Author: Mike

Quite a bit to blog about on this one. I ‘almost’ feel bad in retrospect having referred to Kevin Durant as a pussy who Trump would have grabbed if the Warriors had ever visited his White House after one of their championships. I maybe crossed a line there even for a rogue blog, but if I had to do it again ….I’d do it again.

I’m weary of the Kevin Durant drama. I really am. I’m sorry he went out there with the blessing of his slimy agent Rich Kleiman and his GM Bob Myer and perhaps suffered a career altering Achilles injury of some sort. I’ve never booed Kevin and I would never call him Cupcake in Chesapeake Energy Arena.

I would never hope for him to be injured, but it is what it is. Here’s the thing—this deal with Kevin playing could have even been a stunt Kleiman promoted to hype Kevin’s relationship with Nike and his resigning with the Warriors this summer.Fairly cynical for me to write such a thing, but I put Rich Kleiman right there along with Trump’s boy Wilbur Ross at Commerce or the departed Jeff Sessions at the Justice Department.

I hope he’s not hurt permanently and the Raptor fans should not have cheered his injury. I can’t believe the Canadians behaved like a bunch of Trump deplorables. I’ve been to Toronto and I know this isn’t their true nature. Maybe like me, they’re just tired of all the Durant hype.

But wow…Steph and Klay are two real ballers. This is precisely why Klay Thompson is my favorite NBA player. It’s not just his shooting…it’s his defense and his toughness and his championship DNA. When the game was hanging in the balance in the last two minutes did you see who Steve Kerr made sure was defending Kawhi Leonard?

If only Russell Westbrook and Paul George had what Klay Thompson has then the truckloads of money might be justified which Sam Presti approved.

And enough with the Nick Nurse love as well. Tramel was referring to Nurse as the second coming of Greg Popovich on the radio before the game as if he’d done some great coaching in this series.

Bullshit.

The only reason the series isn’t 3-2 in favor of the Warriors heading back to Oakland is that Klay didn’t play in Game 3 in Oakland. It had absolutely nothing to do with Nick Nurse’s coaching and everything to do with Klay, Durant, and Kevon Looney not playing in Game 3.

If Nick Nurse is such a great coach then why is Kyle Lowery jacking a three when his team only needs a two at home to win the world championship? This last play by the Raptors was of classic Russell Westbrook late game shot selection. Jim Traber needs to get back on the air and keep Tramel honest.

I love Kevon Looney as well. Did you see that kid trying to play through the shoulder pain? If I’m Bob Myer I’d make sure to resign that kid. He is of the right stuff as well.

Now they go back to Oakland for Game 6 and all the sudden I’m interested in these Finals. I’m primarily interested because of the Splash Brothers.

• I edited and removed my initial final two paragraphs of this story. It was too much. It’s not the fact he left OKC for Golden State which annoys me. It’s more to the point all the hype he and his handlers are always creating and how he never seems content. But still—as a person I should show some compassion.

Me wondering if Kevin Durant will or won’t play hasn’t been on my mind much as I’ve had this great Stanley Cup Finals at hand to keep me occupied and interested in team sports at the highest level. If Cupcake plays tonight in Toronto…he plays. If he doesn’t his agent Richie K will have a spin. It affects me in no way whatsoever.

In the NHL your stars play thru the pain and don’t go invisible when they make it this far in a season. They play thru the bumps. Same in the NFL. In the diva superstar world of the NBA….not as much since the days of Willis Reed or even Michael Jordan. Maybe this is why the Warriors never visit Trump’s White House. They must be afraid Trump might touch Kevin Durant’s pussy and cause a national furor.

On Sunday night in St. Louis the Boston Bruins finally won Game 6 by a 5-1 count in a game which was very tough until early in the third period when Bruin replacement defenseman Carlo threw a puck at the net from the right point and it somehow bounced into the net behind Blues netminder Jordan Binnington.

Until that goal this was anybody’s game as the Bruins were clinging to a 1-0 lead on a first period five on three powerplay goal by Brad Marchand. Otherwise–it was a war with both Binnington and Tuukka Rask playing superbly in net.

Kuhlman, Pastrnak and Chara ‘playing hurt with a sore jaw” then recorded subsequent third period goals for the final margin.

My three stars were in this order….1 Rask, 2 Marchand and 3 Pastrnak. Rask is my leader for the Conn Smythe heading into Wednesday’s Game 7 in Boston.

But it’s more than just about Rask for the Bruins. They need something from their first line and the powerplay if they want to hoist the Cup. On Sunday night in St. Louis they got all that from Marchand and Pastrnak. Interesting stat…when Marchand scores the first goal the Bruins are 8-0 in post season play in his days as a Bruin. Just like in basketball…stars leading and role players following.

You’d never get that from the college writers in OKC like Little Nick Gallo and Low Energy Royce Young because Clay Bennett doesn’t allow them to write in such a manner. Stars lead, the others follow that lead. And that’s precisely why Russell Westbrook has led the Thunder into relative NBA obscurity these past three seasons.

Boston has never won a Cup in Boston in a Game 7. I’m guessing Bill Belichick will be waving the Bruins flag in the pregame. I’m guessing Tommy Brady and Alex Cora will be watching on television if they’re able as the Bruins try to become the third team from Boston this sports year to claim the ultimate prize of their sport.

St. Louis won’t go away without a fight. They’re street fighters and this should be a compelling watch for hockey fans all over the world. Too bad the NBA has had none of this in their Finals this season to date.

I’m way behind on the mailbox with all the NHL and NBA games. I need to get back on track with the Democratic debates getting ready to begin. I haven’t played the Chappelle video in six weeks… so I need to play it as well for the white trash who voted for Donald Trump our pussy grabber commander in chief who the evangelicals just love.

Q: Lauren from Philadelphia asks…”Mike, I like the site. It’s different. It doesn’t have the predictable feel of most blogs today run by wimpy white millennials. Keep up the good work. Who are you picking to emerge as the Dem’s candidate in 2020?

A: This may surprise you, but I don’t think it will be Joe Biden and I certainly don’t think it will be Bernie Sanders. Who saw Barrack Obama winning Iowa in 2008? I’d like for it to be Michael Bennett, but he doesn’t have a chance. He’s too qualified and he’s boring. I think it will be either Pete B or Elizabeth Warren when all the dust settles.

Both are smart and both are relatively new to the presidential election process in our country. I would vote for either of them over Trump. The question will be is if they can muster appeal in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Q: Thomas from Melbourne, Australia asks, ” Your country has turned into a cultural cesspool. Does it embarrass you to be an American?

A: No. It saddens me. It saddens me the greatest country in the history of the world with the most innovative constitution has allowed itself to take the easy path and be conned by a rogue like Donald Trump instead of addressing its problems in an adult pragmatic manner.

But no, I’m not embarrassed—just sad and somewhat angry. But that’s why we have a democracy. This is on all of us. Trump and Bannon felt it back in the latter stages leading up to the Election of 2016 and parlayed it into four years of running the White House. We’re all culpable to varying degrees.

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Thanks for the excellent questions. I hope to get more into the presidential race once the Finals are completed this week in both leagues. Don’t give up. All politics begin at the local level. Do your best to help your local communities. Be leaders.

Being the official Deer Creek weather station reporter it’s time for a precip update. We received two inches this morning in slightly less than an hour. I thought it was over for a few minutes as Pauli and I were about to enter the safe closet. My wife is in Dallas after attending a Jimmy Buffett concert last night so it’s somewhat good she wasn’t here for the typical overreaction.

The gust front came through and it had the look of a biblical epic storm about to hit but Pauli gave me this ‘no prob’ look and we decided not to get in the closet. We’re on the back porch now as I smoke the post storm ‘still alive’ cigar and Pauli peers into the forest looking for raccoons to assault.

It just keeps storming in Oklahoma. You at this point have to wonder if it’s God punishing all these faux Christians in Oklahoma for voting for the pagan Donald Trump. Stillwater seems to be getting hit especially hard. I wonder if my three nephews who all voted for the grifter Trump are at this point understanding the ramifications of their three severely misguided votes.

David Payne at KWTV has emerged as my go to weather guy since Gary England retired. I won’t even watch Mike Morgan. Daman Lane is okay, but I prefer David Payne in this market.

I’d love to be a storm chaser. I think it would be a cool way to make a living. Gary England was a pioneer and David Payne emerged in his wake. Some of the best parts of Sam Anderson’s ‘Boom Town’ bestseller are the weather segments with Gary England.

Here’s a video of David Payne back in 2013 chasing storms before he became Gary England’s successor.

With the Raptor’s two game road sweep in Oakland against the injury riddled Warriors the series is now firmly in the grasp of the Toronto Raptors as they are back home with a 3-1 series lead.

No Klay Thompson or Kevon Looney in Game 3 was too much. We’ll never know if the absence of Kevin Durant alone would have doomed the Warriors in a six or seven game series, but in the pivotal Game 3 at home the Warriors at home without the three looked like the Thunder did the year after Durant’s departure. Basically–it was Steph Curry playing hero ball while the other players watched.

I thought Jeff van Gundy was right on when he said the Warriors team on the floor for Game 3 would have probably finished the season as the No. 8 seed in the West.

Meanwhile—the Raptor’s support cast around Kawhi Leonard came alive in Game 3 and then in Game 4 Serge Ibaka played one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play in post season.

It’s been a big off season for bigs Sam Presti has discarded this spring. First…Enes Kanter played a solid role for Portland as they easily eliminated the Thunder on their way to run to the Western Conference Finals. And now Serge Ibaka is one win away from having a ring which ironically hasn’t been sniffed by Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

Maybe Steven Adams should be hoping he’ll be traded as well to a legit contender this summer. Thunder big man coach Mark Bryant has left the Thunder and you have to wonder if Adams will be back as Sam Presti tries to put more shooters around Russell Westbrook next season.

Anyway…kudos to Serge for the two games in Oakland–especially Game 4. It’s nice to see former Thunder players competing for rings even if it isn’t for the Thunder.

The one thing game officials don’t want to miss on the ice is a goal or a missed call which leads to the game winning goal no less. Unfortunately—that’s what happened in Boston in Game 5 when the obvious trip in the Bruins’ zone led to a turnover and what turned out to be the game winner by Perron.

You can’t miss that call, but all four game officials did and the St. Louis Blues head back home with a chance to clinch their first ever Cup in Game 6.

Having written this…I would also add the Blues have played great hockey these past two games with Jordan Binnington and Ryan O’Reilly leading the way.

Binnington has been fabulous in net after the Game 3 meltdown and O’Reily has been the best hockey player on the ice these past two games scoring a game winner and notching a game winning assist as well.

Boston’s powerplay went thud in Game 5 and their first line did not produce. The lines were tinkered with and the Bruins went with only eleven forwards. Yet…the puck still did not find the back of the net.

In the last two games combined—the Bruins have scored but three goals as a team.

My three leading candidates for the Conn Smthye heading into Game 6 in St. Louis are in this order currently…1 Binnington, 2 Rask, and 3 O’Reily.

Championship teams often take on the persona of their head coach and these Blues very much have the look of Craig Berube intertwined in their game.

The Boston Bruins simply have to put the puck in the back of the net or else the Blues will be hoisting the Cup.

My beloved Bruins and the St. Louis Blues are now tied at 2-2 in a pretty good Stanley Cup Finals. The NBA Finals now move to Oakland with the Warriors and Raptors tied at one game apiece. Originally—I had the Warriors in six games and I’ll stay with that pick.

Klay Thompson has now played in 120 straight playoff games. He’s no Cupcake—he plays through the aches and pains unlike some we know. I would think he plays in Game 3 in Oakland. He knows his body. He’s a champion with a championship pedigree. He would never fit in with all the dysfunction in Oklahoma City in the spoiled culture of Sam Presti’s pampered players.

Klay Thompson would never allow Little Nick Gallo to rub his crotch against him in a post game presser. Klay Thompson would answer every Berry Tramel question. Klay Thompson would help the college level media in Oklahoma City help understand the finer nuances of the pro game from a mental standpoint.

It’s going to be tough for me next season to go back to covering the overpaid, over-hyped Thunder of Sam Presti, but I feel a moral obligation in that the Daily Thunder became so horrific this past season someone with a moral compass needs to be recording this for the basketball archives in Oklahoma.

I’ve come to respect both the Warriors and the Trailblazers as my feelings for the Thunder are fairly obvious.

But of course Little Nick Gallo and Low Energy Royce Young will be back to chronicle the Thunder for the novice level Thunder fans who only started following the NBA after Katrina.

Hope Klay plays. He’s my favorite NBA player and he’s a huge part of what the Warriors have become.

For all of our talk of the Warriors being loaded they just keep proving there’s much more to them than just a loaded roster. It doesn’t matter who has gone down in these NBA Playoffs—they just find a way to overcome it and move on to the next game.

Still no Durant and then Thompson and Looney go down in Game 2 on the road, yet Steph leads and they follow. They follow.

With the series hanging in balance perhaps, Andre Iguodala nails a clutch three point shot to get the Warriors back in Oakland with the series tied at 1-1.

Do you really see a Thunder role player taking that shot in that situation? Would you have seen say Jerami Grant given the green light in that situation with five seconds remaining on the road? I don’t think so.

If I were a Thunder fan inside the Peake I’d stop booing the Warriors and start admiring them for the mental toughness they possess which the hometown Thunder can’t seem to instill in their system.

It’s hard to be too critical of the St. Louis Blues for a lack of energy in this game as three of Boston’s first four shots found the back of the net and in essence the game was over before it ever got out of the first period.

The final score was 7-2 in favor of the Boston as the Bruins won back home ice and have a 2-1 series lead. Boston now needs two wins to become the city’s third major league champion this season. Not that home ice means that much with the Blues in that they are 5-6 at home in this post season run of theirs.

Blues’ rookie netminder Jordan Binnington was horrific. He couldn’t stop anything. Of Boston’s seven goals they came on a total of fifteen shots in sequence.

It’s hard to be too critical of the Blues given that when your goalies can’t stop anything in front of them it’s hard to establish much trust with the remainder of the team.

There is a silver lining in this in that I don’t have to play the Gloria song on here in my Game 3 recap.

Patrice Bergeron, Tory Krug and Tuukka Rask are my three stars of the game. Boston’s fourth line was once again excellent.

Tuukka Rask is my leader on the board currently for the Conn Smythe if the Bruins do indeed go ahead and close out the series.

I’m not sure what St. Louis coach Craig Berube should do in net in Game 4. I guess you roll Binnington out there and see what happens.

Back to basketball tonight in Toronto as the Raptors lead the finals 1-0 after Pascal Siakam’s great Game 1 performance. I would guess Kevin Durant will be playing in Oakland when the series heads back west.

Take away the first ten minutes of this game where Blues’ goalie Jordan Bennington gave up two soft five hole goals and what happened the remaining fifty minutes was a clinic put on by the St. Louis Blues.

The Blues showed the hockey world fifty-three minutes or so of how you take the other team apart by checking them into submission at every opportunity. Anything in a black and gold jersey near the puck was hit in the face and with bad intent by every St. Louis player.

It was like a prize fight and the Bruins were not helped when they lost defensemen Matt Grzelcyk in the second period and had to play the rest of the game with five defensemen rotating minutes. For good measure the Blues ran Bruin netminder Tuukka Rask twice in the game and then killed the penalty afterwards.

This was a message game sent from Craig Berube to the Boston Bruins…the message being if you want an inch of space you’re going to be hit and be hit with a nasty intent attached.

Sam Presti should have watched the game. I think he might have witnessed a coach who might be able to get Russell Westbrook to turn into an honest player. Sam Presti please call Craig Berube to help your diva star turn into an honest player. For $40 million per you should get a two way player.

It was old school hockey. The Bruins first line of Marchand, Bergeron, and Pasternak were for the second game invisible. As a group they are -7 in the first two games. Some regard this as the premier line in the NHL this season—yet the Blues haven’t in the least been impressed with the trio. Both Boston goals were scored by their fourth line.

Carl Gunnarson a defenseman ended the carnage 3:51 into the overtime with a rising slap shot from the top of the slot which Tuukka Rask never saw.

Rask was decent in this game and only because of his good play did the game even get to overtime. The game was for the most part played on his end with Boston’s defensemen unable to cleanly connect passes of any variety on any breakout plays. Quite frankly…they looked scared.

Boston’s puck movement was in a word…horrific. It looked like a pee wee level clusterfuck where none of these guys had ever been checked before in their lives.

The series now goes to St. Louis where the Blues now hold home ice advantage with three of the next four games being played in their arena in front of their adoring fans. The St. Louis baseball Cardinals absolutely suck this season. Don’t for a second think the St. Louis sports fans know this is their only chance with the Blues for anything special to happen this season pro sports wise in their city.

I would think Laura Branigan was heard singing “Gloria’ late into the night in the bars of St. Louis.

Boston needs a serious attitude adjustment in Game 3 if they want to lift the Cup.

After watching Game 2 in Boston probably need to learn the lyrics to ‘Gloria’.