National Semi-Finals Game Day

Like most passionate college football fans…I’m getting ready to settle in and watch the national semi-finals. Congrats to Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and Cincy on excellent seasons. I would say the Committee got it right in the end.

Even if O State had beaten Baylor at the end…..I’m thinking that with the difference in quarterback play between Spencer Sanders and Desmond Ritter as far as turning over the football…that Cincy by a slim margin would have still prevailed as the No. 4 seed.

I’m very much looking forward to O State’s game vs. Notre Dame and Baylor’s game vs. Ole Miss.

That second game intrigues me because we’ll get to see how Dave Aranda’s defense handles Jeff Lebby’s offense with Matt Corral. Given how well Aranda’s defense played in the three games versus Lincoln Riley’s offense…I think this game should be a must watch game for all serious Big 12 football fans heading into 2022.

As far as OU…they finish at 11-2 and champions of the Alamo Bowl. Clearly…not what was in mind back in August, but given what we’ve discovered in regards to Lincoln Riley’s contact via his agent with USC back when Barry Helton was fired…I don’t think any reasonable human could have expected OU to go any further than they did.

If your coach isn’t all in….then your team isn’t going to be either.

That’s the 2nd Rule of Coaching on steroids…. ‘You coach thru your unique personality and character and your team will follow.’

Lincoln Riley quit on his players.

The two question I would love to ask Lincoln Riley some day would be..1 What would you have done if OU won Bedlam and then beat Baylor in the Big 12 Championship Game? And 2… Would you have walked out on your players like Brian Kelly did even if OU made the Final Four?

I’d love to hear those two answers.

Good luck to Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and Cincy…play like champions and savor the moment.

Pat Fields Headed to Stanford to Pursue MBA

Pat Fields is what the college football experience should be about, but sometimes isn’t. Or even when it does happen…it gets overshadowed by winning and losing on the field or what some knucklehead does off the field.

As a four year starter for OU in their secondary… he not only excelled on the field, but in the classroom as well as he earned mulitple awards for his academic and societal acheivements while being a part of the OU football program.

In Wednesday’s Alamo Bowl win it was Pat Fields who wss awarded the game’s Most Valuable Defensive Player for making nine tackles.

Today…it was announced Pat Fields will be attending Stanford on a full academic scholarship to attain his Masters in Business.

Pat Fields…congrats and good luck on your future beyond football.

Good luck.

Nick Saban’s Tide With Their Sights Set On Another Trophy

Here we are on Final Four Friday with Nick Saban two wins away from another national championship when this was supposed to be a down year for the Crimson Tide.

I have no idea who’s on Covid protocol and who isn’t for these four teams at this point, but as long as Bryce Young is quarterbacking and Nick Saban is stalking the sidelines …I can’t not pick Alabama to win another Dr. Pepper National Championship.

This may seem odd coming from an OU fan, but I’ve kind of come to love Nick Saban. Maybe it’s envy to a certain degree, but you have to love the efficency of what he’s done at Alabama as his program has ascended to heights beyond the realm of historical reason.

He might be the one man in America I’d put on that debate stage with the four women I’m touting to be POTUS to debate the trust fund human junk bond pusssy grabber by the name of Donald Trump. If you put Elizabeth Warren on one side and Nick Saban on the other side of Trump in a presidential debate… I’m almost certain it would an evening of high level entertainment. I’d pay a close circuit televison fee to watch that debate.

The SEC is right now 1-5 so far this bowl season by my count with only Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks notching a bowl win. BTW…my final take on Joe C’s hire was that if Brent Venables had said no to OU…then Shane Beamer probably would have been the next name on Joe C’s list to replace Lincoln Riley.

But by my count the SEC still has its three best teams yet to play this bowl season in Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky. Maybe Texas A&M should have that third spot… but they were nothing special. They beat Alabama and they pretty much looked like the same group OU used to throttle back when OU had some defenses who could tackle from play to play.

So amongst the fourteen SEC teams this football season I would say only Alabama and Georgia were special.

Mike Leach got blown out in his grudge game against Texas Tech. Auburn lost to the AAC’s Houston Cougars. Tennessee lot to Purdue. Texas A&M… I guess pulled out of their game. Florida lost to somebody I can’t name right now. Missouri got beat by somebody I can’t recall as well.

So when you really objectively evaluate the SEC this season beyond Alabama and Georgia the league was down as far as depth beyond those two. Yet as I write that the fact remains if Auburn hadn’t choked in the last minute of play in the Iron Bowl….then Alabama wouldn’t even be playing today.

I don’t know who’s out and who’s in today Covid-wise for any of these four teams, hence no College Game Day from me. But you know who I’m rooting for?

I’m rooting for Nick Saban even with my wife being an Auburn War Eagle.

Roll…Tide.

Nikki Haley… 2024?

I actually have always liked Nikki Haley, bless her heart. She was always someone I felt I might vote for some day to be president. Her life story is a compelling one, plus I think she’s smart and tough. And for sure she’s a calculating politician.

This interview above… I believe was two years ago. I haven’t seen much of Nikki Haley as of late. But she’s still someone who interests me politically.

Just to be clear…I’ve already decided in 2024…unless it’s Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris… I’m voting for a woman to be POTUS. Why? Because I can’t think of one male national political American figure who has the smarts, vision, integrity or balls to hold the office currently.

I might reconsider Elizabeth Warren…but she doesn’t make my short list of three. But she’s tough as nails for certain. I have to think about her some more.

Starting on Sunday morning…I’m going to do an exclsuive special on my blog entitled GOP Insurrection Week…One Year Later.

You won’t get this on Fox, MSNBC, or even CNN. Only here on Mike’s sleepy little underground blog in Oklahoma of all places.

If you have a history degree you should damn well use it is my thought. Other than dominating the brown piece in Trivia Pursuit….I feel as if I’ve under used my history degree.

Right now I have three women on my first official POTUS cut list for 2024… Liz Cheney, Amy Klobuchar, and Nikki Haley…with Elizabeth Warren in the on deck cage. Elizabeth Warren is the one person I would pick to debate Donald Trump though. She is tough as nails. Michael Bloomberg was never the same…probably never will be.

So…as we start winding down the college football national championship games…I’m in a sense setting the schedule starting on Sunday morning for GOP Insurrection Week…One Year Later.

January 6th Anniversary a Week Away

For the most part minus the Donald Trump videos of him professing his love for Tom Brady and his disdain for loser Bill BilliCOCK…I’ve genuinely turned it way down on my blog voicing my thoughts on our 45th POTUS.

Here’s the thing…I’m not an ideologue of any sort. I pretty much believe that if you treat people the right way that’s what comes back to you in the end. Kindness and respect begats kindness and respect. There are times you have to a draw line with certain people. You can’t be blindly naive. But for the most part you should try to be kind like John Madden, Vince Lombardi, and Roberto Clemente.

Kindness shouldn’t have to be by government mandate…it should be engrained in us as humans.

I’ve never been a member of the Democratic Party because they have too many tents under one party. I’m not that complex. Yet, after being what I would describe as a socially liberal Republican from 1976-2000…I changed to being an Independent and voted for Barack Obama twice even though I disgree with him on several things.

Why would a self-employed fiscal conservative do that?

Because I respect and admire him as a human and had the naive notion that he could have possibly united our country.

That’s on me and I fully admit I was naive for ever thinking a member of the Republican Party could ever view things in that manner. Here’s what else… I learned the GOP is in essence a one issue party. That issue is in essence reducing or eliminating every possible level of effective marginal tax rates at both the individual and corporate levels.

Every other social issue is nothing beyond a smoke-screen ruse to tittilate the lower half white Nixon Silent Majority into voting against their own economic well being.

That’s it in a nutshell.

But you know what I thought was cool…our then ultra conservative senator Tom Coburn became good friends with Barack Obama and even though they didn’t agree on political things…they became friends.

GOP Speaker of the House John Boehner and Obama ultimately became friends. John McCain’s family had Barack Obama do the eulogy at John McCain’s funeral. Where did the rest of the Republican Party go?

Where did the party of family Christian values and the sanctity of life go?

What happened to those people? Were they so swept up in hanging Mike Pence they went poof?

So as I look at things around me now in semi batfuck crazy Oklahoma…I pretty much for the most part am keeping most of my thoughts of Donald Trump to myself.

I would guestimate outside of Oklahoma County, Cleveland County, and Tulsa County that Donald Trump would carry the state by an 80% plurality if the election were held today.

And keep in mind in the recent presidential election the states which went blue contribute approximately 66% of GDP and tax revenue to run the country. The same country which Donald Trump wanted to overthrow on January 6th, 2020.

Vexing…for certain. Because some of that 66% of revenue ends up in Oklahoma and other red states who need that revenue. If that isn’t the sweetest OPM (Other People’s Money) deal around, then I don’t know what is. If you’re too stupid to take the money and make your own communities better then I don’t know what to say. I mean, for God’s sake I put a video up of OKC’s mayor David Holt, a Republican, pretty much saying what I just wrote.

The truth of the matter is one year after the almost overthrow of the American government…I can only cite one Republican in the entire country who has steadfastly stated that what Donoald Trump did was wrong.

And that person would be Liz Cheney from uber red Wyoming. Liz Cheney is the lone Republican who owns a set of balls big enough to stand up to Donald Trump.

So there is one Republican left in the country who to this day still believes in our democracy, our constitution, and our separation of the three branches of the government…and that person is Liz Cheney.

And for that reason…I’m going to honor Liz Cheney as the 2020 Republican of the Year on my blog one week away from the anniversary of the darkest day in American history….so far.

I wish this could be the Michael Smerconish Question of the Week on his show’s Saturday poll question… ‘If Ronald Reagan were running for a U.S. Senate seat in a southern Republican state could he get past a GOP primary and be the party’s nominee?’

I would love to see how the nation would poll on that question on Michael’s show because he gets a cross-range of objective people like me.

I would vote no. Ronald Reagan wouldn’t have a chance of being the GOP nominee in a state like Oklahoma. In the states like Oklahoma… Republicans who won’t pledge their fealty to Trump would not advance to the general election.

Keep in mind in the most recent national poll…the only politician rating lower than Joe Biden was Mitch McConnell with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rated the highest with an approval rating of 64%….then Fed Chief Jerome Powell with an apporval rating in the mid 50% range.

Sooners Beat Oregon in Alamo Bowl, 47-32

A nice bowl win for OU to end one of the more bizarre seasons in recent OU football history.

You know…if you think back to the summer to when then head coach Lincoln Riley had to remove Mikey Henderson, Seth McGowan, and Trajon Bridges from the team due to serious legal misconduct issues to all the things in between it seems like three years have passed.

I feel like I’ve aged three years.

Maybe that’s when all of us should have thought something wasn’t just right.

But here’s the thing and I’m glad Caleb Williams alluded to it in his press conference comments…the good things about guys like Pat Fields, Jeremiah Hall, Kennedy Brooks, and all the other excellent young men in the program clearly outweigh what happened this summer and then what happened with Lincoln Riley’s sudden departure for USC before the season had ended.

I have no idea if Caleb Williams stays or goes eventually. But this much I know…the way Caleb Williams handled the last month should be a model everywhere for college football coaches on how to leave a program if they’re taking another job.

I’m an OU fan. I obviously hope Caleb stays. He’s not only a tremendous player, but he’s an extremely articulate young man who in a way reminds me of Jalen Hurts much more than either Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray in the manner in which he carries himself.

Did you see him go after his buddy when his high school friend was about to take an incredibly stupid fifteen yard penalty? That’s maturity …that’s leadership.

Caleb’s maturity and intelligence project themselves whenever he’s either on a podcast or at a presser or on the field.

If Caleb decides to leave…I’ll always be a fan. Just like I’m totally fine with what Jadon Hazlewood and Austin Stogner decided to do by transferring to tough SEC programs where the level of play will be tougher not easier. I respect that.

If Caleb decides he wants to go play at LSU or some other school where the level of play is higher–then I’m fine.

If he decides to go to USC and play in the uber soft PAC 12… I’ll be disappointed in him to a minor extent.

I constantly defend Kevin Durant on my blog in the aftermath of his decision to leave the Thunder for three simple reasons…those being Sam Presti never corraled Russell Westbrook, never put a starting guard who could actually shoot in the lineup, and never put a bench together on that 2016 team.

Did I think it was soft joining Steph and Klay? Yeah, sure…but it was smart as hell when you really think it thru.

That’s all I’m going to say about Caleb.

To Pat Fields, Kennedy Brooks, Jeremiah Hall, to my John Marshall brother Justin Broiles… and to all the other seniors who are excellent young men and who have their lives in front of them…thank you for all the thrills you’ve given this OU fan over the last four or five years.

Thank you and enjoy your own indivudual journey of lives as you see fit.

Good luck to all. And to Bob Stoops and Joe C…thanks for the last month. In the end…it’s not just about winning…it’s about winning and impacting young lives in a positive manner. I watched Dabo in the game before OU talk about his players. I love Dabo and the fact Coach Venables said Dabo made him a better man makes me feel good about OU’s future moving forward.

Good luck to O State and Baylor…don’t let the Big 12 down. This is your Shining Moment. Embrace it and only look forward.

To Lincoln Riley….I won’t ever boo you. Every person has a right to choose their own path. But what I would say is that USC or LSU weren’t going to give an assistant from East Carolina a deal on a level of what Nick Saban has earned. I mean…some guys like Bob Stoops and Joe C put their asses on the line for you and you quite frankly went all in with the Fredo path from Godfather II. I’m part Italian and I know Joe C is Italian… just saying. But I’ll never boo you.

Betrayal is a serious offense. There’s a reason I keep the Al Pacino avi pic. I want to make certain the feckless little white fanboys at Daily Thunder understand why their little blog became an unreadable piece of smoldering dogshit. Daily Thunder=Fredo. Don’t do this with Lincoln, Joe C. It will all be fine in the end. Karma has a way. Just saying.

Pre-Game Thoughts From the Alamo Bowl

I just basically want to see guys compete tonight with a zeal and passion for playing for the Oklahoma Sooners.

You can’t really call this the beginning of the Brent Venables Era just yet, but there is a special feel about tonight for those of us for breathe, live, and die OU football.

I wanna see the young guys make a statement tonight on both sides of the ball and for the sake of loving the game and embracing the moment.

That’s it for me pre-game….I’m getting myself set for kick-off.

Boomer!

John Madden Passes at 85

We lost a giant yesterday in John Madden. A Super Bowl champion coach who retired at the age of 42. The most most influential NFL broadcaster of all-time for the league who had various stincts at CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox.

An absolute legend who leaves us at the age of 85 with a multitude of human memories which forever touched me.

Above all else…John Madden was a kind man who was adored by his players and fans alike.

In my formative years I would say or hope the three figures in sports who I respected the most as a young man growing up were Vince Lombardi, Roberto Clemente, and John Madden.

Winning is one thing, winning with dignity and class is another and John Madden exuded class and human dignity in his career as both a coach and broadcaster.

I always think of John Madden when I think back on the tragic hit by Jack Tatum on Daryl Stingley when Madden was coach of the Raiders.

In his autobiograhpy Daryl Stingley desribes how John Madden was there for him constantly in the aftemath of the play which paralyzed Daryl Stingley for life.

John Madden felt so bad about the play which was back then a legal hit he became a part of Daryl Stingley’s life thereafter.

What I’ll remember most about John Madden beyond the Hall of Fame accomplishments was the fact he a was kind man who in this case helped both Daryl Stingley and Jack Tatum through a horrible incident which affected both of their lives forever.

John Madden was a kind man and that should be his everlasting legacy.

Thunder Hang On For Solid Loss in Sacramento, 117-111

First off…I want to apologize to Parker McCollum for incorrectly spelling his name six times on my blog yesterday. There was no intent there. I was just tired from the 1,300 miles of driving in the previous five days. That was a new record for me as far as miles and incorrect spellings.

As far as the Thunder it was a good night in Game 33. They lost by six. They covered the Vegas spread which had the Kings at -5.5. And most of all they got themselves back on track to losing somewhere between 55-60 NBA games this season.

Plus… I really thought Aaron Wiggins took a step forward in becoming a rotational piece in the Thunder’s future. I really like Aaron Wiggins. El Prez is bullish on Aaron Wiggins. I’d buy me some Aaron Wiggins stock while it’s still relatively priced low. Imagine an Andre Roberson who can actually shoot a basketball.

Win, win, win, win.

The Thunder now stand at 12-21 after 33 games and despite the better play since the historic 73 point loss at Memphis aren’t all that far off track on being right there in the hunt for Paulo Banchero when March melds into April.

When you’re tanking…and make no mistake Sam Hinkie-Presti is tanking this season…those last twenty-five games of the season define your on court futility.

I think what has happened since the historic 73 point loss at Memphis is that the organization realized that losing with some dignity is better than being perceived as human sex traffickers.

I mean…the Thunder are still right there as one of the five worst teams in the league. Plus…you have to think Presti has promised Shai’s agent he will give Shai every opportunity to make the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

The Thunder play Phoenix tonight and play four games this week in a six day span. If the Thunder play this right they could very well be 12-24 after their first 36 games. Keep in mind, the Thunder were 16-19 after 35 games last season before they pulled George Hill, Big Al Horford, and Shai from the rotation.

Little Nick Gallo…bless his heart. I actually tried watching this game while I was reading the last hundred pages of The Appeal by John Grisham. I’ll say one thing for that worthless little motherfucker…if Tucker Carlson ever leaves Fox Network ….Little Nick Gallo should send those cats his resume.

With six minutes left in the second period or so…Little Nick Gallo said, “If the Thunder can hold on tonight and win they’ll only be one game behind San Antonio for the 10th seed in the West and in the hunt.”

My diva lab Pauli was curled up next to me on the sofa. She knew what that statement could potentially do to me. She put her head on my knee and with her eyes basically said, ” Mike…put the remote down. You know you shouldn’t throw it thru the flat screen. It’s just a game.”

And I was okay. I muttered… ” Fuck me running”– several times and then backed off of the ledge.”

Thunder at Phoenix tonight. If the Suns win as they should…they’ll tie the Warriors for the best record in the NBA. Tyler Herro scord 32 points last night in a Heat win and the surprising Memphis Grizzlies are the 4th seed in the West.

Everything in Mike’s NBA World is in a very nice place on December 29th, 2021.

Caleb needs to have him a night in San Antonio tonight if the game actually gets played.

BOOMER!

Paolo Banchero Prep Highlight Mix

This is the guy…Sam Hinkie-Presti. You screwed around and lost those two late season games last season to Boston and the LA Clips and in essence took yourself out of play for both Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley. What clueless dumbass in your Thunder inner circle suggested winning those two games I ask aloud on my award winning underground blog?

If the Thunder are really serious about this ‘Sustainability Bullshit Doctrine’ they’re doling out to their Triple AAA level fan base this is the time when you go big or go to Las Vegas in my view.

Here’s the question I ask myself…if on Draft Night like Kevin Costner in Draft Day…would I give up Shai if that’s what I had to do to have the pick to select Banchero?

Or maybe you could package Giddy and some other assets and possibly pair Shai and Banchero together. Things to sort out since Thunder Nation still has fifty regular season games left to suffer through this season.

Do you really need Giddy if you have both Shai and Banchero keeping ball usage in mind?

I’m thinking about it, but of course Clay Bennett has given this responsibility to Sam Hinkie-Presti.

What if I was able to dangle Little Nick Gallo to the team I was trading with in this deal as well?

That plus acquiring Banchero would give the Thunder instant credibility.

There’s a multitude of ways for the Thunder to use their first round pick plus some other assets to possibly get to the No. 1 spot in this draft.

Sam Hinkie-Presti needs to either play his chips on this draft or move the team to Las Vegas where a team could actually sign a free agent now and again.

The Thunder at Sacramento tonight…pfffft. Does anyone really beyond Little Nick Gallo and those lost souls at Pay.Com who are still cheering for the team to win at this point really care?

I don’t think so.

Hopefully…we have some real teams playing tonight in the TNT Showcase.