Author: Mike

I want my blog to read like a magazine of sorts. Of course… I want the Oklahoma City Thunder to be the cornerstone, but I also enjoy following other things and writing about other things. Since in reality we have no newspaper in Oklahoma City…I want my blog to reflect not only on the Thunder and OU football, but a feel for what’s going on from a political sense in our country. We have no Op-Ed page in Oklahoma City, nor any real diversity of thought in written form on what should be the state’s leading newspaper. There is not one single politician in Oklahoma I admire or respect currently….both parties. So I want my blog to reflect what this Oklahoman’s perspective is of the world at large beyond the prism of the predictable rogue red prism which is Oklahoma.

I have no political slant per se. I’m not an ideologue. I disdain both parties, but for different reasons. I’m an equal opportunity disdainer. They’ve both become worthless for different reasons. I disdain the GOP because they don’t give a shit about the human element in governance. I disdain the Dems because they don’t have the discipline to govern with a pragmatic hand. Somewhere in between these boundaries is where I reside. If I had to vote right now at this precise time on the 2020 election…I’d vote for Michael Bennett from Colorado—the moderate Dem. You can’t give everything away as Bernie Sanders wants to promise. You can blend a combination of capitalism and socialism, but you can’t go all the way either way I wouldn’t think or you’ll lose the essence of the American Dream and what makes America special. The middle class is what makes America special. FDR and LBJ both knew this and nurtured it with the New Deal and the Fair Deal.

This will require a deft hand. Not the clumsy club of someone like Trump or an American Heritage Foundation puppet like Mitch McConnell. Learn something today and google Grover Norquist. Do it. You’ll learn something about your country and why in part this is where we are.

I was thinking of Sean Spicer the other day and wondering if his life is okay. If he got out in time and didn’t ruin his professional reputation by being associated with Trump. Compared to the person who replaced him…he was actually pleasant considering his job was to be the personal spokesman for a pathological liar. But still, in a weird way…I kind of miss him.

Fairly soon I want to start following the 2020 election process. I’ll probably wait two more weeks to see if Biden and the kid from Texas enter the race. Bill Weld a liberal Republican (whom I like) has announced he’s going to run against Trump. Weld is a smart dude. He has no chance whatsoever, but he’s smart and interesting to listen to if you ever get the chance.

I see no one as of yet who I think could go on a stage with Trump and handle his antics. Maybe it’s Melania since she’s the national spokesperson for anti bullying. But we’ll see. High level content doesn’t matter anymore in American politics. I’m not sure exactly how a candidate should run a race in this new country we live in.

Kanye West 2020 anyone?

Everyday we’re watching history. I hope enough people are paying attention.

I went to a high school called John Marshall. It was a tough place back in the mid 70’s with about a 50/50 ratio of black and white. I was a three sport kid entering 10th grade. I was the starting third baseman on back to back AAU state championship teams in junior high. I was the starting two guard on my 9th grade team. And a safety in football on the JV team. After my first semester in the 10th grade when I came back with a robust 2.8 grade average my parents told me I had to drop a sport. It was basketball because I knew at best I’d never be anything beyond the 11th or 12th guy even by senior season. Baseball was different. I was always one of the three or four best players on any team I played for…and that continued all the way thru high school.

But the thing I really loved about John Marshall was that sports assimilated me to the world we live in today…black, brown and white. Sports are that way. They bring people together because the goal is to win regardless of the color of your skin. Just win, baby—even if your name is Michael Jackson and you’re white. Just win.

Maybe Trump would have turned out differently if he’d gone to John Marshall and had a dog at some point in his to this point worthless miserable life. I think back to those days in the parking lot when all of us were dancing to this as one after a big win. I thought of myself as black because the black girls just thought I was it with the Michael Jackson shit.

People who have played sports understand what I’m writing here. It’s one of the reasons I believe sports are so integral in establishing relationships regardless of the color of your skin.

I want to be fair and not just write without thinking that Donald Trump is the worst POTUS in the history of the Republic. I need to think on this a little more in that I have a history degree and could have taught history if I’d chosen to do so. I won’t write that sentence without serious thought.

But I will write this …Donald Trump two years in is clearly our most corrupt president and the president most lacking having any qualifications or skills whatsoever to be the President of the United States.

As far as corruption goes, I’d rank it this way in a three man race….1 Trump, 2 Richard Nixon, and 3 Warren G Harding. In case you don’t remember, Harding was our 29th president and served from 1921-23 and preceded Calvin Coolidge in the White House. Like Trump, he was overtly corrupt and his years in the White House were marred by the Teapot Dome Scandals. Like Trump, as well, he had many mistresses, but of course back then we didn’t have television and we never heard Harding or saw Harding boast about grabbing a handful of pussy whenever he felt the need. And, of course, back then as well we didn’t have the Fathead Twins….Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, defending this type of behavior on the radio and airwaves in the name of Christianity.

Trump clearly is already our most corrupt president with his Reservoir Dogs mafia surrounding him… and will likely be regarded as the worst president at some point depending on how he leaves office.

It’s frustrating living in a state like Oklahoma where the educational system is a dumpster fire and there’s no viable newspaper to read in a city with the 27th largest population in the country. Sam Anderson should have touched on this in his book, but he needed the historical archives from the Oklahoman to write his book. I don’t need their archives. I studied all this in college. I’ve lived this and observed it firsthand.

This is a newspaper which probably would have endorsed Putin over Obama in 2008 as long as the Putin had an R stamped next to his name on the ballot. You think that’s hyperbole.. I don’t.

But right now if I had to rank the three worst presidents in American history….I’d go 1 James Buchanan, 2 Donald Trump and 3 Warren Harding. But Trump has two more years at least to get there and even if he extorts the Japanese Prime Minister into nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize…I still think he’ll get there eventually as worst POTUS ever.

To me, the truly amazing thing is the party of the Christian Right and family values still stand by Caligula Lite. And you know what…they’re staying and they will stay with him even if he did a live threesome with daughter Ivanka and Anne Coulter on a Fox pay per view special. These voters have shown they’re not going anywhere else.

81% of registered Republican voters still claim they support the president with the orange head and the Marco Rubio penis.

It must be the stock market. It must be the 401k accounts. It can’t be anything else. But as every president eventually learns you don’t run the markets, they eventually run you. Economic cycles run their course. Bulls are bulls and bears are bears.

So as I sit here…I’m not ready just yet to anoint Donald Trump as our worst president.

Not just yet.

Anne Coulter finally got one right…”Our president is a complete idiot.” Anne Coulter +1

For a guy that was tired of being second, that hasn’t been much of a problem these past three years. Since Durant’s July 4th departure from rogue right Oklahoma he’s done nothing but win. He’s won two straight NBA rings. He’s won two straight Finals MVPs. And he’s now won his second All-Star Game MVP in his storied career to date.

Pretty heady stuff. Jerry West and Bob Myers knew exactly what they were doing.

Durant has been taking some fairly heavy heat for what he did almost three years ago. I was mad at him for at least six months myself. But as time has moved on…I have no problem whatsoever with the decision he made. In fact, part of me somewhat admires what he did albeit not doing an interview and straight up telling the college market in Oklahoma why he felt it was time for him to explore something different in his life.

Recently Durant walked out of an interview because he’s still getting heat for all of this and to some degree for being surly with Ethan Strauss. Durant didn’t do anything different from what Russell Westbrook has done consistently over the years with the Daily Oklahoman’s Barry Tramel so I’m not sure why this is that big of a deal.

If I were Durant this is what I would say and I’d say it openly and put all this behind me:

“I left Oklahoma City only after fulfilling my contractual obligations to the fullest. My time there will always be a part of who I am, yet can you really blame me for leaving a place where Donald Trump garnered almost 70% of the popular vote and elected Mary Fallin governor twice. I wish it were different. I wish they would have grown up somewhat and become something more than a college market with an NBA team due to Hurricane Katrina.

We made it to four Western Conference Finals and one NBA Finals. My relationships with Russell, Nick and Sam Presti will always be something I treasure and I hope to repair these relationships over the years.

I also wanted to pursue basketball at the highest level possible and in all truth I felt like I couldn’t go any further with Russell Westbrook because he still continues to play high risk, low reward basketball when exactly the opposite should be the model in Oklahoma City.

I know in saying this I’ll probably enflame the haters in Oklahoma even more. But at the end of the day, I not only have to be honest with myself, but with the public. It is what it is. This is me. This is who I am and I said it on Sixty Minutes. Why should I pretend to be something I’m not?

As far as where my career goes from here…I don’t know for sure. I want to play for a coach I respect and Steve Kerr is that type of a coach. I enjoy winning. I want to be the best I can be and if Warrior ownership wants to keep myself, Klay and Steph together then why not.

Bill Russell won eleven championships in thirteen seasons with the Boston Celtics. I think that’s very cool. I also respect Bill Russell for being his own man and openly addressing racism is America not only back then but in the present as well. We need people to speak openly about our country.

Just like any other human, I want to wake up every morning and make the effort to become a better person every day.”

—————————-

If I were Durant I’d say that and be done with it. If people in Oklahoma still want to boo that’s on them. I’m still waiting for Russell Westbrook and Paul George to make a public statement of substance in regards to what it feels like as a black man to play in a market which has so fully embraced the most racist president in the history of our country. That’s on Westbrook and Paul George. I had no idea signing a n NBA max deal excluded a person from having First Amendments rights.

If I were Kevin Durant.. I’d quit worrying about what people in Oklahoma or Ethan Strauss think. I’d answer questions with complete candor. There’s no way in hell I’d go play for the Knicks though. That wouldn’t be on my radar screen.

If the season were to end today this is how I would vote on several categories:

MVP:

Paul George
James Harden
Giannis Anteokounmpo

Coach of the Year:

Mike Budenholzer
Mike Malone
Dave Joerger

NBA Executive of the Year:
Sam Presti
Bob Myers
Tim Connelly

Defensive Player of the Year:

Rudy Gobert
Paul George
Draymond Green

Rookie of the Year:

Luka Doncic
DeAndre Ayten
Trae Young
Jaren Jackson

Biggest Disappointment:

New Orleans Pelicans
LA Lakers
Houston Rockets

In the end, I have Paul George and James Harden in a dead heat, but for the time being, I gave Paul George the nod because of Houston’s abysmal record. Granted…there have been injuries. But if I’m going to hold Paul George accountable for a 55 win season, then I should at least hold James Harden accountable to a 50 win season with some injuries.

That was an awesome dunk! I’m guessing Little Nick Gallo will never be the same. Even with the elbow cocked on the rim…that was great. I saw some incredible things at John Marshall back in the day, but I never saw a bruh fly over Shaq wearing a Superman top and dunk.

Hamidou Diallo Nature Boy…Whoo! That was great!

Diallo Superman Dunk > Greatest Ric Flair Strut Ever!

Some music for the All-Star weekend might be nice. After viewing the travesty at the Grammys…I think I’ll do my own music. Best of luck to Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Hamidou Diallo this week-end. Make the angry white Trump people in Oklahoma proud. It’s been a good day already–OU finally won another game. Good for them.

I love movies. I love great storytelling with interesting characters. Usually… what I do is from January 1st to February 10th or so is go to my closest theatre and binge watch a dozen movies in a three week period. Last year I actually watched four movies on the day of the Oscars. That almost killed me and I’ll never do that again as this year I was better at spreading out my movie list. In fact, a week before the show and I’m already done. It’s a ritual with me like the seasons changing. It drives my wife crazy and she rolls her eyes at me. I see every genre possible, while she’s a chick flick girl but one who’s actually the daughter of an Air Force Bird Colonel and very smart.

She’s never seen Shindler’s List or Twelve Years a Slave or the The Color Purple. “How could you not see those movies?” I ask her. She says, ” I don’t watch depressing movies. Why would I want to be depressed?” Sigh. You can guess which movies I see alone. She almost walked out of the theatre when I took her to see The Master. Dead serious.

We’ve been together for thirty-eight years and this year for only the second time in our marriage we agree on the Best Picture of the Year.

The only other time we agreed was with Four Weddings and a Funeral. She still has a thing for Hugh Grant while I’ve moved on although we both did love…Love Actually. And of course there was Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail. That was her Meg Ryan stage.

This year was very tough for me because I fell in love with two movies which I feel like are deserving of Best Picture. One is A Star is Born and the other is Green Book which I’ll feature on my blog next week. I’d feel very good if either of these movies win the Best Picture Award. I’ll do my list next Saturday with my top eight movies and how I ranked them. I’ll pick my performers awards then.

But I have to tell you, Bradley Cooper won my heart with his movie. I loved him in The Mule as well which made my list. But for me this is the Year of Bradley Cooper. He’s come a long way since Silver Linings Playbook. I have to admit he’s become one of my favorite actors.

I don’t watch much of the NBA All-Star week-end. I’ll watch Diallo in the dunk contest and probably watch the three point shooting contest and that will be it for me. Who knows…maybe I’ll watch a little rap. Probably not. I only watch two rappers…Eminem and 2pac and since neither of them are involved in this show I’ll probably pass. Isn’t it ironic that the best rapper in the world is white and rap is the music of a league completely dominated by the black athlete like in no other sport. I just find that ironic. God works in mysterious ways. Eminem has more soul in his little finger than Kevin Durant has in his entire body. Go figure.

Back to the movies. I want to play this Sam Elliott and Bradley Cooper interview because I love Sam Elliott and I’m hoping he gets to have his Oscar moment even though Mahershala Ali was superb in Green Book, but he already has one in Moonlight.

My advice is skip the NBA All-Star game and see one of these two movies if you haven’t already.

We’re at the All-Star break and while Sam Presti didn’t make a trade at the deadline he has however acquired Markieff Morris of the Morris Twins fame. Morris was with Scott Brooks and the Washington Wizards before being traded to New Orleans where he was bought out and waived. He hasn’t played in over six weeks and is in recovery from a neck injury, but has been cleared to play.

I’ve watched both of the Morris Twins play ever since their college days at Kansas with Bill Self. Potentially–Markieff Morris could help OKC as the eighth or ninth man in the rotation if he can prove to be healthy and work himself into game shape. Marcus, the twin in Boston, is the player you’d covet, but Markieff could conceivably help the Thunder in a limited role. Kind of like would you’d want Brook over Robin Lopez. I’d covet Brook Lopez, but Robin Lopez has some value given the right set of circumstances.

You would think he’d have a shot of being the No. 8 or 9 guy in the rotation given the first seven players in the rotation are set in stone with Paul George, Westbrook, Adams, Grant, Schroder, Ferguson, and Noel. Eight and nine on Billy Donovan’s current rotation are Pat Patterson and Abdel Nadar. Ten and eleven are Deonte Burton and Hamidou Diallo. Andre Roberson is No. 12 and has a roster spot in the event he ever plays this season. Markieff Morris would be No. 13, but in reality would be No. 8 if he’s in physical condition to play.

In the past two seasons with Washington, in post season play, Morris has played 19 games with numbers of 11.4 pts, 6.7 rbs, and 1.7 asts per game in around 19 minutes a game. He’s a career 33% three point shooter at 6’10”. He’s been a bit of a ‘free spirit’ at times in his career so I’m not sure you’d get the same locker room calmness you’d get from Pat Patterson.

If I’m Donovan my No. 8 guy is getting at best 12 minutes of game because I’m loading up on my first seven guys and finding every way possible to get Nerlens Noel up to 20-22 minutes a game as the season hits the goal achieving portion of play. There’s only 240 minutes a game to be handed out a game–so minutes are going to be earned beyond my first seven players.

So while I don’t see this move as a game changer type of move…it certainly shouldn’t hurt the Thunder in any way and they needed to fill a spot with a player with playoff experience.

To me, this would be like the Red Sox adding a nice middle reliever to bolster the bullpen. And if you watched the last World Series you know you can never get enough arms in your bullpen.

Nice pickup. What could it hurt?

For the first time since the Miracle in Philly almost a month ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder reverted to massive underachiever status with a horrible 131-122 loss to the reeling New Orleans Pelicans.

The Thunder had a chance to go into the All-Star break as the hottest story in the NBA and draw within a game of Denver in the West for second place.

It was there for the taking with Anthony Davis not playing a single minute in the second half in front of what has to be an angry New Orleans fan base. You’d think that would be the perfect recipe for the Thunder even without Jerami Grant and Dennis Schroder in the lineup. But instead the storyline was the Pelicans won the second half 65-59 without Anthony Davis playing a minute after halftime.

Nerlens Noel was a nice story for the Thunder scoring 22 points. But even with Noel having his best night since joining the Thunder and Anthony Davis not playing beyond halftime it wasn’t enough.

Russell Westbrook had his best offensive night of the season scoring 44 points on an 18-30 shooting night and triple doubled for an 11th straight time. So in essence, you could say Westbrook absorbed the missing points from Schroder not being in New Orleans with the Thunder.

It wasn’t what you would call a bench thing either as Ray Felton kicked in 9 points to go along with Nerlens Noel as the Thunder bench actually outscored the Pelican bench by a 35-34 margin.

It was more of Paul George for the first time since Philly going 3-17 shooting threes and not being able to bail out the Thunder as he has during the previous run of games this past month. Not to be cruel, but on this night, Paul George looked more like Rudy Gay than a serious MVP candidate.

You can’t write that on the Oklahoman or Dailey Thunder, but I just did because I have my own blog and I don’t have to play the bullshit game of hovering around NBA superstars to maintain media access. This to me is the downfall or myth if you will in the age of contemporary sports journalism as it appears to me the writers with the most access both on and off the record rarely if ever write anything worth reading.

But in this game give Pelican coach Alvin Gentry some credit. He challenged his team and they responded with Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle both producing plus thirty point nights and in essence making the big plays at the end. Sometimes pride still matters in the modern era of collective bargaining in the NBA and on this night it was somewhat refreshing to see effort and focus rewarded to the New Orleans team given the fiasco which is now playing out in New Orleans.

I’m a firm believer Anthony Davis should not be playing anymore this season. He and his agent made their intentions clear before the trade deadline. He should just sit and then be traded this summer when the Pelicans can get the maximum in return to move forward with Holiday and Randle.

Kevin Durant never did this. Russell Westbrook never did this. Their agents never demanded a trade during a season as best that I know. They honored their deals. This should not have played out like this in New Orleans especially in a market of which has had to be weaned with special care since Hurricane Katrina and the entire George Shinn saga. The fans deserved better.

But at the end of the day…the NBA isn’t a fans’ game, but more of an agent-superstar driven game.

The Thunder hit the break at 37-20, but missed a glorious chance in New Orleans to continue the narrative they could be something special in May.