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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty

Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty

by DougJ|  June 19, 20129:07 pm| 62 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Sports

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NBA finals open thread. I’m pulling for OKC.

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Previous Post: « Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Another DREAM Deferred
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Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    MikeJ

    June 19, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    Fuck the Supersonics.

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    June 19, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    I’m pulling for OKC

    I hate you. And don’t even get me started on Soonergrunt.

    @MikeJ: Clay Bennett beat you to it. Fucker.

  3. 3.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 19, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    I could not give a shit. YMMV.

  4. 4.

    DougJ

    June 19, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    @MikeJ:

    I hear you.

  5. 5.

    Violet

    June 19, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    I’m pulling for OKC because LeBron’s “where am I going to go” nonsense from two years ago, complete with his own hour long TV special, still irks me. I want to see him lose and continue to lose.

  6. 6.

    the Conster

    June 19, 2012 at 9:13 pm

    It’s all rigged by the refs – OKC will win tonight because they can’t be too obvious with the calls, but when it comes to the end, they’ll make sure LeBron gets there this year, as long as he keeps playing and doesn’t turtle. Fucking NBA sucks.

    ETA: as does ESPN, also too.

  7. 7.

    hhex65

    June 19, 2012 at 9:17 pm

    @Violet: Lol, how dare LeBron use the “Decision” TV show to raise $2.5 for the Boys and Girls Club of Ohio!! Such arrogance.

  8. 8.

    DougJ

    June 19, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    @Violet:

    Good piece on why no one should hate LeBron. And I say that as someone whose closest NBA franchise is Cleveland.

  9. 9.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 19, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    It will end up with a game seven, because the advertising industry says it should. The rubes must be milked.

  10. 10.

    hhex65

    June 19, 2012 at 9:28 pm

    @hhex65: uh, should read “raise $2.5 million…”– #snarkfail

  11. 11.

    MikeJ

    June 19, 2012 at 9:28 pm

    Ok, I know almost nothing about basketball, but did you see the interview with the ref this morning before the footie started? He was saying, yeah sure, it’s fine if people slam into James at full speed because he’s a big guy. You can hit him ten times as hard before it will be a foul. That sounds like something the fans should be more upset over than palming or traveling.

  12. 12.

    Violet

    June 19, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    @hhex65:
    That’s pocket change to LeBron. He could have just donated the money. Or raised it some other way. The show was pure ego.
    From the article DougJ linked:

    Beyond “The Decision,” which he even now regrets,

    Even he now thinks it was a stupid thing to do.

    I’m sure he’s a great guy, been through a lot, does wonderful work for charity, etc., etc. I don’t hate him. I just don’t like those kinds of stunts.

  13. 13.

    DougJ

    June 19, 2012 at 9:31 pm

    @MikeJ:

    It’s interesting, I saw that segment too..they’ve always called it that way and it’s unfair, yes.

  14. 14.

    redshirt

    June 19, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Open Thread right? If not, this is WAAAAY OT: So, I got kinda obsessed with Tolkien and frequently reread his stuff, and if the movies come on for whatever reasons I’ll pretty much always step in and watch a bit. So, that said:

    Two Towers: Theoden is freed from Suraman’s spell and promptly – and rightly – is about to kill Wormtongue when Aragorn totally cock blocks him and let’s Wormtongue go, prattling on about “enough death already.” OK, nice and humanitarian.

    But, 1. How is this appropriate on Aragorn’s part? He just pushed the damn King out of the way so he couldn’t kill a vile traitor that just had him under an evil spell. Why would his guards put up with that? Why would Theoden?

    2. What is the first thing Wormtongue does? Races back to Suraman and helps him organize first his attack on the fleeing villagers, and then the large assault on Helm’s Deep. These attacks cost many lives.

    What the hell, Aragorn?

  15. 15.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    June 19, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Sounds like my mom. Except I remember last year – yay Mavs – won it in six.

  16. 16.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 19, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    @redshirt: Not in the book so it doesn’t count.

  17. 17.

    Turgidson

    June 19, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    Lebron and Wade are insufferable douchebags and the OKC stars are not. For all the (justified in my view, if overwrought) criticism Lebron got for the Decision, he’d been acting like a grade A jackass long before that happened and has been one on quite a few occasions since, too. Before anyone accuses me of hypocrisy or whatever, I don’t root for convicted criminals or other assorted lowlifes who play sports either, even when they’re on my preferred team. And Wade has become the most entitled WATB I think I’ve ever seen in the past few years. His go-to move now is to go up for a layup, intentionally fall down, and then look to the refs for a call (which he gets too often). F that guy. And they were so arrogant in the aftermath – anyone remember their little victory rally a few days later? I thought you had to, you know, win something, to put on a party like that. Assholes.

    I hate the way the OKC franchise left Seattle too, but I’m not pinning that on the players (easy for me to say -I have no connection to the Sonics other than that my brother has lived in Seattle the past 10 years. He’s going for OKC in the Finals too, fwiw)

    I will root against the cHeat always and forever while those narcissistic clowns are there. I get that their maneuver to get to Miami together with Bosh was within the NBA rules and all, but I don’t have to like it.

    /stupid, entirely too passionate rant about sports

  18. 18.

    some guy

    June 19, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    fuck David Stern, and fuck the thieves who stole the SuperSonics after the citizens of Seattle refused their blackmail attempt.

  19. 19.

    Yutsano

    June 19, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    @some guy: So of course they try it all over again. But the city is pushing back hard.

  20. 20.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    June 19, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    @redshirt: Did Aragorn read the script? Did he ever seen Wormtongue again? Unless he knew the plot, it’s not like he knew what was going to happen next.

    Along a similar vein, in real life:

    [Ho Chi Minh] petitioned U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to help remove the French from Vietnam and replace them with a new, nationalist government. Although he was unable to obtain consideration at Versailles, the failure further radicalized Nguyễn, while also making him a national hero of the anti-colonial movement at home in Vietnam

  21. 21.

    Micheline

    June 19, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    Being a Miami girl, I have to root for the Heat.

  22. 22.

    Mark S.

    June 19, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Odd there’s only been three seven game series in the last 25 years.

    @redshirt:

    That’s a common theme in Tolkien. It rarely works out very well, but Gollum does kind of save the day.

  23. 23.

    redshirt

    June 19, 2012 at 9:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Just looked it up. Yay! So, bad move, Jackson.

  24. 24.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 19, 2012 at 10:03 pm

    Repeat after me: Oklahoma is NOT okay.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne

    June 19, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    One wonders how the course of US history might have been different if Woodrow Wilson hadn’t been a stone-cold racist.

    This fascinating thread at The Straight Dope looks at whether the Wilson quote “it’s like history written by lightning” about The Birth of a Nation is actually true, and it looks as though the consensus is, “No, but that doesn’t mean Wilson wasn’t a racist.”

    Also, too, I think The Birth of a Nation is a valuable film for people to watch, just as I think Triumph of the Will is a valuable film for people to watch. It’s helpful to see how easily filmmakers can use spectacle and stereotypes to sway audiences to believe odious things.

  26. 26.

    Another Halocene Human

    June 19, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    @redshirt: Don’t you go dragging that logic all up in my Tolkien.

  27. 27.

    Wallis Lane

    June 19, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    Rooting for OKC, because Westbrook’s repping UCLA (and judging from the picture, also repping the Urkel-Wear clothing line at K-Mart).

  28. 28.

    burnspbesq

    June 19, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    In which Charles the Clueless reaches a new high in low.

    http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8071810/the-roger-clemens-verdict-our-senseless-national-drug-hysteria

    Dude, Scott Lemieux is a smart guy with one huge blind spot, and citing him doesn’t make this pile not stink.

    I’m a big fan of our jury system. I think juries get it right far more often than they get it wrong. This is one of those times when the jury got it wrong. Roger Clemens lied to Congress, and he got by with it solely because the prosecution’s witnesses are as sleazy as he is.

  29. 29.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    June 19, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    Listening to Seattle Sports Radio, after the endless talk of the new arena, the endless knob polishing of the supposed owners(One of them is Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer a billionaire, who somehow couldn’t be bothered to buy the Sonics, when they first were put on the block)The thinking is that the Sacramento Kings will be the team that Seattle Steals oops I mean saves.

  30. 30.

    RossInDetroit

    June 19, 2012 at 10:20 pm

    I’m actually kind of digging that shirt. It says ‘I don’t give a damn’, which is the five word sentence I speak most frequently. Everyone needs at least one absurd outfit to wear with a straight face. Keeps people guessing.

  31. 31.

    beltane

    June 19, 2012 at 10:20 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’m sure Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes are familiar with both films.

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    June 19, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee:

    Nope. The Kings are going to end up in Anaheim. I’d like to see the new ownership throw a bone to DougJ and honor the team’s Rochester roots be going back to calling them the Royals (expecting them to go all the way back and call them the Seagrams is a bit much, I’m afraid).

  33. 33.

    Nicole

    June 19, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    Just flew back today from a visit to OKC (husband’s family). While we were there, we drove past a sign outside a CVS that said, “Fear the Beard! Go Durantula!” I had to ask my husband if that was even English (I am not familiar with the game of sports).

    Even the OKC Memorial had a big “Go Thunder!” sign over the entrance.

  34. 34.

    DougJ

    June 19, 2012 at 10:23 pm

    @Nicole:

    I like Fear the Beard.

  35. 35.

    MikeJ

    June 19, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    @Nicole:

    Even the OKC Memorial had a big “Go Thunder!” sign over the entrance.

    Pure class.

  36. 36.

    burnspbesq

    June 19, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    @DougJ:

    Harden’s beard reminds me of Cornel West.

    /shudder

  37. 37.

    Valdivia

    June 19, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    ha ha. me too!

  38. 38.

    Mark S.

    June 19, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    Nice dish by LeBron.

  39. 39.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    June 19, 2012 at 10:30 pm

    @burnspbesq: That may be the case, I think if the Kings go to Anaheim, I’m sure Orange County money, will placate Jerry Buss and Donald Sterling, so that the turf will be protected. Personally I would like to see them stay or at least Kansas City.

  40. 40.

    sdstarr

    June 19, 2012 at 10:30 pm

    I am rooting for OKC to lose. And to never win another game. Ever. Of course, I’m from Seattle….

  41. 41.

    J.W. Hamner

    June 19, 2012 at 10:30 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Who the hell cares whether Clemens used PEDs? The original Congressional hearings were also a colossal waste of time and money, and these trials are just heaping stupidity on top of stupidity.

  42. 42.

    MikeJ

    June 19, 2012 at 10:30 pm

    @DougJ:

    I like Fear the Beard.

    I thought that was a baseball thing. Brian Wilson, but not the good crazy one.

  43. 43.

    lamh35

    June 19, 2012 at 10:31 pm

    Anyone else like watching the Olympic trials. Here’s a link to the television schedule for the US Olympic trials.

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1227456-us-olympic-trials-2012-tv-schedule-daily-listings-nbc-coverage-and-more

  44. 44.

    burnspbesq

    June 19, 2012 at 10:34 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee:

    Personally I would like to see them stay

    I don’t see how that’s possible at this point. Even if an arena deal could be made, it’s gotten very personal between the Maloofs and Kevin Johnson.

  45. 45.

    Violet

    June 19, 2012 at 10:34 pm

    Can someone explain why Seattle fans are so upset with Oklahoma? The team got moved? What happened?

  46. 46.

    Soonergrunt

    June 19, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    @Yutsano: Hey, wait a minute? What did I do?
    I like the players, but the owners are a bunch of corrupt oil and gas wingnut billionaires.

  47. 47.

    Mark S.

    June 19, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    @Violet:

    I don’t know all the details, but the previous owner of the Sonics wanted a new arena and the city balked. He then sold it to some guys from Oklahoma who took about 15 minutes to move the team to OKC.

  48. 48.

    Soonergrunt

    June 19, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    @Violet: When the current owners bought the (then) Super Sonics, they swore up and down they weren’t going to move the team, but then they started bitching about needing a new taxpayer funded arena in Seattle (which everybody and his brother KNEW was never going to happen) and they pulled every trick in the book to move the team to OKC which they were planning to do all along.

  49. 49.

    Soonergrunt

    June 19, 2012 at 10:39 pm

    @MikeJ: at least we moved the out-houses around back.

  50. 50.

    Violet

    June 19, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    @Mark S.: @Soonergrunt: Ah, thanks! I could tell from the comments it had something to do with a new stadium, but I didn’t know the rest.

    Good for Seattle for refusing to pay for the stadium. Those kinds of things are nothing but weights on the taxpayers. If the owners want one so badly, they should be willing to chip in.

  51. 51.

    Heliopause

    June 19, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    I’m pulling for OKC

    I mean, why not? Oklahoma had the highest percentage vote for McCain in ’08. The place was created as a concentration camp for Indians who managed to survive genocide, then expropriated when they needed a little more room for white people. This state simultaneously has the most country’s most notorious climate change denier and is God’s favorite victim of global warming. What’s not to love?

  52. 52.

    General Stuck

    June 19, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    Blast from the past, to take the edge off. Was first posted on BJ, maybe 3 years ago by I can’t remember who. I stumbled across it a few days ago on Youtube.

    Hot as hell here as well, and so dry you can step out of the shower, and dry off before you can even grab a towel. The rainy season is a couple weeks off, to maybe cool us down a bit, and lesson the likelyhood of forest fire. Still not near as bad as Tuscon or Phoenix, so not complaining too much.

    Politics is a complete mind numbing enterprise.

  53. 53.

    CW in LA

    June 19, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    Fuck David Stern, fuck Clay Bennett, and fuck the Oklahoma Shitty Pigfuckers.

  54. 54.

    Yutsano

    June 19, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    @Violet:

    Good for Seattle for refusing to pay for the stadium. Those kinds of things are nothing but weights on the taxpayers. If the owners want one so badly, they should be willing to chip in.

    The bad news is Seattle is attempting to build a new basketball/hockey arena. There’s opposition from the city council because the location is right next to the shipping docks. I haven’t seen who’s ponying up the dough for it yet but if they try another tax increase there may be blood.

  55. 55.

    Geoduck

    June 19, 2012 at 10:58 pm

    @Violet:

    Good for Seattle for refusing to pay for the stadium.

    I agree with the sentiment, but as noted, it was just an excuse. They were planning to move the team from day one, and it would have happened if the city had built an arena out of gold bricks.

  56. 56.

    burnspbesq

    June 19, 2012 at 11:06 pm

    OT, but if you’re a fan of smart, literate songwriting, you need to own this record.

    http://www.amazon.com/Kin-Songs-Mary-Rodney-Crowell/dp/B007TCAWT6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340161522&sr=8-1&keywords=rodney+crowell

  57. 57.

    Mark S.

    June 19, 2012 at 11:14 pm

    Westbrook’s keeping them in it.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    June 19, 2012 at 11:15 pm

    Jesus, Westbrook is lighting the joint up. (Er, so to speak.)

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    June 19, 2012 at 11:20 pm

    @Violet:

    The NFL keeps dangling a team in front of Los Angeles if only the city or county is willing to have taxpayers foot the bill for the stadium. So far, both the city council and the county Board of Supervisors have stood firm, and fortunately they can point to the Staples Center to show that a smart company can build a stadium with private funding and do very well with it, thank you.

  60. 60.

    angler

    June 19, 2012 at 11:20 pm

    Amazing series, amazing.

  61. 61.

    Origuy

    June 20, 2012 at 12:40 am

    @redshirt: In the book, Aragorn isn’t there when the scales fall from Theoden’s eyes. It’s Theoden and Gandalf who let Wormtongue go.

    Of course, Wormtongue has one task left in the book, but Jackson left out the Scouring of the Shire from the movies.

  62. 62.

    Geoduck

    June 20, 2012 at 1:27 am

    Plus, by the time Wormtongue gets to Isengard, the Ents have already trashed the place and imprisoned Saruman in his tower.

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