Month: March 2025

Thankfully….the end of this NBA regular season will come to an end just about the time we start to wrap up what should be a very competitive Final Four and Championship Monday.

The fact of the matter is the Thunder’s season is kind of boring right now. There’s no real competitive drama because to me there doesn’t appear to a legitimate second best team in the West.

In fact, the Thunder at 60-12 even hold a full two game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers for the overall NBA best record which would give them homecourt in the NBA Finals if they make it that far. Which they should.

The Western Conference waters seemingly have parted beautifully for the Thunder as they did in 2012 when Kobe, Timmy Duncan, and Dirk all started showing their collective age and there emerged the Thunder with Kevin, Russell, James Harden, and Nick Collison. So here we are deja vous all over again with one exception.

The 2012 Thunder made it to the 2011 Western Conference Finals where they were beaten by Dirk’s Dallas Mavericks. Whereas this group has only last season’s first series win over a bad injury riddled New Orleans Pelicans team in their brief playoff run.

But this Thunder team is not that Thunder team. Sam Presti filled the gaps of their lack of physicality with the additions of Hartenstein and Caruso. One would also think that he filled some gaps of youthful inexperience with two guys who should help with the Thunder’s overall post season gravitas. You gotta win sixteen games against good teams with their three best players….playing, to win an NBA ring.

With playoff gravitas in mind, I would still have to go 1 Boston, 2 OKC, 3 Cleveland, and maybe, a big maybe 4 Golden State. It’s hard for me to buy into Houston and Memphis just yet. But one of those two could surprise me, most likely Houston.

Denver does not appear to posess enough capable players beyond the sixth spot in their rotation, LeBron appears to be too fragile with another injury possibly looming, and Dallas and Minnesota both hurt their team with bad trades this season. If Minnesota still had KAT instead of Julius Randle they’d be in my No. 4 slot instead of Golden State.

As I wrote earlier, as in 2012, it would appear the Westren Conference waters have parted beautifully for the OKC Thunder. A nice little perfect storm of sorts.

On another vein…I watched Brian’s Song again last night. I cried. I was 13 years old and in the 9th grade when this movie originally aired on television in 1971. I watched it with my father. He cried as well.

I never asked him if he was crying because of his experiences with his friend Joe Carter Sr. in the late 50’s when he and Joe could not sit in an OKC downtown restaurant and be served lunch together. I’m guessing that was on his mind as the movie ended.

Joe Carter Sr….. what a great dude. He taught me how to fish in a serious manner. Everybody loved him. It seemed he had permission from every land owner in Oklahoma to fish their private ponds. He was that type of a guy. He taught me how to wade, to use the floating doughnut, to set up a trotline, to seine live bait, and how to scout a pond or lake for fish. He helped turn a city boy into a serious fisherman.

I wonder what my dad the criminal defense lawyer and Joe Sr. would think about Donald Trump and his group of white rednecks, racists, and the apartheids like Elon Musk’s daddy?

I think like me they would be sad at how far we’ve fallen in America in the last 53 years. That’s what I think.

Tragic.

But don’t give up.

MJ

My four month chemo set was completed today at Integris. It’s been the toughest part so far on my Stage 4 cancer journey. And the very last thing I planned on putting on my blog today was anything Donald Trump related because there’s only so many ways even a nuanced, talented blogger can say…..

” Is this lying pathetic motherfucker even remotely serious?”

It’s pointless at this juncture. It really is. Rome is burning.

After my infusion, I headed over to my OKC Wellness Center and my favorite person over there is a black guy named Brian who usually is there on the bike next to me at pretty much the time of the day I do my forty minute ride and light weight workout.

Brian uses a walker. I have now improved to using one cane only. We both have our own health issues. But neither of us have or plan on feeling sorry for ourselves or qutting.

Brian is about my age. Black. Hard working, a self-employed person just like I was and like MJ…. did pretty well just like I did because of work ethic, perserverance, and the fervent dream of passing the concept of the American Dream on to his son…just as my wife and I did with our son.

Like most marraiges which last beyond 45 years or more, we had some tough moments. Some obstacles. I’m probably not the easiest guy to be married to at times even though my heart is basically good. But as parents we never wavered on our dual obligation as parents. Never. We did our best.

So Brian was on his bike before me today, and after I was about two minutes into my ride…he looks at me and asks, “MJ, what do think about our political situation? Where do you stand with this guy? I need to know.”

I asked, ” You need to know?”

He answered, ” I would like to know.”

“I think all of this is total bullshit. This is a total scam and this guy should have just counted his legal blessings to the fact he should be serving time in a federal prison for what he did before, on, and after January 6th. He has shattered the American Rule of Law. He has eviserated the concept of By the People, Of the People, and For the People. Everything he’s doing will weaken the white middle class, the lower white class, and the poor JD Vance redneck whites like he was before he became a Silicon Valley capital venture savant.”

Brian looked at me and smiled before saying, ” I was hoping that was close to what you were going to say. We’re good. I feel better.”

I’m through preaching on here to you Trump fake Christians. It serves no purpose. Rome is burning and you care more about the valuations of your401c3 accounts than the fact our country is ON FIRE.

This was a great day for me on the Staage 4 cancer journey. It was. I now take a Chemo vacation and report back on April 14th for what will be my fifth PetScan since my 1,212 PSA count rocked my world two and a half years ago. It will be clean as have the previous two scans and my guess is my PSA count will be somewhere between 1 and 1.7 based on the trajectories we’ve been experiencing with this drug.

The day after the PetScan my wife and I will be heading to Seaside, Florida to be with our son, our daughter-in-law and our two grandchildren….Robert and Aubrey. Life is good. Don’t ever surrender. If you ever think of surrendering think of MJ, Jalon Moore, Jeremiah Fears, and Sam Godwin. Sometimes we don’t win. But it is the effort which ultimately defines us. But don’t quit.

And visualize Vincent Thomas Lombardi in your mindset refresh.

So I’m happy…even though Rome is burning. I have a new friend I’ve come to respect and like. It was a good day.

2 Timothy, 1:7

God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control.

Mike J

-Staff Reports-

I’m a little worn out from the barrage of the mens’ NCAA tournament plus attending all three games from the womens’ Norman sub-regional, but I’m feeling happy right now for Coach Jennie Beranczyk and her streaking Sooners.

This was a big deal for the OU women’s program on Monday for a game which had a 3:00pm start time.

The first thing I wanted to observe was what would the Sooner fanbase look like on a Monday game with a 3:00pm start time..

Here’s what I would say on that front…it was by far the best crowd at an OU basketball game for either the OU men or women this season. Sooner Nation loves Coach Jennie and her girls, Coach Porter not quite as much. But of course winning can be a fickle thing. Winning is fun. Always remember that axiom in sports. Losing with character can only lst so long.

It was an electric atmosphere…for all forty minutes of play. MJ would write this….the usual mode of OU teasipper fans were almost non-existent. The students were awesome. The general admission people were raccous. THIS IS WHAT IT SHOULD FEEL LIKE AT A COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME!

I actually thought this Iowa game would be a competitive test for the Sooners, and they promptly fell behind 10-4 out of the first period gates with Skylar Vann and Reagan Beers both looking shaky to say the least.

But Coach Jennie went to her very deep bench and inserted Liz Scott, O State transfer Lexy Keys, and freshman Zyna Vann, younger sister of Skylar.

And what happened is this…with the super-subs in the game—the Sooners went on a 19-1 barrage against the over-whelmed Hawkeyes. Key in this Sooner run were sophmore Sahara Williams and senior Liz Scott, two of Coach Jennie’s more physical players.

For crying out loud…by the time this game finished OU had a 30 rebound advantage. Not 30 rebounds, but a 64-32 edge on the boards. Unless you tried…it would hard to lose a basketball game with a 30 something edge on the boards.

And after the 19-1 run…it was merely a matter of OU running the Hawkeyes into the ground and getting to the free throwline in the second half.

BTW…Coach Jennie played for the Iowa Hawkeyes in her college player days.

Both Skylar and Reagan played much better in the second half, although Reagan missed way too many easy buskets under the basket. That cannot happen if the Sooners want to take this from a Sweet 16 to an Elite 8 type of season. Both Reagan and Skylar have to come out of the gates ready to go from the opening because the Sooners will not be favored in their next game or any further games this season.

But that aside…I had a tear in my eye after the game. I started attending the women games midway through Jennie’s second season in Norman. I figured with the cancer journey and all—it would be good for me. And the funniest thing happened…I fell in love with her team. I cried last year as well when they beat Texas at home to clinch the Big 12 regular season championship.

Like many in America nowadays—I find myself weary of all the player movment in the mens’ game. The NIL money and the transfer portal very much need to be reeled in on the mens’a side of the game. But I do still love the mens’ NCAA Tournament.

So..as far as the Sooner men and Villanova wannabe head coach Porter Moser–I think what I’ll do is this…I’ll wait a week or so to see if Villanova has decided to pay Joe C the $3.6 million buyout to be their next hoops coach.

But as far as Jalon Moore, Sam Godwin, Jeremiah Fears—kudos to you young men for not surrendering and turning your basketball season into a success after those disastrous last thirty seconds versus LSU. You’ll always hold a special place in Mike’s OU basketball heart.

You guys never surrendered…UConn was a just a little better. And we can live with that at the end of the day. Because guys…that’s what life is–pulling yourself up after life knocks you down. Trust me on that one. MJ knows.

Mike J

Yesterday was the first official day of spring and March Madness simultaneously. My wife’s five-hundred daffodils are still in bloom. Copious numbers of iris are green and growing, but still have a ways before their bloom period. You can’t plant tulips out here on the mini-ranch because the deer love eating tulips. We learned that in Spring II out here in the godforsaken Oklahoma wilderness.

Our many redbud trees are just on the cusp of blooming. The lilac shrubs will be in bloom soon as well. Lavendar and white. Our two forty-foot Aristocrat Pear tree are in a spectacular avalanche of white bloom this morning. In Oklahoma…always plant the Aristocrat over the much over-planted Bradford Pear because of the strong wind resistance the Aristocrat affords the landscape.

The flowering crabapple tree in front is probably at least two weeks away from bloom. It is a magnifcent spring bloomer in Oklahoma scapes. Peonies are breaking the ground in front and back beds. I have no idea whatsover how many peonies my wife has planted over the years. Plus…they multiply. All I know the color and size of blooms are stunning and what have stopped many who drive by our mini- ranch to stop and ask what varieties she planted.

Oakleaf hydrangeas are turning green and will kick in their massive dangling white blooms in mid to late April. Crapemyrtles are planted everywhere on the property. In back our flowering peach trees, our flowering ornamental cherry trees, with a traditional cherry tree nuged just in front of tthe those trees to add a sense of triangular symmetry. It is stunningwhen they all hit peak bloom. Absolutely breathtaking.

For an extra Southern Living touch I planted two magnolias for my wife and two Chaste Trees….lavendar and white blooms.

On our mini-ranch there will be landscape color just prior to the week before Thanksgiving when our red maples drop their deep red-orange leaves.

Our thirty or so wild turkeys are in full color and in full mating ritual season.

Their open perversion is almost as captivating as Trump describing his yearnings for his oldest daughter. You fake Trump Christians are genuinely something…that’s for certain.

Plus, add to the mix…a butterfly garden and a bluebird hotel. The covenants out here actually our lot and two others to have horses. MJ has been thinking to himself once Dr. Showwalter gives MJ the final fist pump… MJ might just one day ride his horse onto the ranch and tie him up near the coy pond. I’m sure that would play huge for the wife as she’s already wearing a self-made T-shirt which reads: YOU WEAR ME OUT.

When my wife decided to leave Auburn and come back to godforsaken Oklahoma…part of the deal was we’d have a place like the mini-ranch with that Southern feel to it. We love the mini-ranch. The Trump racist nationalists….not as much. We just hope at some point we won’t have to exit in the middle of the night like the Von Trapp family’s escape in the Sound of Music from Austria. That would suck.

Basketball and fishing…MJ’s cup runneth over. I’ll be attending all sessions at the OU womens’ regional in Norman this week-end, and hope OU’s men plays well versus UConn this evening.

Life is better than good. Only one more chemo infusion next Tuesday and MJ will have completed the gauntlet. And, btw…MJ in his last two three mile bike rides on the terrain bike has set new time records each time.

We’ll be on various Florida beaches in April to celebrate.

Life is better than good.

In honor of my Southern wife… I thought a song from my favorite Southern band would be the right touch today.

Take time to smell the flowers…seriously.

MJ, the Oklahoma Oracle.

I figured as low as the bar is set in Oklahoma…self- proclamation of oracle status isn’t over the top by any means.

MJ

This game was simply amazing.

I almost turned it off four different times because the level of play by both teams was bordering on dumpster fire shit show level. But I could not turn it off and go to bed.

It was like watching a ‘normal’ day of chaos in this second Trump dictatorship.

Chaos on almost every possession. Over 45 combined turnovers by both teams.

The Nuggets without Nikola, Jamal, Julian Strawther, and the ever gritty Christian Braun. Denver was without four of their top seven rotational players and Aaron Gordon was a game time decision.

Meanwhile…the Warriors entered this game at home as the hottest team in the league with something very much to play for in their attempt to secure a higher seed in the goofy Western Conference.

And who better than Russell Westbrook to stand tall amongst all this dysfunction in San Franciso last night and deliever a Hall of Fame level triple double to carry his team on his back along with Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr.

For god’s sake Russell went 12 pts, 11 rbs, and 16 assists on the night. Sublime does not adequately decribed the clutch in Russell’s play last night when it appeared the Nuggets would take an automatic loss.

Like MJ, ESPN announcers Michael Breen and Richard Jefferson knew Russell’s trip-dub was beyond amazing.

MJ in Deer Creek at this point is not ashamed to state he loves Russell Westbrook like a John Marshall brother.

And since Russ disdains Trump almost as much as MJ…this SNL newscast from last Staurday is for Russell.

Nuggets at the LA Lakers on Wednesday night. MJ feels as if this all the sudden is a game he has to cover on the blog.

Mike J

I tried to stay awake last night as the Thunder were on the road against the Bucks without both J-Dub and Lu. I thought it might be an interesting game with the Thunder’s two best defensive studs injured and sitting. I also thought it might an opportunity for the Milwaukee Bucks to display their rout over the Thunder in the Emirates NBA Cup wasn’t a fluke.

Obviously all my thinking was flawed as the Thunder made it clear they can beat the bottom twenty-six teams in the league without both of these guys minus the Cleveland Cavs, Boston Celtics and ‘maybe’ the Denver Nuggets. Heck, OKC beat Boston on the road without J-Dub on Wednesday in a national showcase game.

A shoutout to Chet and Cason for stepping up after I called them out for their poor play in the home loss rout to the Nuggets on the second night of a back to back. I’m always fair on this blog. Always. I never ban anyone for telling me I’m wrong. I don’t ban as some of the Thunder interent sissies do in OKC. MJ prays for those sissies.

With the Nuggets, me listing them as a contender might be a HUGE stretch considering the inconsistent play of their rotation beyond the seventh player. Maybe even six to be pragmatic. Russell, please….play within yourself, for God’s sake.

The Lakers with fat, lazy Luka and LeBron’s aged groin would seem doubtful to evolve as the primary threat to the Thunder in the West.

The two hottest teams in the West currently are the surging Golden State (7 straight wins) Warriors and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves (8 straight wins). Minus the chemistry of the Julius Randle with the TWolves—these are the two teams in my mind Sam Presti should be most concerned with as we finish these last three weeks of the NBA regular season.

Jimmy Butler so far has proved to be the perfect spiritual balm for the mecurial Dr. Draymond Green and the rest of the Warriors including Steph. The Dubs have won 12 of their last 13 games and appear to be the same type of Warriors’ team which unexpectantly won the NBA Championship two seasons ago.

Jimmy Butler > Andrew Wiggins…not even close.

I’m defintely watching and covering the Denver at Golden State game tonight. Then what MJ will be doing is following both Porter and Jenni’s teams this next week.

The Sooner women will be hosting the first two games in their NCAA sub-regional. Which I will be attending. I’m jacked and ready to go. I’m also very proud of Porter and his team for not giving up after that almost disastrous home loss to LSU over a month ago. Porter’s team is a No. 9 seed in the West and easily made the tournament. A tough draw in the Western Regional though versus the two-time defending champ UConn Huskies though. With the SEC champion Florida Gators looming in Round 2.

Do your best, guys.

*I would assume the favorite Van Halen song for most Stage 4 cancer surivivors is Dreams. I know its’s mine. And…I got a little fired up playing Van Halen on my blog last week here in the heart of Trump redneck country music. So…I’m going to try and set my all-time record on my 32 minute sprint race today and this is the song I save for such occasions. Have a meaningful week.

BOOMER!

Mike J

Just a great college baskketball game last night in Nashville where about 20,000 Big Blue Fans made this is a hostile road game for the OU Sooners. But I will write this…I thought for the most part the zebras were fair. This wasn’t at all like getting jobbed in Kansas City by Bill Self’s personal Jayhawk Blue favorite son game official….Dougie Sermon. What a tool that one is.

The Sooners lead several times in the first half, but trailed the rest of the game except for a couple of seconds prior to former Sooner Otega Oweh’s game winner from the left baseline with a second left.

Porter Moser’s Sooners were galliant. They trailed by 12 with three minutes left in the game and almost pulled off a miracle on the road. There was nothing neutral about this game site.

A heartbreaker for certain, but one of those games where as a player, coach, or fan you walk to the locker room with your head held high. This is clearly one of those Vincent Thomas Lombardi moments when you didn’t win, but you emptied the tank and will never feel any remorse for the collective effort.

When you compete at the highest level…this happens. Everbody in this league minus perhaps LSU and South Carolina are really good. I think OU has done enough since those thirty disastrous seconds in the LSU game to be in the NCAA Tournament come Selection Sunday.

OU not only went through the SEC gauntlet…they beat Providence, Louisville, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia Tech, and former DI program Oklahoma State which as recently in the early 2000s was coached by legend and friend Coach Eddie Sutton.

OU won the tournament in the Bahamas, then beat Michigan in Charlotte in the Jumpman Invitational. None of these wins were at home. This team very much should be prepared for playing venues away from home.

I hate to write this, but I must. A good deal of my Sooner fans bailed after the LSU loss. I did not because my life has been full of sports. Winning and losing. Sometimes teams have to lose some together… before they learn to win togther. I’m ashamed of the turnout which I witnessed for the Missouri game which was Senior’s Night. It was maybe 5,000 or 6,000 who showed up.

But for me…I’m extremely proud of these players. And for me as a Stage 4 walking cancer survivor… I understand very well every basketball season at this point could in theory be my last.

This is emotional for me. It’s the shape of my heart in a way.

So…we’ll see how it goes on Selection Sunday.

Good luck, guys.

BOOMER!

MJ

I’ll write this briefly before I start my day of chores out here on the Deer Creek mini-ranch….the team which wins the SEC Tournament title will be winning a tougher tournament than the NCAA Tournament itself.

The SEC team which wins this tournament will have done much, much more from a difficulty of competition standpoint than what two-time defending NCAA champ UConn has done the previous two Aprils.

Not hubris on my part at all. ESPN’s Jay Bilis, an ex-Dukie and ACC guy to the core, stated,”This is the single toughest array of teams in any conference in the history of college basketball.”

That’s not MJ. That’s Jay Bilas.

So my thought for my Sooners is this…try and win this game tonight over Kentucky, then sit back and see if Alabama, Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee destroy themselves physically in the hope of winning the SEC Tournament.

I’m not at all openly advocating tanking, but really focus hard on tonight and don’t fret anything beyond in this SEC Tournament.

A song for last night beyond Boomer Sooner would be nice. This is what we blared outside the basketball gym after big hoop wins at John Marshall in the the mid-70’s.

It’s a classic Sly Stone song which by buddy, Rod the Mule Carter, turned me onto my junior year. Rod was our placekicker and a backup offensive lineman. After his breakout junior year as an All-City place kicker…Rod then informed our offensive line coach, Ed Rodsinger, he would no longer be wasting his time as an offensive lineman. Too much sweating and contact. Rod didn’t want to hurt the leg.

Coach Rodsinger went ballistic and would have kicked Rod off the team if head coach Don McDonald hadn’t kept Rod because of his excellent kicking percentages.

Coach Rodzinger…. then one day when Coach Mac was with the defense on the other end of the field in practice put Rod in front and center of the offensive team and informed Rod he was a worthless, lazy mule not good for anything except kicking the goddamn football.

So..from that day forward–Rod became the Mule at John Marshall. I loved Rod.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

My wife’s five-hundred daffodils have exploded into full bloom out here on the ranch. Better than Augusta National.

Have a beautiful spring day..even though it’s not really spring yet.

Peace and love, MJ

OU 81 – Georgia 75

I’m tired, but a happy OU basketball fan tonight. I’m proud of these guys. They did not surrender. Take it from a Stage 4 cancer survivor there is no surrender. There is exiting with grace and dignity…but no surrender.

Kentucky tomorrow night in the last game of the night in what will be a profound home court advantage for Big Blue. Kind of like playing Kansas inside of Kemper.

If OU doesn’t get homered by the zebras… I think its a totally winnable game. Totally winnable.

Let’s go, guys. This is what life is about. Have fun tomorrow night. Your two best players, Jalon and Jeremiah are hot at just the right time of the season. Mo Wague…let it rip, dude.

Boomer!

It’s official March Madness for MJ. I’m jacked. My OU Sooner boys stunned the world last week with a wire to wire ten point win over No. 15 Missouri. Then went down to Austin, Texas and beat the hated Texas Longhorns for the first time in the Porter Moser era at OU.

I’m not like the talking heads at the Sports Animal. I’m a passionate, intelligent fan. Sports have been a huge part of my life. Still are. I’ve been an OU hoops fan since Johnny Mac was coaching the Sooners in the old Fieldhouse. I sit on the floor… students side. I’ve gotten to know the players and their families. I know Jalon Moore’s wife and his adorable little daughter, Makayla.

I actually talked with them after the Missouri game on Senior Night. I told Jalon’s wife how much respect I have for Jalon not only as a player, but as a leader, and a young man representing OU.

And she looked me right in the eye and said, “You’re right, sir. Jalon is an incredible young man. Makayla and I are both lucky to have him in our lives.”

I said, “And he’s lucky to have you two as well. Good luck on the journey. Please tell him how proud of him the real Sooner fans are.” The real Sooner fans, not the knuckleheads you hear on the Sports Animal call in shows.

Then I ran into Sam Godwin in the mouth of the tunnel. He was seriously injured late in the first half after having an outstanding first half which was key to the Sooners’ win.

That young man, his mother, and support family are what OU athletics are about, and should be about. Not the half of the spoiled OU fan base which think their daily existence is relative to a Sooner win every game.

On my blog…I kept my mouth shut after the horrific home loss to LSU when the Sooners blew a five point lead with thiry seconds left. That loss could very well still haunt them on Selection Sunday.

That was the most horrific thirty seconds I’ve witnessed in around sixty years of serious OU hoops fandom. I actually Bleed Crimson harder for hoops than football. I’m an outlier in that regard.

I would say last week was Porter Moser’s best week in four years as the OU basketball coach. He finally beat Texas on the road in a game his team literally had to have to stay alive.

So it’s the tough Mike White coached Georgia Bulldogs tonight in the first round of the SEC Tournament. I have no idea whatsoever where OU will fall on Selection Sunday, or if they make the Tournament. OU’s women are easily in and should at the least be a No. 4 Seed in their region. Jenni has done a great job in her four years at OU. A great job.

On my board I have Georgia tonight favored at -1.5.

So to my Sooners…compete to your utmost and where the hips fall…the chips fall. I need to go ride the terrain bike. This Van Halen classic always puts me in the right state of mind.

Let’s go Sooners!

Boomer!

Mike J

*Note: J-Dub did not make the trip to Boston with his hip pointer. Chet, Aaron, and Cason you might need to show up tonight in Boston.