Now that it’s been announced that the Sonics are coming to OKC, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to look at the team’s newest members.  The draft, held a week ago, saw the Sonics holding the number 4 draft pick in a year when many analysts said it was a 3 player draft.  The Sonics surprised many by picking UCLA guard Russell Westbrook instead of other players such as big men Brook Lopez and Kevin Love, or guards Jerryd Bayless, Eric Gordon, or DJ Augustin.

The Sonics overall draft received varying reviews from draft analysts which shouldn’t surprise anyone, but the vast range of the opinions was surprising as Fox Sports and ESPN handed the Sonics an A minus while the Sporting News gave the team’s draft an F.  The Sporting News went on to claim the draft was so bad they shouldn’t even consider the Sonics an NBA team, and that it was good the Sonics left Seattle because Seattle is too classy a city for such a bad team. I personally think this writer grossly exaggerated the draft and is drastically overreacting on a decision which can take up to five years to see its successes or failures.

I personally love the Westbrook pick at number 4, although I would have liked it even more if the team would have been able to trade down for an additional first round draft pick in next year’s draft and still been able to get him.  Westbrook is a great defender who can bring energy and toughness and should anchor the point guard position in the organization for a long time.  Westbrook does need to improve on the offensive end of the court but he has gone from not even being the star on his high school team to leading the Bruins to the final four.

Their second pick of the draft was Serge Ibaka from the Congo. From reports I have read, many analysts predict Ibaka could eventually turn into a great player but the Sonics have to be patient and let him develop overseas. I have reservations on taking a foreign big man who has only played overseas and will have to stay overseas in order to develop. It just seems that those type of players never do indeed develop and you never hear of them ever again. Plus, since the Sonics have had such problems in drafting a center; it seems weird that they would invest in such a long term project in Ibaka.

The Sonics also acquired the rights to DJ White for basically nothing from the Detroit Pistons. White could very easily be a steal for the Sonics as he is a great rebounder and defender but many teams had a reservation for taking him because he is small for the NBA.  He was reportedly measured at 6′-6′ 1/4″ without shoes on, but makes up for that with a wingspan of 7′3″.  DeVon Hardin, the Sonics fourth draft pick, also has a chance to make the squad basically as a defensive specialist.

Overall, the Sonics had a pretty successful draft in getting a point guard who can anchor a tough defense and orchestrate the offense for many years to come.  The Sonics didn’t find a center in this year’s draft but they did pick a player who has much more potential than either of the top center prospects in Brook Lopez and Kevin Love.  Overall, I’d give the Sonics a solid B for their draft based upon the Westbrook pick, that DJ White and DeVon Hardin have potential to be solid role players in the NBA, and on Ibaka’s reported potential based on his athleticism.

Are you kidding me? If this is a dream please don’t wake me up.

The NBA is coming to Oklahoma City! Not for one season….not for the short term….forever! For all you Okie sports fans out there like me this is really hard to believe. Twenty years ago if someone would have told you the NBA would call Oklahoma City home you would have thought that person had spent too much time sipping the sweet stuff.

A lot of credit has to go to Clay Bennett of course for being willing to spend the cash to move the Sonics back to his home. But we also have to thank Mayor Mick Cornett for his vision in making OKC a big time city. A special thanks also has to go to Oklahoma City residents who approved the tax to make the Ford Center an NBA caliber arena.

I was at Clay Bennett’s news conference and by far my favorite part was when Mr. Bennett was asked if he will go back to Washington September 13th for the Sooners football game against the Huskies. Bennett said he would really love to but “didn’t think that would be a good idea.” Funny stuff but true. He has been hammered in Seattle the past few months and is obviously not the most popular man in Seattle. But I say those people should take a minute…look at the facts and realized he did everything possible to make them happy.

He tried to get a new arena so they could keep the team. Let’s be honest…that was a MUST!! He was losing money like crazy because attendancewas so bad. I’m sure that had something to do with the play of the team but a new arena would have changed things dramatically. New arena means more fans, which means more money which means better players. It all works together. Seattle said no to an arena…so they said no to the future.

Then Bennett agrees to pay 45 million dollars with another 30 million waiting if Seattle doesn’t get a new team in five years. Are you kidding me….75 more million dollars to escapea two year lease! I know they don’t want to hear it but you got a great deal. The Sonics name stays withyou, the championships, banners, everything stays…..just build a new arena and you will have a team to go with it.

As far as Oklahoma City goes….enjoy it. The NBA is going to be awesome in this state and will do so much for our reputation. We didn’t steal a team, we deserve it. Oh and forget that Kevin Durant went to Texas….he’s an Okie now!

Fenway Park was awesome! By far the best baseball park I have ever been to….better than Wrigley, better than Minute Maid, better than any other park I have seen.

First of all the fans were great! Never been to a game where all the fans were so involved. My Dad looked at me at one point during the game and said it feels like we are at the World Series. He was right. The fans hung on every pitch, chanted “Lets Go Red Sox” every single inning, and of course screamed the players names as loud as possible when they stepped to the plate.

Yawkey Way outside the park was incredible. Shops, hot dogs, pizza, people playing catch, everything baseball is supposed to be. You can actually walk inside the stadium and then back onto the street to hang out with your ticket, Never seen that before. It was like being at a college park. Go anywhere you want, take pictures, see the field, it was wide open. I walked all over and never had an usher say “you can’t come here”. Most helped me find what I wanted and took the pictures for me.

The Green Monster isn’t really that big in person. On TV it’s huge but when you see it up close it’s really not as big as I pictured in my head. Still as neat as I thought but just not as big. The manually operated scoreboard on the Monster was pretty neat.

The ballpark in general is so small (which was great). Fenway is the smallest park in the majors and it feels like it. I sat down the rightfield line about 10 rows from Pesky’s Pole. I could watch the guys in the bullpen and then turn to see the dugout just fine. J.D. Drew robbed a homerun right infront of me.

So for all you baseball fans or just sports fans, Fenway Park is a must see. I could have sat there all night and looked around, watched some ball and of course stuffed my face. Speaking of that I had a Fenway Frank (great but on a different looking bun), Clam Chowdah (couldn’t resisit…where else in the world can you eat that and watch baseball), and some popcorn (my wife loves the stuff).

By the way the Red Sox won thanks to four runs in the 8th inning……the fans went NUTS and for one night so did I. Time for bed now….it’s way to late to be sitting in this hotel lobby! 

I havearrived in the city of CHOWDAH! After 24 hours I can say Boston is great. I went to the Quincy Market last night and had a great time. There were so many stores, bars, restaurants, ect. Everywhere you walk here (and you walk a lot) there is history. It took all of 7 hours before having my first bowl of clam chowdah (as they say it) and I loved the stuff. Not sure what’s in it which is probably best.

Tonight I go to FENWAY PARK. Should be a great game between the Red Sox and D-Backs but really it’s all about seeing the stadium and the fans. I’m taking the subway like all the locals do (even though my wife is scared of the subway….thanks to the one we took to Wrigley in Chicago a couple years ago where some crazy man scared her half to death). Anyway I plan to be at the park 3 hours early….take in all the sights and sounds outside the park and then walk inside when they allow me. I will be sitting down the right field line and for one night….and one night only cheering for the Sox.

I plan to sing “Sweet Carolina”, eat a Fenway Frank and cheer like I’m apart of the Nation.  But only for one night!

Check back tomorrow and I will give you my thoughts on being at Fenway.

This could be the most important blog I’ve ever written.

Yes, I’m in Seattle covering the trial, at which the future of the NBA for Oklahoma City hangs in the balance. Cool stuff, and it’s very important. But that’s not why this blog is important, however.

While the NBA appears to be headed for the Sooner State, I may not …

Traveling to Washington on Sunday, somewhere between TSA in OKC and check-in for Alaska Airlines in Denver, my driver’s license disappeared. Gone. Nowhere to be found. Looked in my wallet 96,423,452 times, expecting it to reappear right where it usually is, waiting to be inspected by the next Highway Patrolman.

The funny thing is that it still hasn’t shown up in that spot, two days later. That was only the beginning of the travel nightmare. Bags didn’t make it on Sunday, and a carnivorous ATM swallowed up my Visa debit card, leaving me in Seattle with no clothes and $1 cash.

I’ve never wanted to see Monday so bad.

Monday arrived, as did my luggage, and after a sales pitch that would have made KOCO’s Tom Comerford proud, I got my debit card back from the bank without ID. So, now, I beg of you, Northwest Airlines: PLEASE, let me on the plane back to Oklahoma with the picture on this blog. That’s all I’ve got! But, if I have to stay in Seattle, at least I have clothes and a little cash.

Here’s a couple of notes for what KOCO paid me to do this week: The Professional Basketball Club (our guys) has quite the legal defense team. Lead attorney Brad Keller worked over the mayor of Seattle better than Alask*** Airlines did my luggage. He was convincing and had the mayor second-guessing himself at every turn. Some of the city’s lawyers shook their heads at him with disgust during the cross-examination while a couple of the others looked like they were starstruck by the performance.

Today, the city will get the chance to come after a witness. Clay Bennett will spend considerable time under the microscope while the city tries to prove he bought the team without any designs to bargain in good faith with them.

Today is an important day.

How well Mr. Bennett testifies could seal the deal in this trial. And, since I believe that he did indeed bargain in good faith and would have been happy to have a $500 million arena for the team to play here, he should have a good day in court.

Just as I said: Celtics in 6. (Please don’t look below.) UNLESS YOU ARE WITH NORTHWEST AIRLINES!!! NBA basketball ends tonight in Boston and is only beginning in Oklahoma City.

Most times when OU or OSU get a commitment from out of state we don’t really know much about the kid past his stats. But this week the Sooners got a verbal from Strafford, Missouri lineman Tyler Evans who I actually know a lot about. I worked in Springfield, MO before coming back home to KOCO and saw plenty of Evans in my short time there. I even did a story on him before his sophomore season.

Evans is a football coaches dream and a reporters fantasy. He was very honest in his interview and pretty much flattered to have a camera in his face. The 6′6 300 pound (yea right…more like 320) star is playing against very inferior talent in Missouri but he could be a real stud in the Big 12. Just give him a couple years. He plays both offensive and defensive line for the Indians and was an All-State player in his Junior season with 77 tackles, 15 for loss.

Evans is a country kid that will never get in trouble and coaches will have to kick off the field at the end of practice. Will he be the next great OU offensive lineman…who know. But I am sure he will give it all he’s got.

* Another quick note the first recruiting ranking for 2009 is already out by Souts.inc on ESPN. This came out before the Sooners got Evans but Bob Stoops group was ranked 4th in the country.

The NBA Finals start tonight and the matchup has been highly publicized by the media. The Celtics and Lakers has to be a dream matchup for the league since it not only has the past great matchups but includes a major team from both coasts. 

The NBA finals is won by defense; team defense anchored by a powerful force protecting the lane. Look back at the last several champions and all of them have a big presence in the middle.  The Lakers had Shaq, the Pistons had Ben Wallace (before he went to Chicago and forgot how to play basketball), and the Spurs had Tim Duncan. I love Pau Gasol and what he has done for the Lakers is extremely impressive but they are going to miss Andrew Bynum.  The Celtics have Kevin Garnett anchoring the middle and he gets help from Kendrick Perkins whenever he decides not to get three fouls in the first quarter.  Based on past NBA champions and there dedication to defense, I’m going against the grain as well as MVP Kobe Bryant and taking the Boston Celtics to win in seven games and earn their unprecedented 17th championship .

It’s the Lakers and the Celtics for the NBA Championship. I like the Lakers. Kobe Bryant is the best player in the world and if the games are close, Kobe gets it done. There are a couple of interesting matchups. I think whoever wins the individual matchup between Kendrick Perkins and Pao Gasol, should immensely help their team. Gasol is certainly the best player ever named Pao. At times, the Celtics have looked like they are a little desperate to win a title. Old guys trying a little too hard to achieve status they’ve failed to for a long time. The Lakers look like a team that thinks it should win the title. It’s now in print, no turning back now. Lakers in 5.

It’s been another fun and exciting sports week. So much happened and I have some many thoughts. So in no particular order….

OSU Baseball: I don’t know exactly what happened with star pitcher Andrew Oliver but the rumors are flying that he and his “adviser/agent” had some disagreements and his “adviser/agent” got mad then turned him into the NCAA. Look whatever happened it was horrible, awful, rotten timing for the OSU baseball team. They would not have lost that regional to the Shockers with Oliver. I feel real bad for the seniors who lost their chance to go to Omaha. They are the ones that really get punished. Oliver will be in the Majors in a couple years and the other players have more chances. The seniors like Matt Gardner, Robbie Weinhart and Rebel Ridling got hosed!

OU Baseball: Are you kidding me? First I can’t believe they made the tournament. Then they go to Arizona and win two games? Yeah they got smacked by Arizona State but so would a lot of other teams in the country. Look at those hitters stats….they are unreal. OU had a good year and a great finish and will be even better because of it next season.

NBA Finals: First I want to go on the record that I am cheering for the Celtics. I like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. I also still have issues with Kobe after all that Colorado stuff. And Phil Jackson gets on my last nerve….”zan Master” please give me a break. But anyway this is going to be a great series. It will be filled with close game, big shots and crazy fans. But I want everyone to hear this…It will not be like the 80’s. There is no Magic, Kareem, Bird or McHale. Those days were just special and this will not be that good. It could still be fun to watch but when it’s done we will not feel like we did back then. The NBA is different now for better of worse….mostly worse.

No it’s not March but Bracket Madness had arrived. I know it’s not as exciting as cheering for Davidson to beat Georgetown so you can win that office pool but the NCAA Baseball Tournament is something to keep an eye on the next couple weeks.

No one and I mean no one in this great state expected the Oklahoma Sooners to make the field of 64. Even head coach Sunny Golloway said on Saturday after their loss to Texas “it’s been a great year but now it’s time to regroup for next season.” If he thought there was any chance at all of getting in he would have been pleading his teams case. But instead he told Texas good game and packed up. He won’t admit it now but it was clearly obvious he didn’t see anyway these Sooners would get an at-large bid to the tourney.

I don’t blame him for thinking that since they did need help on the final day of the regular season just to make the Big 12 Tournament. But then again I look at this team and see their record (34-24-1), I see their non-conference wins (UCLA, Dallas Baptist, Wichita State) and I think why not? With so many teams making the tournament you don’t have to be great to get in…just good enough. I think OU was better than average this season which I guess is good enough. And who knows what they could do in Arizona this weekend. It will be tough but after the way this team fought at the end of the season I wouldn’t count them out.

Now to Oklahoma State. They got totally snubbed by the NCAA. I thought they deserved a top-8 seed which would have guaranteed a home Super Regional series if they make it that far. The Cowboys finished the season very strong and after beating 7th ranked Nebraska on Saturday. They should have been a lock for one of those eight important seeds. For goodness sakes they are ranked 6th in the country by Baseball America….how is that not good enough.

Despite that I do think the Cowboys have a great shot of making the College World Series. I’m not saying you should take vacation days now so you can go to Omaha but just keep the option open. Tell your boss you may need a week off soon….or start to fake an illness now if you have to.

These Pokes have it all, pitching, hitting, defense and great coaching.

This team is young and has just a little bit of an ego which is great. I love their front two starting pitchers in lefty’s Andrew Oliver and Tyler Lyons. Plus that offense can bust out for 12 runs any night no matter who is on the mound. Rebel Ridling can flat out mash the baseball.

May Madness is here baby and it should be a great NCAA Tournament.