Sooners Notch Must Win in Manhattan, 73-53

This was a huge win for OU after back to back disappointing second half home performances against Texas and Texas Tech This is one Porter Moser’s group needed in a big, big way on the road. The stench of that blown second half lead versus the Red Raiders needed to be redirected in a hurry.

Two words….mission accomplished.

This was about as ugly a basketball game imagineable, and OU’s free throw shooting was once again atrocious (20-34), but what I loved about the Sooners in this game was the mental toughness and resilency which was absent last week in Norman.

The Sooners simply found a way in one of college basketball’s toughest arenas to notch a road win. This is one the Sooners had to have to get back on the right side of Joe Lunardi’s bracket curve come March Madness.

OU’s leading scorer, Javian McCullum… got his swagger back and scored the basketball. Rapidly ascending Jalen Moore played like the Sooners’ version of the Warriors’ new Johnny Kuminga and from my view was the best player on the floor. Not just the best athlete, the best player. Jalen Moore…this is who you need to be every game moving forward.

Sam Godwin played much better..although his free throw shooting was pathetic for a guy with a decent stroke, and Renaldo Soares has steadily become in my mind someone who could be the Sooners’ modest version of JDub because of his versatility and all the little things he can do to make the Sooners a tournament team. In short…as an over the top OU super fan…I now have total trust in Renaldo to be on the floor in any given game situation.

Porter’s postgame presser was interesting in that only one question was asked. Question answered…and see you guys down the road was the impression I got. Porter is very direct. I’ve been there behind his bench sevral times during a game. He is not at all shy about telling his players and reporters what he thinks…which is one of the reasons I think he’s a very good basketball coach.

Next up…on the road again on Saturday versus a UCF team which upset the Kansas Jayhawks in Orlando earlier this season.

The Sooners need to make their free throws and not be like that Abe Lemons dog who strays into the street too often.

I’m heading off to the women Sooner’s game versus No. 2 Kansas State in a couple of hours. I love being retired. Life is great…every day it seems is like Game Day for me.

Boomer.

MJ

Ted Cruz Revisited, 2016

What a beautiful day in Oklahoma!!!! No way would I risk pissing it away by writing anything about Donald Trump.

In fact, on this blog from now thru the South Carolina GOP primary…I’m going to allow GOP stalwarts to share their honest thoughts in relation to POTUS 45.

Chest beatdown time …. time for telling RINO peckerheads like Mike Jackson the Truth and nothing but the truth.

Surely…no one from MAGA or the far right would have any problem whatsoever with that kind of open-handed fair coverage on my blog.

Here’s Magnificent Ted Cruz, not Lyin’ Ted Cruz telling all you MAGAs out there what he really thinks of POTUS 45.

This is what you people have become who continue to defend this bullshit.

Truth hurts…really bad somtimes.

Really bad.

Have a beautiful evening.

MJ

Chiefs, Niners Advance to Super Bowl

What a great sports week-end for me. So great in fact, I’m glad I didn’t diminish my own blog writing something about Cari Lake or whatever her name is out there in the great electoral state of Arizona. maybe I’ll do that at a later time down the road after Mr. Pillow, Markwayne Mullin and Mo Brooks have been eliminated as possible Trump running mates for Donald Trump.

On Saturday…I attended the OU -Texas Tech men’s basketball game and it was a barn burner as the Red Raiders prevailed 85-84 in a game which was like a second round NCAA Tournament game.

OU had their chances and quite simply didn’t get it done. When you go 15-24 at home from the free throwline in a game like this that usually doesn’t bode well. That can’t happen for a team which has post season goal acheiving aspirations.

I think it was Abe Lemons who once said, ‘Teams which don’t make their free throws are like dogs who play in the street; They don’t last very long.’

You not only don’t get the bonus free throws, but on the misses you allow the other team to get out in transition in a hurry before the other team can get set defensively. Anotherwords, it can conceivably be a four or five swing on a missed first free throw in the bonus. That would be a metric I would actually consider in college basketball.

I wore my black fake ESPN pullover, my black Denver Nugget 2023 NBA Championship cap, and I fit in perfectly on the third row behind the Texas Tech bench. There was great Tech road turnout for this game. I told ’em I was doing some leg work for Fran, but that I was an OU fan. We had a great time and I even got some invites to visit them in Lubbock next year for a game even though OU’s SEC bound.

Life is good.

Now for metrics. Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions…please stop being so metric driven, dude…because, my friend while I love your ‘Balls to the Walls’ mantra…you cost your team a chance to advance to the Super Bowl with three really boneheaded metric driven decisions in the NFC Chamspionship Game.

Dude, there are places, scores, situations, and times to make a metric driven situation, and you botched that axiom to the max against the Niners on Sunday. I wanted your team to win since my Packers were out, but you need to grow a little bit as game day manager next season.

Here’s my very simple take on the Super Bowl…as long as Patrick Mahomes is reasonably healthy and as long as has the time to throw to a reasonably healthy Travis Kelce….I’m picking the Kansas City Chiefs on a neutral field to beat any current team in the NFL in a big game.

The end.

As far as Taylor Swift. I think it’s great she and Travis have found true love and I can’t believe this is causing any real NFL fan to be upset. Get a life. I think it’s adorable. Good for them.

The OU men are on the road this week. They better at the least win one of these games is my only comment. Javian McCullum needs needs to step it up in a big, big, big way is my first thought beyond missed free throws.

But on Wednesday evening the red-hot women Sooners host the No. ranked K-State Wildcats in a game I feel like I have to attend.

This warm weather is great. Enjoy the sunshine.

MJ

Cari Lake on Smerconish This Morning

I watched Michael this morning and he had Cari Lake on his show. I’m in a hurry right now and need to get down to Norman to watch two basketball games and eat at the best Mexiacan restaurant in Oklahoma between games.

Plus…I plan on playing country music all the way taking my back route to the arena.

So…I don’t want to ruin my Saturday. But I’ll get back on here tomorrow and do a Sunday Smerconish before the AFC and NFC Championship games.

Damn….I can’t get Parker’s voice out of my head right now.

I need to get on a country road and clear my head.

Later

MJ

Friday Karaoke Song

Big three day week-end for me. I do my monthly thing with Dr. Showalter at the Integris Cancer Center today. Did my blood labs on Wednesday. I have a talk about those results today and then get two shots in my stomach in the Infusion Room afterwards.

It’s always an eye opener sitting in the spacious lounge by the Infusion Center. The cancer dog is there sometimes. The coffee is good. And I always meet someone new who inspires me with there individual story. The truth is, I’ve sat there several times even when I didn’t have an appointment just to refocus myself and remind myself how blessed I’ve truly been through all of this.

I don’t see Trump or Joe Biden people there….I just see good humans there just like me who are doing the best they can given the situation and trying to make sure we’re all getting to the right place spiritually.

Saturday…I’m going to see the OU men play Texas Tech. Then go eat at at the Mexican cafe on Porter Blvd…then get back to the arena for the women’s game versus Kansas. Shout out to the women for their great win over Texas.

The OU men really struggled the second half versus Texas. I thought it was their worst half of basketball this season. The crowd was great. I was proud of the fans.

You can’t take anything for granted in the rugged Big 12 and not be locked in mentally. This is a huge game for OU Saturday. They can’t allow that second half to define them in any way. This clearly needs to be a bounce back game for Porter and his guys.

I need a song today to get Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Lindsey Graham, and Tim Scott off my mind when I’m riding that bike today to start my workout.

Be good and look for the best in others.

MJ

Does Donald Trump Have A Better Angel?

From Lincoln to the Pussy Grabber. Tell me what I do not understand. What it tells me is we’ve in fact reverted to something worse than we were in 1864 when Lincoln thought he was going to get trounced in his bid for a second term.

This is a part of American history of which I’m certain almost 99% of registered Republicans in Oklahoma haven’t the faintest clue about.

It’s really a very revealing part of Lincoln’s legacy and why many like myself consider him our greatest president.

Donald Trump rating Joe Biden as one of our worst presidents is hilarious.

Donald Trump left office with barbed wire barriers standing all around D.C. after his two month long premeditated effort to circumvent his 8 million vote defeat…. and his embarrassing defeat in the Electoral College turned into the darkest day in American history. Much more worse than Pearl Harbor or 9/11. Not even close.

This video pertains to a blind and sealed note Lincoln gave to his Cabinet in August of 1864 thinking he would lose the election.

It’s called the Lincoln Secret Memorandum of August, 1864.

I’m not even sure Trump or two-thirds of his followers know who Abraham Lincoln was and… if someone like me taught this in a Oklahoma high school history class…they’d probably have me in jail awaiting sentencing with Rex Walter trying to get the death penalty for a dangerous cat like me.

You know…this would rank right there with other Antifa lit-woke Deep State doctrines like evolution and gravity as far as the Christian faith based groups in Oklahoma seem to flow with in the Evangelical Age of Trump.

But you know…as I’ve been on my cancer journey here in Oklahoma…I’ve observed alot of these Trump people do have goodness in them. Like Dave Chappelle…I’ve observed most of these people seem like good folks who for some mystical reason are stupid enough to believe this bullshit Donald Trump keeps selling to them.

It is one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever witnessed in my life.

But I’m a better person than I was ten months ago. It’s humbling to go through what I’ve just gone through. There’s a deeper spiritual maturity now which would never allow me to write the things which got me banned that day on the Daily Thunder message board. Word.

It’s this feeling of spiritual depth which has allowed me to take a step or two back and look for the eternal goodness in all the Trump rabble here in Oklahoma on a day to day basis.

Dave Chappelle is right, man. At the end of the day we’re all the same and we’re just seeking our own dignity and grace the best we can every day.

So my mantra moving forward out of New Hampshire is to block out the negativity and look for the best in the Trump people.

It won’t be easy for me.

It will require patience and loving kindness, but I think I can do it.

Love and peace.

MJ

Trump Wins New Hampshire… Tim Scott Kisses the Ring

Yikes.

This is even more cringeworthy than Mike Pence saying he would still vote for Donald Trump after Potus 45 tried to have him lynched on January 6th. Even worse than Lindsey Graham getting on his knees telling POTUS 45 that if certain carnal desires need to be fulfilled… LG is still his guy. South Carolina must have a lot of really, really weak men is all I can figure at this point.

I mean. Whoa.

But… you know, we have to put all of this in perspective as POTUS 45 with 91 federal criminal indictments is probably already the defacto DTIYD candidate (Donald Trump Is Your Daddy).

This isn’t the GOP I joined back in ’75 as a bright-eyed, naive youngster who believed in things like the American Dream and the concept of anything is possible in America if you work hard and dream big. This is more like binge watching Breaking Bad on LSD or something of the like.

I still believe in the American Dream and my life turned out very nicely even with the Stage 4 bump in the road. But this isn’t the party of Lincoln. It’s maybe more something close to the party of Bernie Maddow, Mr. Pillow, and Jeffery Epstein.

But, hey…they have the constitutional right to wear those MAGA ballcaps if they so choose.

Tim Scott…you tell Donald you love him every day and maybe you can become his vice-president or his Secretary of State, or maybe the next Director of HUD like Ben Carson. Just hope for your own political sake this wasn’t your Hershel Walker ‘One Shining Moment’ as a U.S. Senator.

I liked the Tim Scott on the video below. What the f–k happened to that guy?

I am not black, but I am a brown person…and I almost puked when I saw Tim Scott basically do what he just did. I mean….couldn’t this have waited a couple of weeks since the South Carolina primary is still a month away. Such POTUS 45 drama. Dude…you’re the nominee of this amalgam of racists, dimwits, extremely wealthy Tea Partiers, Birthers, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Neo-Nazis, etc. This is YOUR PARTY. You didn’t need Tim Scott to human traffic himself in this manner.

I’m not going to call Tim Scott an Uncle Tom on my blog. Not a chance, because I feel sorry for Tim Scott right now. I genuinely feel sorry for this man and what he just did with his soul. I’ll pray for him though.

But I did go do this though. I took the time to watch Charles Barkley and Gayle King on their weekly ‘Deep State fake news CNN show’ give their views on what Tim Scott just did…and thankfully they feel the same way as I do on this matter.

So…it’s on to South Carolina where the only drama to be played out is who is Donald Trump’s female nominee to be his VP….Cari Lake, Tim Scott, Mike Pence in drag or Lindsey Graham?

Have a nice day….Oklahoma. Keep your dignity.

I hope I haven’t out done myself on this one.

My current Straw GOP Poll if there was still a thing called the party of Lincoln… as if it matters in the state of Oklahoma.

1 The German Spehard next door to us named Harley

2 Nikki Haley

3 Charles Barkley

4 Nick Saban

5 Marashala Ali

6 Asa Hutchinson

7 Tim Scott

8 Hershel Walker

Peace, MJ

OU Hosts Texas Longhorns in RRR in Norman

I need to get my butt in gear and get down to Llyod Noble for tonight’s 6:00pm tip between No. 13 Oklahoma vs. usually elite Texas.

This is a big one for the 15-3 Sooners who are coming off a great week in which they notched two crucial Big 12 wins versus West Virginia and Cincy.

I have a great seat tonight in 118, but it’s not on the floor which distresses me a bit. I want to get there a little early and see if the student section will allow a Hall of Famer OU hoops fan to squeeze in with them on the floor and continue this season’s journey.

I’ve got the OU official crimson hoops bottoms on with the official fake ESPN pullover on plus my special Beat Texas ballcap on.

If the arena isn’t sold out tonight….I’ll be roasting OU fans on here tomorrow.

Be kind to the Trump people. They need unconditional kindness to address all their grievances. Dow crested over 38,000 today…I’m sure they’ll be upset about that as well.

MJ

Does Donald Trump Become the Defacto DTIYD Nominee in New Hampshire?

I used to actually be a Republican from 1976-2000. But I have no idea what the GOP has become. It’s certainly not the Grand Old Party of Lincoln. It’s not the party of Teddy Roosevelt as well. Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan, and Bush 41 or 43 wouldn’t get up on a stage with this rogue grifter.

Let me intercede at this point explaining the acronymn above….DTIYD. It’s my way of phrasing what the Republican Party has become.

Donald Trump Is Your Daddy = this version of the GOP.

And there is some ironic humor in this thinking….dating back to the 2016 campaign when Trump trolled the collection of then GOP weak asses by the names of Little Marco Rubio, Lyin Dead Cruz, Sissy Lindsey Graham, and whatever he called Jeb Bush or the others.

What a joke then. And what a joke now as only Nikki Haley has shown the gumption to even hang with Trump beyond Iowa.

Donald Trump has this much right about the GOP….it is mostly a collection of white pussies who as a group have displayed historical cowardice in 2016, in 2021 after the Insurrection, and now. It is a party of cowards which still allow themselves to be defined and bullied by a has been reality television star.

What the party has become is a party for white people who want to go back to the days of Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. A day when America was whiter and less confusing. Less woke. Less lit. Less diverse.

A group of people who this day still believe it was a Deep State conspiracy by Antifa which caused the death of five human beings and the almost insurrection of the greatest democracy in history because the petulant brat Donald Trump couldn’t live with the fact he lost to Joe Biden.

Is Joe Biden too old?

Of course he is. But I’d vote for a dead body or my neighbor’s German Shepard ‘Harley’ before I’d vote for Donald Trump.

So on this very high bar which Michelle Obama challenged me to observe…maybe Nikki Haley will pull off a miracle tomorrow night and give me some hope for our democracy moving forward.

Peace.

MJ

OKC Thunder Beat T-Wolves in Minnesota, 102-97

Interesting Saturday of sport for me. Porter Moser’s Sooners ground out a tough gritty road win over the Cincy Bearcats. My Packers should have beaten the vastly overhyped 49’ers, but beat themselves on four plays which allowed the Niners to escape to the NFC Champipnship Game. Word of advice to the Packer GM….get an NFL level placekicker.

I watched bits and pieces of the Thunder’s exciting road win at Minnesota which basically came down to Anthony Edwards choking on all three free throw attempts with :03.4 left which should have put this game into overtime.

Your alpha simply cannot do that at home in that situation. I would think this loss will sting because the TWolves blew a ten point lead in the fourth quarter. But it is what it is and the Thunder are now one game behind the TWolves for a first place tie in the Western Conference standings.

With each passing Thunder game this season…I would think every passionate NBA fan is coming to the realiztion that the Thunder’s Triplets are special and fit together in a unique manner in which Durant, Westbrook, and Harden never really fit.

Shai, JDub, and Chet meld perfectly. Their games flow and expand each time we see them play together. I still do not understand where Josh Giddey fits in this mix unless he accepts a Sixth Man role. I just don’t see why his minutes aren’t Aaron Wiggins’ minutes given how well all three Triplets pass the ball.

The Triplets don’t really need Giddey. They need Dort for his toughness. I really don’t see the need for Giddey.

Anyway…I’m getting ready to settle in out here in our warm house on the frozen tundra at the Deer Creek ranch and watch what should be two great NFL Divisional Playoff games.

Life is good.

MJ