Author: Mike

I’m loving this book from a history standpoint of Oklahoma City. Like I’ve written on here before one of my degrees is in history and I thought hard about becoming a history teacher or professor when I was younger. Given what I’ve observed in Oklahoma from an education standpoint…I made the right choice. Anderson’s accounts of Oklahoma City’s history are not only entertaining, but very readable. The way he structured the book using the Thunder to illustrate the Boom/Bust syndrome of OKC’s history is masterful.

My book, whenever it gets written, will be more basketball oriented, more like the journal David Halberstam wrote about Bill Walton and the ’78-’79 Portland Trailblazers titled Breaks of the Game. More like a Season on the Brink or an Instant Replay.

This book Anderson has written though I think will define itself as somewhat of a genre classic. But I can’t really define it as a basketball book, but more to the point it’s this masterful account of Oklahoma City and it’s struggles to overcome the Boom/Bust syndrome and to somehow get out of its own way as a city trying to grow up.

His observations in regards to Durant, Westbrook, and Presti are spot on. I’m hoping in the back half of the book he had a personal interview with James Harden in as much as the Harden trade is the singular basketball moment which drives the story from a basketball standpoint. Let us be clear, the Harden trade along with Durant leaving to join the Warriors are the two most impactful events in the history of the Thunder. I’m a little surprised the account of Harden being driven to the OKC airport for his post trade flight to Houston hasn’t been in the book so far.

Great book though. I’m reading slower on purpose to prolong the positive experience. I love a well told narrative and Sam Anderson has written a story which might not be quite in the class of Halberstam’s Breaks of the Game, but from my standpoint is a book I’ll treasure. I love good books and well told stories. This is both.

I will write this though…I’m a little disappointed the almost iconic dr el prez hasn’t been mentioned yet any of the Daily Thunder references. I wonder what Anderson’s on screen name was in retrospect? I also must admit I miss the old Daily Thunder messageboard back when they had an iconic messageboard. I love the fact Royce Young and his wife let me write fuck as many times as I needed to write it. On here though–I’m determined to reduce my ‘fuck’ usages. I might be a Jesse James rogue, but I’m not a Deplorable. I need to write my Top Ten Favorite posters sometime this month. No. 1 is easy….dr el prez—the other nine need some more thought though Thunderchick, Glenda, and Justin obviously make the cut.

Buy the book and read it.

You’ll laugh and you’ll cry.

What other city would on purpose expose its citizens to sonic booms? Probably the same city which now leads the country in earthquakes due to fracking. Operation Bongo…I’ll have to write something on this. Only in Oklahoma could this happen.

The Gary England weather anecdotes are great. I love the weather myself and always dreamed of being the next Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel. Weather is such an integral part of the Oklahoma culture and Anderson’s use of the weather is deft. Long story short…you gotta be a mentally tough motherfucker to survive the weather, the politics, Operation Bongo, and the earthquakes to live in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City has never really learned all that much, yet it sustains and plods forward trying to define itself as a city.

I was stunned when former OKC mayor Mick Cornett wasn’t even competitive with Trump GOP candidate Kevin Stitt in the recent GOP gubernatorial runoff.

Storyline…OKC in small parts has grown up while the vast majority of the state hasn’t or won’t.

My big sister from Seattle who got her doctorate from Harvard sent me this book titled Boom Town by a writer named Sam Anderson from the NY Times magazine. She loved the book, but of course we stole Seattle’s team and she loves the Warriors. But never once has she touted me towards a bad book. Not once.

Only twenty pages into the book…I will admit she is right again.

Twenty pages in and I’m crying, laughing, and realizing this person named Sam Anderson who is basically an essayist for the NY Times Magazine can write his ass off as he has put together this mosaic history of Oklahoma City and the Thunder woven into one.

It’s the book I should have rightfully written and still might if Russell Westbrook can ever harness his inner Maurice Cheeks and win an NBA championship without Kevin Durant.

If you live in Oklahoma or even if you don’t this is a must read.

It explains this place which at times completely frustrates me, yet in some ways still holds me captive by what a completely odd place it is right in the heartland of America and currently ranked as the 29th largest city in the country.

It’s not really a basketball book, but more a history piece on OKC told through the eyes of the Thunder highlighted by the odd occurrences which somehow put Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden all here for that 2012 run to the NBA Finals and a bit beyond.

Steven Adams has also written a book which I’m going to read before the season starts and for me that means I’ll read Sam Anderson’s book this week and start getting myself in a frame of mind for the upcoming Thunder season.

Anderson combines in one book two of my greatest loves… history and basketball.

He had me in the opening paragraph.

It’s nice to read something not about Donald Trump and the Russian mafia.

I’ll get back to that douchebag after I finish this book.

I actually thought the Thursday Night game between the Eagles and Falcons was a dud. I fell asleep truth be known.

But today had three games I enjoyed immensely.

My son in Denver attended his first game in Mile High Stadium as the Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks 27-24. He sounded like a little kid on Christmas when he called after the game. He really did.

Baker Mayfield didn’t play in Cleveland’s 21-21 tie with the Steelers. It will only be a matter of time before Baker is starting. Taylor just doesn’t throw the ball well enough and when as a quarterback can only generate one score after your offense gives you five turnovers and you can’t win the game the writing is on the wall. In the past five seasons in the NFL teams which were +5 in turnovers have a record of 130-2. The Cleveland Browns are 2-2-1 in that same category. End of story.

In the NFL Sunday Night Game my Packers were 0-117 in games in which they trailed by 17 or more points entering the fourth period.

The Packers are now 1-117.

Epic second half. I wonder if the Cleveland Browns played the Chicago Bears if either team could eventually win the game or if the game would just continue into infinity. Vegas is taking infinity.

Anyway, on one knee…Aaron Rodgers was simply incredible tonight.

Whoo!

I needed this. It reminded me I’m still human and can be touched despite the world we wade through daily.

The 1983 Philadelphia 76’ers and the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder are my two favorite NBA teams of all-time. Maurice is the one chord between both of these teams. As a player he was my favorite point guard of his era not because of his star quality, but more because of the humble efficient way he went about his business as a team first player always.

I have to admit I cried watching this. I’m one year younger than Maurice and watching his beautiful acceptance speech reminded me we don’t live in the same world we lived in thirty years ago. We just don’t.

This was nice and I needed it. I needed to be reminded of what we can be as humans.

At some point, Russell Westbrook is going to have his 1983 championship season as did Maurice. I feel this in my heart. I genuinely do. I know… Different players, different eras. But I do feel at some point Russell and Sam Presti will have their moment… Maurice will be the common chord between all three of my all-time favorite NBA teams.

Like a good Vegas bookmaker—I’m going over my list again of the most probable suspects in the NY Times Op-Ed who dunnit and I’m going to change my top three Vegas betting favorites. You know, if Trump unleashes Jeff Sessions and Lindsey Graham loose on this it’s only a matter of time before they finger the wrong party/parties so I’m giving a great deal of thought to this.

I’m changing my list. I’m now going Ivanka & Jared Trump as my favorite, at 2 I’m going John Kelly, at 3 Dan Coats.

Ivanka and Jared are going back to New York at some point. They’re New York liberals. They probably do lunch with people at the NY Times. They’ve constantly tried to temper President Daddy to help him avoid his worst presidential impulses. They were the ones who brought General McMaster and Gary Cohn on board. Plus, they despise the Steve Bannon/Steven Miller faction of Trump’s circle.

So what a conundrum for Caligula if it turns out it was his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared? What in the world does Donald Trump do if it turns out the woman he covets most in the world in daughter Ivanka turned on him and feels he’s a danger to the country she wants to live in.

What would Caligula do if Jeff Sessions and Lindsey Graham came into his office, sat down with Caligula, and then informed the president it was his daughter and Jared who wrote the Op-Ed?

Would he have Jared tortured inside of a New Jersey warehouse?

Would he remove daughter Ivanka as his No. 1 Bucket List fantasy choice to be Wife No. 4?

I wonder if Sessions and Graham would even have the nerve to reveal this to the president?

It’s soap opera, isn’t it?

It’s who shot JR wrapped into a House of Cards season during a session of binge watching. Kevin Spacey never had a chance against these people.

Whether you despise Trump or not you have to admit he took House of Cards to places we never imagined possible.

Can a sitting president win an Emmy?

Interesting day. Trump demanded Jeff Sessions investigate the NY Times Op-Ed story. Barack Obama finally defended his legacy by denouncing Trump. And then Trump made some ridiculous comments as to how he’s never called Jeff Sessions stupid or made demeaning comments in general about others. Then the softest of the soft GOP senators–Lindsey Graham–who BTW was a charter member of the Never Trump crowd blamed Obama for the election of Donald Trump. I laugh out loud at Lindsey Graham. John McCain at the end must have been embarrassed about his friendship to Graham.

The only thing missing was Trump blaming Michelle Obama for the creation of the Birther Movement.

Today was an illustration of why I think America has become too stupid to be governed. Good luck with that.

Seems like an appropriate time to run this. And to think I was going to come back from Colorado and never mention Donald Trump on my blog for awhile.

Sigh.

I heard one smart thing, that being…”You’re supposed to stand up to a bully, not follow one.” Actually, Obama said quite a few smart things, I just think he shouldn’t have waited this long to say them.

America is in very deep shit if this mid-term election goes the wrong way.

Any of a multitude of Heritage Foundation type Republicans could have written this. Yeah, it could be someone from Mike Pence’s staff. It could be someone from the offices of Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan. It could be John Kelly. I seriously doubt it’s either Nikki Haley or Mike Pompeo though because they both have future presidential aspirations and they need the average Trump voter. The reference to John McCain is interesting, but that in itself doesn’t sell me on the notion it’s Dan Coats or even the swarmy Lindsey Graham. I wonder if Ivanka & Jared Trump are considered current senior staff members? I also wonder if she could write something like this. I noticed at Trump’s stump speech in Montana he couldn’t pronounce the word anonymous. Sigh. I guess that Degree in Hucksterism from Wharton isn’t all it needs to be.

I also find it odd this Op-Ed came out at just about the same time Bob Woodward’s book on the ultimate huckster is about to be released.

How would Vegas handicap this?

I’m guessing Vegas would have the odds of the writer of this Op-Ed with something like this… 1 someone associated with Pence, 2 John Kelly, or 3 maybe Dan Coats. Maybe it’s someone none of us are thinking of.

But again, there’s nothing in this Op-Ed most of us haven’t been writing since the day Donald Trump was sworn in.

It doesn’t matter.

Any first grader with any political acumen whatsoever could have written this Op-Ed. There wasn’t one thing in that Op-Ed which I haven’t written on this little rogue Thunder blog of mine.

And who really needed Bob Woodward to write a book describing in great detail the complete embarrassment which is the rogue presidency of Donald Trump.

Who could really be surprised or should be surprised?

It doesn’t matter.

What does matter to date is that not one GOP congressional member other than the recently deceased John McCain has shown any political courage at all. Not one of them unless you count the soon to be departed Bob Corker or Jeff Flake.

Not one. Not one GOP congressional leader who I guess never read anything about Watergate or the role Howard Baker played in the final days of Richard Nixon.

Who wrote this NY Times Op-Ed?

Lawrence O’Donnell claims it was Dan Coats. Or it could Jim Mattis. Or it could be John Kelly. It could be Nikki Haley. It could be Rex Tillerson. It could be General McMaster Or it could just be me writing on this blog what I’ve written to date over a hundred times.

It could be anyone.

Or it could just be the collective voice of America stating the obvious.

Was it a game changer?

I doubt it.

There won’t be a game changer until a GOP congressional leader locates a set of balls and some semblance of a moral conscience.

I expected Paul George to sign with either the Lakers and Clippers this past summer. I then expected the Thunder to be on the worst end of any trade in recent NBA memory in giving up Victor Oladipo and Domas Sabonis for a one year rental of Paul George. I expected the Thunder to be heading into the same decline pattern of say the Memphis Grizzlies with Mike Conley and Marc Gasol becoming a fringe playoff team fighting for an 8th seed here and there.

Fortunately I was wrong. Paul George fully committed to the Thunder. Jerami Grant signed a new contract. Sam Presti got rid of Carmelo Anthony in a trade which now gives him a sixth man in Dennis Schroder and picked up a legitimate NBA backup center in Nerlen Noels.

Presti used both of the Thunder’s second round draft picks to select Devon Hall from Virginia and Kevin Hurley from Texas Arlington. Hall a shooting guard and Hervey a forward you would expect to be playing in the D League this season.

Presti acquired two nice swing players in Hamidou Diallo and Timothe Luwawu-Caborrot. Both could help the Thunder given the uncertainty of Andre Roberson’s recovery from his leg injury.

It was a solid sustainable summer for Sam Presti as the Thunder enter the first year of their second decade of NBA basketball in Oklahoma City.

But the key word is sustainable. It has been Presti’s mantra in OKC since the Thunder were moved here from Seattle.

Not in sustaining NBA championships, but more to the point in sustaining relevance in the league as OKC’s only major league team in one of the smallest markets in all of the four major sports.

I would say mission accomplished two years removed from Kevin Durant’s exodus to Oakland to join the loaded Warriors.

I’ve yet to really sit down and pick my top eight teams in the West, but given what transpired in the league this summer—I could either pick the Thunder as high as No. 2 or as low as No. 5 in the West. If OKC were in the East—I’d have them right there with the Celtics as the best team in the East.

If I were to do an overall NBA Power Poll right now…I’d probably go with the Thunder at No. 5 or No. 6 in the entire league as far as their roster heading into the season.

So I’m giving Sam Presti a very solid grade of an A for his off season as the Thunder’s general manager.

Sam Presti has given Billy Donovan plenty to work with this basketball season, plus he saved the Thunder around $88 million dollars in getting rid of Carmelo Anthony and by stretching Kyle Singler.

This will be Billy Donovan’s fourth season as the Thunder coach. My jury is still out on him. Don’t get me wrong, I love him as a decent person and a representative of the city. I think he’s a classy guy. But my jury is out. I need to see Billy Donovan soar with this roster.

In fairness to Donovan he was one game away from reaching the NBA Finals in his first NBA season. In his second NBA season the team overachieved with 47 wins and Russell Westbrook’s historic triple double season. So—for the first two seasons I’m giving Billy Donovan a B+ as the head coach.

Like everyone, I expected more form the Thunder last season. But to be fair to Donovan he was saddled with a delusional former star in Carmelo Anthony who had no realistic appraisal of his current value in this league.

Placating Carmelo will not be an issue for Billy Donovan this basketball season.

The Thunder should be both an excellent defensive team and one of the league’s best rebounding teams. I would also think the Thunder will lead the league in defensive deflections with their exceptional overall team length and athleticism.

This won’t be a Thunder team waiting for Carmelo to lumber up the floor and catch up with his teammates. Sam Presti has a team of greyhounds in place for Billy Donovan.

Shooting will decide this team’s fate. Unlike last year–they can’t suck shooting the three and be one of the league’s worse free throw shooting teams.

Amazingly for me, I think Alex Abrines is one of the team’s real keys this season. I ripped Abrines for his defense the first third of last season, but to his credit he worked his tail off and became a decent defensive player. If I were Donovan—I’d seriously toy with the notion of starting Alex Abrines if his defensive play continues to evolve.

I’d go maybe Westbrook, George, Adams, Grant, and Abrines as my five starters because I’m assuming it’s going to take some time for Andre Roberson to fully recover from his season ending injury in Detroit.

Dennis Schroder is the Sixth Man. He needs to come off the bench and score the basketball. He needs to be a content version of Reggie Jackson.

If Noels can stay healthy and Patrick Patterson can shoot the three ball at a 36-39% clip the Thunder have a nice top eight players without even taking Roberson into account.

Diallo and TLC should be able to help this team. There is some nice depth.

But in the end this is Russell Westbrook and Paul George’s team and as they go the Thunder will go. It’s a star drive league. Your stars have to play like stars in the goal achieving portion of the season.

It was a solid off season in Oklahoma City. The Thunder are still relevant without Kevin Durant heading into their second decade of existence.

The Thunder have proven to be sustainable.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything on here. I needed a break. The dog days of an Oklahoma summer usually do this to me. Clearly—living in Oklahoma the months of July and August test your toughness if you work outside like I do.

My son and daughter-in-law both took new jobs in the oil and gas industry this past March. Their dream was to work in Denver and be near the skiing, fishing, and hiking outside of Denver.

So on August 23rd my wife and I embarked on a four day trip to Denver to see how they were doing.

It was a great trip. They rent a three level condo right in the heart of the Washington Park district of Denver. The area is green and there are trees, shrubs, and flowers of every variety. Walking paths, hiking paths, and bicycle paths are everywhere. The park is bustling with humanity to an extent which almost made me claustrophobic.

I loved the park. However, I could never live with this many people on top of me on a daily basis. I need space—which is exactly what I got for the last three days of the trip.

Crested Butte–that’s where I got my space. The kids took us to her family’s cabin in Gunnison County. Idyllic is how I would describe it. Set amongst the dense pines, spruce and firs the cabin nestles just above a stream which is a feeder stream to the Taylor River. You can literally hear the stream from the back deck of the cabin.

There is lushness everywhere. The high temperature was around 75 degrees all three days. Trout streams, trout rivers, and trout mountain lake abound. I was in heaven. I could retire to this place and be happy and at peace. My daughter-in-law told me they once had a black bear wander into the cabin in search of food. It’s that kind of place.

They took us to a place called Washington Gulch at around 12,000 feet elevation where I saw one of the great sunsets of my life which did not include the Pacific Ocean. I swear I could hear John Denver singing in my ears. “He was born in the summer of his 60th year…coming home to a place he’d never been before.”

The fishing was great. My son has become a fly fishing addict and we fished non stop for two days while exploring every stream, river, and lake we could cram into two days of fishing. I can fly fish so this was not new to me, but my son has become somewhat of a fly fishing purist.

We came upon a pool with about six trout in excess of two pounds idling in the water. We tried several dry flies and nymphs, but nothing interested the trout. One of the trout was a brown trout and weighed every bit of three pounds. I said to my son, ” Why don’t we rig our lines with a worm and let it bump along the bottom with the fish.”

My son was aghast. Fly fishermen don’t rig a line with a worm and bump it along the bottom. The look he gave me is one I’ll never forget. But keep in mind—my father and the legendary Joe Carter Sr. taught me how to fish and they wouldn’t have had a problem with catching a three pound trout on an earthworm. Land the fish, Michael me boy would have been their advice. Joe Carter Sr. was one of the truly great fishermen in Oklahoma history and when he was teaching me how to fish as a kid we had no idea Joe Jr. would hit that walkoff homer to torment Mitch Wild Thing Williams for the rest of his life.

But I get it. Fly fishing in Crested Butte is a religion. It’s not about just catching the fish. It’s the purity of the process. About placing your dry fly in a pool by a boulder and seeing the water bubble as a rainbow, brown, or brook trout takes the fly. It’s about nature. It’s about replicating a natural process in getting the trout to take your fly.

It’s why I loved the movie A River Runs Through It.

We ate at two great restaurants. One was a quaint place which was exactly like the Sleepy Hollow in northeast Oklahoma City used to be. You eat one thing. That’s the menu. Relish tray, then all you can eat fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, cream corn, and honey biscuits. Desert is one option. Do you want your vanilla ice cream plain or with chocolate syrup. It was excellent. Sometimes simple is hard to beat.

The second night we ate Italian at a place called Michael’s Garlic which backs up to the Taylor River. We sat at a table as close to the river as possible. I love Italian food. I’m part Italian. I pretend to be Michael Corleone at times. This was a wonderful experience. The waiter talked me out of getting chicken marsala, eggplant parmesan, or chicken parmesan and instead steered me to the house special. It was chicken smothered in garlic, spinach, and mushrooms. It was stunning. I had a salad and the two sides of mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts were the perfect touch. I love brussel sprouts and I have no idea why I don’t eat them more often.

Anthony Bourdain would have loved this place. A bunch of New Yorkers running an Italian restaurant on the Taylor River in Gunnison County. I gave it five stars. The only thing missing was Michael drowning Fredo in the Taylor River as the sun set.

The last day of our trip my son and I tinkered with the idea of getting back to Denver to see the first place Colorado Rockies play the St Louis baseball Cardinals at Coors Field. But we opted to just hang out at the cabin where I started a book called the Secret Life of Bees which my daughter-in-law loaned to me. Even though I’m neither a mother or a daughter it’s a great Southern novel which I should have read several years ago. Both bees and human dysfunction fascinate me.

I wish I could have stayed another week. I was at peace, but I sorely missed the diva black lab Pauli and was ready to pick her up at the Lucky Dog Spa and hold her in my arms.

So I’m ready to get back to blogging on the Thunder. Other than not acquiring Klay Thompson…I like what Sam Presti did with his basketball club this summer.

I could see Sam Presti fly fishing. I really could. Because it’s not just about catching that three pound trout–it’s about the purity of process in OKC and sustaining this franchise. I’m guessing Sam Presti would have rolled his eyes when I suggested throwing an earthworm with my fly rod and letting it bump along the bottom. But I’m also sure Sam Presti is obsessed with landing that three pound trout. If you kind of get my drift.