Author: Mike

Today is the second biggest day of the NFL season with the conference championships taking place in Philadelphia and Foxboro. The name of the trophy which goes to the eventual Super Bowl champion is the Lombardi Trophy which is named after the iconic coach of the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins.

I was born in ’57 and my youth was dominated by sports. Baseball, football, basketball, racquetball, golf and snow skiing consumed me. Even ice hockey as an adult satiated my passion to compete. Without a doubt, Vincent Thomas Lombardi was the dominant role model for me growing up as a kid in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t just that the Packers won championships, but it more to what Lombardi stood for as a man. Duty, work ethic, team work, passion, commitment to family, tenacity, compassion, and a tolerance of others as long as he saw these qualities in his players and coaches.

I absorbed everything about the Packers. Green Bay’s starting left offensive guard, Jerry Kramer, wrote three best selling books which I read in my formative years. Instant Replay, Winning is Everything, and Farewell to Football were a set of books which gave insights not only into Lombardi the football coach, but more importantly, the man himself. Many in my generation have a place in our hearts for Vince Lombardi. Sure, the Ice Bowl was part of it, but once you got past that game and Camelot it was much more.

Oddly, Lombardi more than any politician, probably helped shape me on my views on what should be important to a young American man growing up. I can still hear that voice booming in my ears. Politically, I’m an Independent, but in truth I’m a member of the Lombardi Coalition. Lombardi was a social liberal with a fiscal conservative’s view on work and self accountability.

Lombardi was very much a tolerant person. He treated every player the same except quarterback Bart Starr. Kramer always wrote Bart Starr was his favorite player probably because the quarterback position is the purest extension of a coach. And he was careful not to yell at Starr because he never wanted his quarterback’s leadership to the rest of the team ever questioned. Otherwise, Lombardi treated everyone the same.

Lombardi was the grandson of Italian immigrants. He was one of the original members of the Seven Blocks of Granite at Fordam University. His coaching career started with Red Blaik being offensive line coach at Army, then becoming the NY Giants offensive coordinator. When Lombardi took the Green Bay job the Packers were the laughingstock of the NFL. In less than a decade, he turned the Packers into the greatest dynasty in pro football history.

As I sit here today watching our country in cultural freefall, I wonder what the grandson of Italian immigrants would not only think about Donald Trump, but more to the point ‘what the hell has happened’ to our country?

Some say Lombardi couldn’t win in today’s culture in America. I disagree. Lombardi was a pioneer not only pertaining to racial equality, but for social tolerance as well. Lombardi would be a perfect fit.

So when this year’s Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the winning team it isn’t just the fact his teams won championships that his name is on the trophy, but more to the point, how he helped shape America during the 60’s and beyond his own lifetime.

America could use Vincent Thomas Lombardi right now. The Lombardi Doctrine, now more than the 60’s should be the doctrine in America. Don’t judge others, just do your best and look for the best in others.

You can’t ever allow yourself to get too high with a win involving this Thunder team, but OKC’s romp over LeBron’s Cavs on Saturday in Cleveland in the ABC matinee game was impressive.

I guess we’re at the point when we have to say this…when this team plays a national game with the nation watching, this team’s stars show up. They showed up against the Warriors, the Rockets, and today they didn’t just show up versus the Cavs…this Thunder team made LeBron give the Roberto Duran look of ‘no mas’ in the fourth period. It was sad.

It was a Thunder avalanche. It started 8-0 and went downhill from there for LeBron. He looked lost. His team was in disarray. And there was LeBron for the first time in a long while looking like anything but the best basketball player in the world. When Russell Westbrook plays like this–that best basketball player in the world could he him. Bad Little Dude showed what be can do. But so did Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, and Stevo Adams.

The 148 points scored in regulation are the most points scored in a regulation game in the Thunder era.

At this point, I’m moving Steven Adams into the what we will call OKC’s Big Four.

When Sam Presti sees something like this—I guess I understand the ‘all the chips in the middle of the table’ mindset with the Paul George recruitment.

Even if Jerry West called Paul George from a yacht swaying in the Pacific with the promise of LeBron being a Clipper next season…I’m not sure that would be the basketball move best enchancing Paul George’s championship aspirations after seeing Paul George’s performances when he plays like he cares.

These numbers are staggering. OKC’s Big Four scored 120 points. They shot a collective 44-68 from the field. The Thunder had 37 assists versus 13 turnovers. OKC pounded the Cavs on the boards. No one wearing a Cavs jersey looked even remotely equal to what Steven Adams was dishing out on the inside game. This wasn’t the Adams from the 2016 Western Conference, this was better. This was the next level of Steven Adams. When Steven Adams brings his Big Boy Britches game like this he’s possibly the best center in the Western Conference, or at least in the top two or three.

Billy Donovan was better. Alex Abrines didn’t see his two minutes of action until the game was over. Donovan coached this like a playoff game. He tightened the rotational minutes. It made sense.

I never screamed profanities at my 60″ flat screen once. But then again, I never had to hear a word ushered from the lips of Brian Davis or Michael Cage as only ABC carried the game. It was so refreshing for a sagacious NBA Baby Boomer like me to be able to listen to Hubie Brown. I drank wine. Smoked victory cigars. It was nirvana. The diva black lab gave me the look which said, ” I told you it would be alright, Mike. Dude, chill. It’s all a process.”

I could care less about the government close down. I can’t sweat that shit anymore. This is an NBA Oklahoma Thunder blog and there might be the chance I have something to write about other than which Ivanka look alike porn star named Summer Love will show up next as one of Caligula’s erotic play friends.

This was the fourth Thunder win a row as the Thunder improve to 26-20. Thirty six games left. The Thunder are 6-3 in the month. But I won’t project any further. I’ve learned from that. No corner was turned today. For today–you’d have to say OKC and Golden State need to hook up in the playoffs. If for no other reason than to give Russell Westbrook the chance to show the Warriors what he showed the country this afternoon in Cleveland.

The Thunder host Brooklyn on Tuesday. One would think this game won’t resemble anything like the fiasco in Mexico City.

Life is worth living again. The dark clouds have parted.

LET’S GO THUNDER!

The U.S. government has shut down, fortunately the NFC and AFC Championship Games take center stage. Clearly, the more compelling storylines are the football games and Tom Brady’s hand injury he suffered this week in practice.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s game at Cleveland is but a blur on my interest radar this week-end. Hopefully — the game in Cleveland will get both of these sleepwalking teams motivated and energized moving forward.

We know how the government thing will end. It will end the same way it’s ended for a very long time—with that being…conclusive evidence that neither Democrats or Republicans in any configuration can govern the country like adults. Granted, having a fourth grade level internet bully is like throwing gas on a fire, but who amongst can honestly say this would have had a different ending regardless of which candidate had been elected. Ask John Boehner if he’s surprised. No surprise–the American Freedom Caucus rules both Trump and McConnell. The rest is just window dressing.

So–it’s NFL football again for me this week-end taking my interest center stage.

The AFC Championship Game features the Jacksonville Jags at the New England Patriots. Tom Brady sustained a cut knuckle on his throwing hand this Wednesday. Four stitches were required to close the wound. Can he throw? Can he play? My guess is he’ll do both well enough to beat the upstart Jags and advance to the Super Bowl. The Jags are very good, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe the best defense in the NFL. I look at it this way though, the Pats have home field, Tom Brady with a sutured knuckle, a healthy Gronk, and the best head coach in the NFL…I might not give the points, but I’d still take New England to win. In the end, is Blake Bortles good enough at quarterback for the Jags to overcome all of which I just listed above? That’s the question in this one. Should be an intriguing game though. I’ll go New England 24- Jacksonville 19.

The NFC game should be a game of two franchises with two quarterbacks who have both traveled improbable roads to be on the cusp of the Super Bowl… Nick Foles and Case Keenum. Two great defenses. But here’s where I go to pick the Eagles to advance, namely home field and a better running game. Otherwise, these teams are almost identical. Neither have won a Super Bowl in their football history, neither have been to a Super Bowl in quite some time, both have suffered in recent years, but here they both stand one game removed from the Super Bowl. I’ll go Philadelphia 19- Minnesota 17.

Well, here we are within hours of the government shutting down and this is where we’re at ….Caligula paying Ivanka Trump look alike porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money from a dubious L.L.C. account just weeks before the Election of 2016. Who in their right mind could think of this shit and actually write it down?

In the same week in which Caligula called Haiti a shithole, allowed Tea Party senator Tom Cotton to bully him on the DACA kids, and I’m guessing the government will close…here we are chasing Trump LLCs over something we at this point will call Pornstar Pussygate. Who are these white people and why aren’t we deporting them?

We don’t need to be worrying about illegal immigration. We need to deport about 20 million or so white dumbasses from our country.

Even Jerry Springer wouldn’t allow this shit in his studio. We don’t need a wall. The ‘Wall’ isn’t the issue. An over abundance of white dumbasses is the problem.

Richard Painter, former legal counsel in W’s administration… I love this dude. He starts talking and I just lose it. It must be all the religious zealots who voted for Trump have some serious sexual repression issues is all I can figure at this point.

Here’s Richard Painter giving his take on Caligula and Porn Star Pussygate.

Arizona’s conservative GOP senator is going home. He’s calling it quits. He wrote a book on the behavior of Trump in relation to constitutional abuses by the POTUS and took a hit from his voters in Arizona. Sheriff Joe, the acknowledged racist and recently pardoned one is running for that Senate seat. Trump has already endorsed Sheriff Joe. Isn’t Arizona proud?

Anyway, Flake gave a speech on Wednesday comparing Caligula to Stalin. Then, of course, the next night Trump held what he calls his own Fake News Awards. Here’s Jeff Flake basically shutting the door on his own ass going out the proverbial U.S. Senate door. Today, Flake was one of several GOP senators who voted against Trump and the C.R. without DACA relief attached. Kind of somewhat odd, Little Marco Rubio, who’s parents were Cuban immigrants as were the parents of Lyin’ Ted Cruz, have both been quiet this week. Maybe they’re worried Trump will send them back.

Obviously, we’ve reached a point where it is somewhat obvious General Kelly is the defacto POTUS. Whether it be because Caligula couldn’t pass his fourth grade proficiency exams or whatnot—this is where we are on January 18th circa 2018.

I don’t think this in any way should bother or hinder the Trump base from enjoying their reality television series. This in no way should exclude Caligula from laundering dirty Russian money in Cypriot banks, disparaging American POWs, dissing Gold Star families, taunting handicapped people, golden showering Russian prostitutes, frolicking with Stormy Daniels and other porn stars, giving inspirational speeches at Boy Scout Jamborees, or just enjoying a lazy day of furniture store sport fucking with Billy Bush.

This is when we as adults in the room have that come to Jesus moment and come to a pragmatic realization of where we’re at. This is where we’re at and I don’t see it changing.

So…here’s General John Kelly giving his State of the Union Address.

General background information because he wasn’t at GOP Convention in Cleveland. So…in reality this is the GOP’s Never Trump Movement figuring it out half a year late.

With the already horrid LA Lakers only down 60-54 at halftime inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, it got worse for the Lakers in the second half without not only Lonzo Ball, but without Kentavius Caldwell-Pope who left the game late in the second period with a strained Achilles. Without two of LA’s better players, OKC’s Thunder came out in the second half and steamrolled the Lakers in coasting to an easy 114-90 win.

With this Thunder team, any win over any team under any circumstance is a good win. This has been a mentally fragile Thunder team to date. Baby steps are good steps. I love you, you love me. It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood. Training wheels aren’t a bad thing. Thoughts which can’t be dismissed or denigrated just because the team LA had on the floor in the second half was a piece of trash. You take the win, improve to 25-20 and see what you can do in Cleveland on Saturday against LeBron.

Both Steven Adams and Carmelo Anthony had really good games against the Lakers. Carmelo went 10-15 with 27 points, while Steven went 10-12 for 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Combined, the duo went 20-27 on the night which was a good thing because both Russell Weestbrook and Paul George both struggle. Carmelo gets the nod for player of the game though, you know…that smile. I love his smile. If only Paul George would smile.

Bad Little Dude went 8-22 for 19 points while missing a lot of good looks. Paul George finished 5-14 for 13 points, but that was kind of misleading in that Billy Donovan reinserted Paul George late when both teams had already acknowledged the Lakers’ surrender. George hit two completely meaningless three pointers which in essence made a 3-12 night with 7 points look much better.

It must just be me with Paul George. I just don’t see a guy playing with much joy or happiness out there. He looks more like a guy serving the remainder of his jail sentence in Oklahoma City than a guy all in. Maybe I’m wrong. Hope I am, but to date he just doesn’t look like he wants to be here. I wonder if he and Jerry West are already texting? Wouldn’t this be a bitch if OKC and the Clippers somehow find themselves playing against each other in the playoffs? Trust me, the Clippers are not going to suck much longer with Jerry West in the guru advisory role. Paul George wants to live by the Pacific Ocean, not Lake Arcadia. What more does Jerry West need to sell other than the Lakers are horrible. I hope Sam Presti has a plan on February 8th….even if it’s just a draft pick and a functional two way nonstar player. My guess is Paul George will play well against the Cavs on the national ABC game. These are the type of marquee games he’s been trying in while serving his jail sentence in OKC.

Back to Steven for a moment. Remember when some in OKC wanted to acquire Brooks Lopez at a trade deadline to replace Steve Adams? In case you weren’t watching…Steven Adams completely destroyed Brooks Lopez on Wednesday night. Good decision, Sam Presti. I can be fair, I’m a Libra. That’s what we Libras are…the scales of fairness.

Andre Roberson returned and it was great to see him on the floor. Other than for the free throw shooting–you’ll never see me diss Andre on here because he busts his ass every night and does so many little things only a coach could appreciate. Welcome back, Andre.

Bench was okay, nothing special though. The storylines in this one were the combined nights of Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams plus the return of Andre Roberson.

The Thunder are now 5-3 in the month of January with six games remaining in the month. This is where losing those three straight games to the Suns, the Trailblazers, and T Wolves really hurts. If OKC had played with some focus and passion they’d be 8-0 in the month and 28-17 heading into Cleveland.

But when you’re dealing with dysfunction you can’t think that way. It’s one day at time. When you’re a team in rehab you have to be okay with being 5-3 on the month even though you should be 8-0 or 7-1 at the worst. You can’t dwell on what ifs or whys.

Storylines are simple in this one…Carmelo, Steven, and Andre.

Thunder in Cleveland on Saturday against the struggling Cavs.

Barry Tramel wrote a big story on this topic on Monday. Tramel maintains it makes no sense changing a coach before the All-Star break and I agree. Just firing Billy Donovan by itself isn’t going to change the culture of this team 44 games into an NBA season.

Who knows, it might not change the culture 82 games in or however long it takes the Thunder to be eliminated in the Western Conference Playoffs.

So what is the Thunder culture heading into tonight’s home game versus the Lakers?

If I were a scout this is what I would write about OKC: ‘Potentially a championship contending team with interesting pieces. The team appears to be mentally lazy and unable to focus for significant stretches during a game. As a team, the team is not a good shooting team from either the field, from beyond the arc, nor at the free throw line. The team, especially Westbrook and George, usually can be expected to commit anywhere from 6 to 12 bad turnovers on a given night. Perimeter defense is predicated on Andre Roberson and what kind of mood Westbrook, Paul, and Anthony find themselves in on a given night.

Highly inconsistent team which at times appears to be halfway coaching itself rather than the other way around. On a good night—they can beat anybody. On a bad night they are literally unwatchable and you want to set them on fire.

Long term take on the season-Thunder should continue along this path and maybe finish somewhere in the 46-48 win range as the schedule gets markedly tougher entering February. First or second round exit probable.’

So…. that’s what I would write.

It makes no sense to fire Billy Donovan right now. This is as much Sam Presti and the three stars’ fault as it is Billy Donovan’s.

As I’ve stated before–there are three basic rules of coaching.
1 Players make the coach.
2 Good coaches coach through their unique character and personality.
3 From Day 1 you’re hired to at some point be fired.

There is a fourth rule and I’m invoking it right now.
4 All good teams, to varying degrees, coach themselves from within.

So, tonight, as the Thunder start to make a turn towards the All-Star break and the trade deadline…my take is firing Billy Donovan right now makes no sense. What makes more sense is for Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony to start leading this team not by their postgame words, but by their play on the floor for all 48 minutes in a game.

—————————

Between Caligula and this god forsaken basketball team, I could use some Tom Petty on this very cold morning in Deer Creek.

These comments were taken from a town in Alabama. I would say Oklahoma and Alabama are very close politically and economically speaking. Keep this in mind, in the recent Election of 2016, of the states which went blue for Hillary Clinton, those states in 2016 contributed 64% of all tax revenue collected by the U.S. Treasury. The red states which went for Donald Trump contributed 36% of overall tax revenues. States like Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky are negative sum tax states. That is, these states don’t pay as much in to the U.S. Treasury as they receive in various forms of federal tax dollars being spent in their various state tax jurisdictions.

So…here’s some comments from Alabama citizens on the shithole situation.

I’ll start with this, I thought the way the Oklahoma City Thunder organization handled Martin Luther King Day was lovely. I actually kept the volume on during the Fox telecast because I enjoyed the MLK tributes the organization paid to MLK. Maybe the organization should have invited James Lankford and Jim Inhoff to speak. Chances of that of course would be twofold…as in slim and none. They’ll be too busy this week praying the U.S. government doesn’t shut down under Caligula’s watch. BTW, Lindsey Graham, he surprised the shit out of me as he removed Donald Trump from his mouth long enough and actually did the right thing. Who would have thought that possible from a white southern GOP senator? Who would have thought?

The game was terrible except for the fact OKC did make some plays in the second half to avert another embarrassing loss to one of the worst teams in the NBA. For the record, OKC did beat the Sacramento Kings by a score of 95-88 to improve to 24-20 on the season.

OKC’s first half performance was horrific as the Thunder trailed 52-46 and had trouble getting the ball across half court and getting a shot off. The Thunder had something like 12 turnovers in the half. Russell Westbrook for some reason made more plays for the Kings than the Thunder and I have no reason why.

I actually thought the most important play of the game was when Kings’ rookie point guard De’Andre Fox got his fourth foul early in the second half and had to sit prematurely. The Kings lost their aggressiveness and the game shifted as Carmelo and Patrick Patterson stepped up and made a couple of threes to change the flow of the game.

Russell Westbrook got ejected in the fourth period when he was fouled twice on the same play going to the rim. Russell got two T’s and his mild mannered coach Billy D got one as well. Interestingly, Paul George who up to that point had played like a walking corpse then stepped up and made some nice plays for the Thunder as they closed the game.

A win is a win is a win for this low energy underperforming team. Maybe as a team they need to take Viagra. Do trainers ever administer Viagra to their teams as one? I mean, as I watch this team play…their overall limpness is the thing I can’t get off my mind. This team has ED. It took me forty four games to figure it out. This team has erectile dysfunction. Thunder trainer Joe Sharp could very well hold the key if that’s the case because I’m not seeing anything else to date which is giving me a ton of optimism right now. Maybe it’s the extreme cold weather in Oklahoma. Maybe that’s it. Maybe the lack of sun has me feeling jaded and snarky.

Anyway…I reflected quite a bit on our country yesterday being it was MLK Day. I truly did and despite the fact Donald Trump is a fat-headed illiterate idiot–I’m still bullish on America. I think we’ll reset and figure it out. I truly do. Don’t give up. Read. Be informed…and vote. Even you dumbass white motherfuckers from southern ‘shithole’ states who were dumb enough to vote for a candidate who never cared anything about you at any point in any of this. You people need to smarten the fuck up. Start with this…google the difference between marginal tax rates and effective tax rates. Start with that.

Thunder host the LA Lakers on Wednesday night.