Oklahoma City - Past. Present! Future?

Nash Trip #10
March 7-8, 2012

Be gone month of February. You were seriously a pain in my lower abdominal area. For the past weeks, I had a day without heat, a crashed hard drive, a broken cell phone and an illness that I was almost certain was appendicitis. My Mercury wasn't in retrograde. It was disintegrating. But Mercury, you and I, must keep on. We will not let life make a dwarf planet out of us. We've got things to do.

This year the normal Nash/Mavs trip will be separated, but will have a theme all to its own as I'm visiting cities I once lived in, but do not recall. First up, a trip to Oklahoma City to see the Phoenix Suns. Ironically, the Mavs play the Thunder two days before. However, I know now that the decision to not attend that game was for the best for I had a follow-up doctor's appointment the day after that game.

I believe this season will be the last of my Nash/Mavs trips. I will have visited all but two cities on the list of U.S. I want to see. The last being New York and somewhere in Hawaii. (Yes, it's quite shocking that haven't been to New York, yet. ) Throughout the years, I feel like I have been my own Henry Higgins to Eliza Doolittle, and I transformed myself into a traveler leaving me to ask, "What am I to do?" "I'm not fit to be a flower girl  for this lifestyle anymore." I've gone to a city on my own; I gone to multiple cities; I've left the country. So the only thing left is to leave the continent; and if I see the Mavs play in Germany next pre-season, my coursework will be complete. Am I certain this will be the last one? No. Although, it seems fitting at the moment.

So I grew up for a couple years in Oklahoma City. Those two years had a profound affect on me for two reasons: 1. We got our dog, Whiskers, here. He was great. 2. My parents enrolled me in a pre-school that taught French. I know only a few words of French now, but I think it helped me figure out how much I loved learning. My favorite story my mom tells of me is how much I loved puzzles when I was little. She said she would buy them, and I would figure them out so quickly. Then she started to buy harder ones, and then I would cry if I couldn't solve them. That sounds like me. I'm working on writing and illustrating some children's books now (terribly, manic pixie/anthropologie girl of me), and this place has something to do with that.

Speaking of children, it's completely heartbreaking when you go to the Oklahoma City Memorial and see the little chairs representing the kids that lost their lives during the bombing. It's so quiet, and the air feels different. If you ever go there, yes, you can walk on the lawn.

If I described Oklahoma City in one word, it would be community. A high school kid walking down the street said to my dad, "Hello, sir. How are you doing today?" What? Where are we? Oh, my dad is with me as my personal guide and chaperone in case I start to feel under the weather again. We went by the old house we used to live in and drove around the neighborhood.

The Oklahoma City Thunder would be my 3rd favorite team in the NBA if I believed in such things. But how can you have three favorite anythings? It seems ridiculous, and it dilutes the actual meaning of favorite.  Regardless that team is simply hard not to like. They are also the team "Most Likely To Make Me Yell At My Own Team." "Give Serge Ibaka a head fake."; "You know Nick Collison takes charges."; "You can't leave James Harden alone."; "Don't let Russell Westbrook drive."; "Kevin Durant..." Well, never mind, there's no stopping Kevin Durant.

I definitely recommend seeing a game here. The Thunder fans are great. Things opposite from Dallas: 1. Hardly anyone left the game early 2. The women could talk to the boyfriends about the game (a wonderful change) I can't emphasize enough about how much I love going to road arenas. I'm like a little kid in Disneyland. I can't stop smiling and looking around. At this moment, I don't know how I'm going to break the habit of going to these games as stated earlier. You should have seen my giddiness when I made my Nerf Ball shot on the 1st attempt in the stands as Steve Nash was at pre-game shoot around. (That's right, Steve. You aren't the only sharp shooter in the building.)  The rotation was a thing of beauty.

Oddly, the Dallas Mavericks played the Thunder on Monday, I'm here on Wednesday to see the Phoenix Suns play the Thunder and then the Suns go back home to play the Mavs on Thursday. My three favorite teams! Umm, correction, I'm mean my favorite team with one of my favorite players, a team with my other favorite player and then a team with a bunch of players I casually like. There's a difference. The Suns were ready to play. I thought they were going to come away with a victory, but not so much. The second unit couldn't keep up, and there were some costly turnovers and mistakes. Serge Ibaka, you're a man after my own heart with all those block shots and helping people out in the Congo. But I dare not call you my third favorite player, as my dance card is full.

I don't know if Steve will leave the Suns, but if he stays, there needs to be some changes. I don't think it's very fair to make the oldest players on the team do all the heavy lifting. It's not right to ask Steve to run the team, make sure people get their shots and have to compensate for any lack of offensive production. It's also not fair to make Grant Hill guard Kevin Durant, Dirk, Lebron, Blake Griffin and Kobe. Chip in young people. Don't make me have to go all Gisele up in here. Marcin Gortat is very good and much improved. However, Polish Hammer, put the ball in the basket with one blunt strike more instead of little finesse taps. And please don't ever use the zone against OKC again. Dallas has the parts that match up for it, but Phoenix does not. Kevin Durant shot right over the guards and that Blipster James Harden was even more wide open.

All this said, I want Steve to come back to Dallas. We've got young, athletic finishers, he can run the pick and roll with Dirk to his hearts content and our bench is kind of awesome. Not that I'm trying to get rid of anyone on my team. I'm just tired of giving all the Mavericks the evil eye (except for Dirk) when they do something against Steve. Because when Dirk and Steve are on the court together, everyone else comes in third place.

You're up next Mavs. See you on the road.

OKC playlist - (available on Spotify)
Window Are Rolled Down - Amos Lee
King of the World - First Aid
John Saw That Number - Neko Case
The Muse - Laura Marling
Love Interruption - Jack White
Creepin'In - Nora Jones w/Dolly Parton
Oh La La - Brigitte
Sin Wagon - Dixie Chicks
Just a Girl - No Doubt
Friend Crush - Friends
Cameo Lover - Kimbra
I Want You Back - Jackson 5
Every Teardrop is a Waterfall - Coldplay
I'll Take Care Of U - Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie from XX
Losing My Edge - LCD Soundsystem
Use Me - Bill Withers
Mercury - Bloc Party
Somebody That I Used to Know (Bibio Remix) - Gotye w/Kimbra
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Options - Gomez
3 R's - Jack Johnson