Month: July 2023

I love Draymond. He’s one of the smartest, toughest players in the league. Pound for pound, inch for inch, I can’t think of a player in the league who gives his team more for his paycheck than Draymond Green.

But this nonsense with Jordan Poole needs to stop. Draymond, you won. Your owners traded Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards. You got your new contract. Owner Joe Lacob has come out publicly and pretty much said you’re with the Splash Brothers until this dynasty has run its course.

What else needs to be said or done from your team, your coach, and your city?

Let it go.

I think you’re a very smart, savvy guy. You understand branding better than anyone else in this league…minus LeBron or Steoh. You get the WWE aspect of mixing sport with entertainment. You’re articulate. I actually think when your playing days are over…TNT will be calling you to either replace Chuck on the panel or join him with Chuck, Ernie, and Kenny. I’m not sure about Shaq at that time.

But leave Jordan Poole alone.

You call yoyself the team leader, then be the team leader.

Help Chris Paul assimilate to his new role coming off the bench. Help Chris Paul undertsand the beauty of winning a ring versus the ego of being a starter only.

Gently push Moses Moody into becoming one of the next Warrior core players down the road. We all saw Moses start to ‘get it’ the back half of last season. Help Moses with his confidence.

Johnny Kuminga. My Warriors’ source tells me you and Johnny K have a stressed relationship like you did with Jordan. Take Johnny under your wing and help him along with Moses and perhaps Andrew Wiggins evolve into the future core three after your playing days are done.

You claim you’re the team leader….then start acting like it again.

If Kevon Looney is the Moral Compass of the Warriors, then you’re the Soul of the Warriors.

Your teammates need you. Steve Kerr needs you. Joe Lacob needs you.

And Jordan Poole needs you to leave him alone.

Let it go.

As an OU softball fan who loves Jordy Bahl… this kills me, yet I get it. This presser touched me on about every level. It wouldn’t hurt Jordan Poole and Kevin Durant to watch this presser and learn a few things in relation to making a graceful and dignified exit.

She’s following her heart. She’s going back home to Nebraska to be near her family and boy friend. She has nothing left to prove at OU. She was the best player in the country and likely will be the same next season with the Cornhuskers.

This wasn’t a Lincoln Riley type of exit. You can tell by some of the things Patti Gasso has said in the aftermath of her decision that she and Jordy had been talking about her being homesick.

Like with Caleb Williams, who left OU to win a Heisman with USC……I’ll always be a Jordy Bahl fan in every game she ever plays except when it’s against the Sooners.

Let’s be candid on here. Jordy leaving OU is probably a good thing for women’s softball because the Sooners would have been an uber off the charts prohibitive favorite to fourpeat with her back again next season.

As it is…even without Jordy the Sooners are still loaded and still the favorite to fourpeat.

The only other position other than Jordy that was vacated was Grace Lyon who was the Sooners’ stellar fifth year shortstop. Patti Gasso has already filled that void with a solid transfer portal player from Furman. The rest of the OU lineup is literally loaded.

The Sooners will be led by three All-Americans in catcher Kenzie Hansen, second baseman Tiara Jennings, and centerfielder Jayda Coleman. There is an adage in baseball and softball….you build from the catcher position out up the middle….catcher, shortstop, second base, and centerfield. OU even without Jordy is better up the middle than anybody in the country…not even close.

As far as pitching…Patti has already filled the staff since Jordy’s departure. The Sooners will return ace Nichole May, the very promising lefty fresman Kirstin Deal, and two more very solid right-handed starters from Wisconsin and Liberty. I haven’t assimilated the new names just yet. But El Prez will for certain.

The only piece I see missing is another solid left-handed pitcher to fill out the pieching staff. Hence…my curiosity as where fromer O State lefty Kelly Maxwell decides to pitch next season.

I’m not sure if she’d be a fit at OU given all the losing in the biggest moment experiences she suffered at O State, but I still believe she’s a very good pitcher who would thrive in Norman with Patti Gasso.

This deal with Jordy is what I would describe as a good deal for all concerned. Nobody comes out a loser from my view.

Who knows…maybe next year it could be Nebraska vs. OU in the College Softball World Series.

Hope so…it would be great theatre.

Good luck, Jordy Bahl.

I love happy ending chick flicks.

Did my walk this morning. Gonna do some heavy rep light weight work and then have a beautiful vegan lunch of gucamole enchildas, steamed broccoli, and spincach….topped off with a fresh bowl of rasperries. Dr. Greger would be proud of me.

That paragraph I wrote last night stuck with me all through my walk. I can’t get that paragraph out of my mind.

‘I had to put my soulmate lab Pauli to sleep, my younger brother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and my doctor told me to get my affairs in order.’

You know what that is? I’ll tell you what it is…it’s the genisis of a bonafide country music top five hit if I can convince Billy Currington to sing it.

I mean, if that’s not straight from a Dan Jenkins love story romance like Dead Solid Perfect I don’t know what is.

Maybe a love story novel to go with it.

I’ve finshed the non-fiction saga I’ve been working on… ‘Mullet King: The Mike Gundy – Boone Pickens Saga.’ I’m going to wait a bit to prologue it though given Michael Gundy just this past week at the Big 12 media week gala picked his very own O State Cowboys to win the Big 12 the last year OU and Texas play in the conference.

I mean…for my story, I couldn’t concoct a better ending. We’ll see how that goes.

That’s a lot of hubris from Mike Gundy. I love it. Why did it take twenty years to peak though?

In my mind, I’m already singing along with Billy Currington…’Sometimes Life is Hard.’

Have a great Wednesday.

I’ll do the Jordy Ball thing tonight unless the Feds jail the human debris junk bond aka as Donald Trump tonight.

Peace.

Tyler pretty much blistered me yesterday during the physical therapy workout. I’m fairly certain he was sending me a message ’bout what he thinks in regards to my Thunder blue Game 6 T-shirt from the 2016 meltdown.

I thought I’d be sore today, but not the case. I even did an extra ten minutes on the terrain bike yesterday to openly show my defiance while yelling, “What’s my name?’ inside of the Integris Cancer Rehab Center. He didn’t flip me off . We’re good.

It was a brutally hot day out here at the mini-ranch in Deer Creek. The dewpoint is Alabama-like given we’ve received 16″ of precip since June 1st. The lanndscape is a luscious verdant green you very rarely see in Oklahoma this far into July.

I mowed the ranch is less than two hours with my zero radius riding Toro. Then I watched a little of CNN taking in Donald Trump’s most recent criminal indictment….sigh. Ate vegan. Meditated. Then did two hours of flowerbed work in the evening. Five months ago this would have killed me. Not the case at all today. The vegan diet works even if you cheat a little. If you just eliminate dairy and ninety per cent of meat intake and triple down with vegetables, fruit, and grains you basically have enough protein.

Tom Brady, Popeye, and Secretariat are/were all vegans. So all that bullshit about muscle mass can only be attained from eating red meat is bogus.

I would refer a book entitled “How Not to Die From What You Eat’, by bestselling author Dr. Michael Greger. As part of my blogging…I plan on putting several of Dr. Greger’s videos on here at some point. Dr. Greger is clearly a part of Mike’s Team Cancer.

It was about a year from today I had to put my lab Pauli down. Three months later my younger brother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Six months later I was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Not what you would call the best year of your life.

But here’s the thing coming straight from the keypad of Plato Jackson, who btw was never a wide receiver of the Cleveland Browns….. shit happens in life. It is how we react to ‘shit happening’ which defines us as humans.

Some may blame God. Some may pout and lay down. But I’m not wired in that manner. That’s not my DNA.

My DNA is that I pull myself up with the grace of God and crawl, scratch, and bleed for those six inches that make the difference between winning and losing…the difference between living and dying.

This is good… me blogging again. It kind of goes in sink with Dr. S’s holistic approach to dealing with cancer. You know…integrating the chemo with a vegan diet or almost vegan, 160 minutes a week of intense physical therapy. prayer, mediation, and such.

Regardless of how this goes for me with cancer… I’ll never be the same person ever again. When Dr. S told me to get my affairs in order it wasn’t a death sentence. More to the point…it’s been a God send for me..an awakewning of sorts. An epiphany on steroids.

You never take a day for granted. Day by day she goes.

I think I’ll blog about Jordy Bahl tomorrow after I see how I handle my first half mile walk.

Take care of yourself in this heat.

It’s not how you die which defines you, but rather how you lived. Don’t ever forget that.

It was a great Monday physical therapy session today with my bud Tyler over at the cancer rehab center. Fifty minutes of hell, yet another step forward. Very clearly another step forward.

Tyler is a very knowledgeable Thunder fan and of the NBA as a whole as well. I always wear my Thunder blue T-shirt from Game 6 in 2016 for my workouts with Tyler. I would say Tyler is so knowledgeable in fact he could probably write for the Daily Thunder and with the exception of my former pupil Justin over there…Tyler could be the stud hoss.

So Tyler says to me today, “Mike, I’ve noticed when you have Audra or Chasity you never wear the Game 6 shirt…. are you telling me you don’t like me?”

I said, ” No, Tyler, I’ve come to love you like a son, but I’m trying to help you by me wearing the shirt so as you don’t waste your basketball life away just following the going nowhere Thunder.”

He replied, “Well, yeah, maybe Chet will get them over the hump?”

I laughed and shot back, “Yeah, maybe Tommy Tuberville will be named president of Harvard later this year as well….know what I mean.”

Anyway…we proceeded to have a great workout and basically talked about the Warriors the rest of the hour with Draymond punching out the feckless Jordan Poole as the main basketball topic.

The kid really knows his basketball….. seriously.

Anyway…as far as the Thunder’s predictable tank in the Summer League going 4-4 with the best one two combo of Chet and J-Dub…. I have nothing really else to say.

The Thunder should have easily won the tournament, but Sam Presti’s massive ego just isn’t ever about winning….. it’s about him making everyone else think he’s some sort of John Wooden savant.

The Thunder have all kinds of young talent, but as of right now I’d say they go something like maybe 43-39 while finishing third in the Northwest Division behind Denver and Minnesota.

That will be a rap on my Thunder Summer League recap. That’s all they deserve.

I’m beat.

I’m hitting the sack.

Be careful with heat this week.

I haven’t done an After Dark in a while. This seems appropriate given the situation. I’m adding two half-mile morning walks to the 160 minutes of weekly physical training this week.

Yo, Adrian.

I’ve decided to switch my Smerconish question of the week to Sundays so as to avoid college football’s start in seven weeks since I’m now feeling somewhat bullish about me being a cancer survivor. Wasn’t sure for awhile and I would have suggested you to sell your El Prez stock short, but I’m beginning to think I’m going to possibly make it through this life journey situation.

It’s been a great week-end for my wife and I as we spent Saturday in Seminole on her family’s two-hundred acre ranch which has three stocked pondstucked in the rolling hills of southeast Oklahoma. I’ve never seen it greener out there…. what with ten inches rain in the first two weeks of July.

We had a nice lunch. Then kicked back and enjoyed the utter peacefulness of country living and came back yesterday evening to Deer Creek.

I clicked on Netflix and watched one of my favorite Will Smith movies. I love this movie as Will plays a homeless young man who’s a single father while trying to get through a six month payless internship at Dean Witter where around sixty applicants are vying for one job opening.

Will’s character only has a high school degree and the odds are stacked against him, but as you know if you’ve ever seen the movie his character is chockful of inspirational human DNA.

I love this movie. It should be a must see for every father in this country to view itat least two times in their life. It’s a great good cry movie.

As far as the Smerconish Question of the Week… Is Oklahoma’ Ex Cage Fighting Markwayne Mullin the Dumbest of Our One-Hundred United States Senators?

Since I’m from Oklahoma…. It distresses me to say, “Yes, Markwayne Mullin probably is the dumbest member of what was once the most austere body of government in the world. If this serves as any consolation to the Ultimate Kick-ass Warrior Marwayne, I would say Auburn’s former failed head coach Tommy Tuberville is rapidly closing in on the Ultimate Warrior for a photo finish.

This will be it for me on this inaugural Smerconich Sunday. I have physical therapy tomorrow with Tyler. I’d say Tyler is thirty or so and a passionate Thunder and NBA fan. I’m going to digest some of Tyler’s takes before I write what I feel about the Thunder’s shameless tanking in the Summer League for no reason whatsover.

I mean…skilled coaches can play to win, develop, and evaluate without any of these being exclusive from one another. I mean…the bar is so low in Oke City…they might as well bring the jets to do fly bys the Devon Tower to further experiment on the extent of brain damage to humans from exsessive sonic boom exposrure.

Enough of that for now. I’m a Warriors and Denver Nuggets fan so my days of agonizing over Sam Presti’s bullshit are in my rear view mirror.. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if agonizing over his bullshit along with a bad diet contributed to the breakdown in my immune system which led to my Stage 4 cancer situation. I might give my new lawyer Jackie Childs a call on Tuesday morning and see if he thinks I have a legit lawsuit.

Peace.

---

---

.

I just had breakfast. Grape nuts, blue berries, oat milk, whole wheat toast, and hibiscus tea. Getting ready to watch the Thunder’s Summer League game vs. the Wizzards….I think it is.

Granted… this is the Summer League. But still, any type of any sort of championship for the Thunder after three seasons of tanking would be much needed balm for Thunder Nation and the pitiful Thunder owned blog of which I shall not name in an effort to be more spiritual as I fight back Stage 4 cancer wth the courage of a true Warrior.

Any blindfolded chimpanzee knows that in this tournament the Oklahoma City Thunder with Chet Holmgren and J-Dub have the best one-two combo since both Wemby and Jabari Smith have been grounded for the duration of the tournament. And to go on record, I would have taken Jabari Smith over Chet just because of my concerns in regards to Chet’s physical composition. Kudos to Jabari for playing in this Summer League in as much as he played in 73 games this past NBA regular season.

So here is what I’m saying…if Sam Presti can’t just this one time, this singular one time ring the bell in something as passive-submissive as the NBA’s Summer League with these two ringers … then how in the world could anyone expect Shai to ever lead the franchise back to the glory days of Kevin Durant?

That was rhetorical and unlike our dumbass U.S. senator from Oklahoma…I understand how to inject a rhetorical in a public hearing or courtroom…in as much I was taught this at the Bob Jackson School of Street Law.

So Mr. Presti….. show me you can win something other than Portland taking Greg Oden. I’m watching and hopeful you can figure this out for the duration of this very winnable tournament.

To the video question above….L’ll answer that tomorrow on my edition back in the studio of Smerconish Saturday as I try to decipher whether the brawler Markwayne Mullin or Tommy Tuberville is the dumbest current member of the United States Senate.

God bless Ernie Johnson and others out there fighting the courageous fight.

Peace.

El Prez

I love this video. I came across it in 2016 when my father was battling pancreatic cancer. He lost that battle on the 23rd of August at the age of 81. Those ten months from his diagnosis until his death shaped me like no other event in my life to date.

When I listen to Ernie speak I have to admit it puts a bit of a lump in my throat. But when you hear those intial words about your own motality it puts you into a different human orbit of sorts.

My onocoligist, Dr. S., was very candid with me when we received the results from my bone marrow test. I’l never forget those words, “Your PSA count is off the charts at 1200. That’s an outrageous number. You have prostatic bone cancer Stage 4. If your affairs are not in order…I would suggest you get them in order. I have no idea how long you have to live. We’ll get started with a holistic combination of oral chemo, blockers, diet, physical therapy, and praying wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

I gulped a bit and nodded.

So two weeks ago, on my fourth month consultation after my monthly blood labs….my PSA was at 2.57 and my hemoglobin count was a stunning 13 after being at 7 four months ago.

Dr. S looks at me and says with a smile, “These are really good numbers. Your PSA count should be below zero in thirty days. How do you feel … are the chemo drugs bringing you down?”

“Not really. I actually feel as if I’m getting stronger every day. My weight is the best its been in thirty years. My BMI at 24.8 is strong. Blood pressure is 126/70 and I’m really enjoying my physical rehab team of Audra, Charity, and Tyler. They’ve lit a fire under my ass.”

He smiled and started scribbling on my chart. He then said, ” I’m not sure what to say…this is the highest PSA I can remember from one of my patients.You’ve been an outlier from Day 1. We’ll take this slowly and find our way one month at a time. This was all very good today. Any questions?”

I answered,” Not really….we’ll get thru this, Doc. I Promise you that. I’m extremely motivated. I want to see my grandchildren grow up. I’m at peace within myself. Never been calmer from inside and I’ve never felt closer to God. I’m good. Let’s do our best and see if we can beat this problem I seem to have. Maybe you can write about this in a medical journal or something with other doctors.”

So yestreday was my second PetScan since this began back in March and I’m quietly confident on what its going to look like when Dr. S shows it to me at the end of next month.

Like Ernie says,

” Do your best, appreciate the love from your family and friends. Just take this one day at a time and find a way to work through cancer.”

I’ve watched the Thunder’s last two Summer League games and don’t really have much to write. I’ll wait till their next game and hope that they’ve made it to the Finals as they should given the strength of their roster.

Take care.

Peace.

I feel absolutely great today. Just basically killed it in my physical therapy session with Audra yesterday. I’ve worked up to Level 8 on the terrain bike and I’ve pegged out on the leg press machine doing four different variations. I like the fact I’m working with three different therapists. Like coaches…all three have a unique voice and all three love sports as I do.

Audra played college softball so I asked yesterday, ” You think Patti Gasso should go after the O State pitcher Kelly Maxwell who just entered the portal?”

She says, ” Oh yeah, they need two quality arms to replace the departure of Jordy Ball. O State’s not going anywhere…they’ve collapsed two seasons in a row at the most important time of the year. Why piss away your Covid extra season doing the same thing again. She should call Patti.”

I asked, ” You know where Kelly played her high school ball?”

She says without hesitating, ” She played in the Houston area. She could play for Texas…I guess, but they’ve been even bigger chokers than O State these past two seasons. She should call Patti and see if they connect. Why not?”

I bore down on the bike and said, ” We agree. You have any thoughts on Mike Gundy?”

She smiled and said, “Don’t make me go there while I’m working. Know what I mean. Focus on the bike, Michael. Let’s go.”

As far as Chris Paul now being a member of the Golden State Warriors. This is what I say. Last season with the fluffy soft Jordan Poole being the defending champ’s first guard off the bench the Warriors were historically bad. Consider also the Warriors’ first unit of Steph, Klay, the Moral Compass, Draymond, and Wiggins were the best offensive unit in the league.

So why would Steve Kerr make Chris Paul a starter and disrupt any of that provided Andrew Wiggins has himself back where he was two seasons ago. I mean … maybe what I would suggest is that both Klay and CP3 both come to the realization both of their bodies aren’t what they once were.

I would say to Chris, “Listen…you have always been a Bad Little Dude. I love your hubris. But you’re thirty-eight years of age. You’re not a kid from Wake Forest anymore. You will have a signifcant, crucial role on this basketball team. Be fluid with this.”

Me being Steve Kerr continued would put my arm around CP3’s shoulder and say, ” You’re a Hall of Fame player without a ring, don’t screw this opportunity up. You’re going to be a great coach someday if you feel so inclined.”

Steve Kerr me would conclude, “Flow with it. You’re going to get your minutes. Be like Bill Walton when he accepted a bench role with the Celtics and won his second ring. Help me out with Johnny Kuminga…help him understand what it takes to be a pro in this league. Deal?

If Chris has a problem with this then I’d trade his ass for another guard …. I wonder if Damian Lillard might want to win a ring? Just a thought. He could always do the Miami thing. This is a rare window in Golden State as the window is closing somewhat on the Bay.

The Thunder’s second game in Vegas is coming up and of course I’ll be watching while having a game day meal of two cream corn enchiladas, a sweet potato, some broccoli, a spinach salad, a bowl of strawberries, and a delicious cup of green tea.

Sam Presti…. your young Thunder team could end up being my second favorite team to watch this season…..please don’t overthink at this point and screw it up.