign machine blatantly plagiarized Michelle Obama’s 2008 DNC speech.

It’s not like this will matter to Trump supporters in the long run though. At this point Trump could pistol whip Bob Dole on Thursday night and his supporters are still going to vote for him. The wife, the diva lab, and I are thinking some Mexican resort village might be the smart move all things considered.

Only with Donald Trump could his campaign staff plagiarize the very people they’ve demonized for the past eight years.

Sigh.

 

If you haven’t seen this you should take the time. Tim Duncan quietly retired earlier this week and didn’t hold a press conference. He just quietly retired. The only coach he ever had in the NBA and his surrogate father felt some things needed to be said. It’s beautiful. It’s what we’d like to believe sport is about every now and again.

Respect, common courtesy between teammates and coaches, commitment, and seeing the journey through to its ending.

It’s ironic considering what we just witnessed with the Kevin Durant move to Golden State that both Sam Presti and Clay Bennett both with previous ties to the San Antonio Spurs envisioned this very template for Durant in Oklahoma City.

I’ve yet to post Durant’s press conference from Oakland on here because it disappointed me so much. It lacked all the humanity which Popovich displayed in his press conference and quite frankly looked more like a Nike get together to move Kevin Durant into Kobe Bryant’s slot as the West Coast spokesman for the shoemaker. Probably not nearly enough has been written about Nike’s impact on the Durant decision.

Anyway, for those needing a few feel good minutes to help get over with what just transpired with Kevin Durant you might want to take the time to watch this.

Following Russell’s first All-Star MVP award he and Dan Patrick talk this and that.

 

 

This will be the narrative in Oklahoma City until either Westbrook signs an extension or is traded before the trade deadline.

My heart says no. My brain says yes.

We all love Russell Westbrook, but the Thunder have to decide if he’s fully committed to the franchise. This is simple, if he’s not, then make a trade with either the Lakers or Celtics and start the total rebuild  now instead of later.

Boston has an unprotected pick from the Nets, plus an array of promising young players. The Lakers have Brandon Ingram. Presti dealt with the Celtics in the Jeff Green-Perk trade so there’s familiarity there.

This is very simple for Sam Presti–if he allows Russell Westbrook to walk without getting anything in return he should be fired the next day. This cannot happen.

Some players and the draft picks must be garnered unless Russell professes his love for Oklahoma. My guess is he’ll profess his love for the Pacific Ocean and being closer to his family.

You’d think any trade would go thru either the Lakers or Celtics.

Hurts to think about it, but in the course of a few months the Thunder could conceivably lose their core of Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka.

Welcome to the NBA.

Every guy needs his song. This is my song. Have a wonderful Thursday. Keep your head up, Oklahoma City. British Open this week-end, Dustin Johnson going for three in a row.

 

 

I don’t about know you, but I had a stellar day. Birds were chirping and I was singing Rose Royce in my head all day. Oklahoma City—-you can’t let this get you down. The more I read about this bar brawl between ‘Dray’ and this Michigan State football player the more I just smile. Oh, Kevin. This is for you and Dray, buddy. Maybe–Charlie Bell as well. Sell those Nikes. Every village has its idiot…right?