Chapter 1, Hornets- Chapter 2, Thunder

It's the big question of the day. Do you openly root for the Hornets? Do you cheer for both teams? Do you cheer for the Thunder?

The answer is really simple. You turn the page and cheer for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They are playing the New Orleans Hornets. They aren't the Oklahoma City Hornets. They aren't the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Mark it down, though. Some dimwit (probably many dimwits) will be wearing their now retro OKC Hornets gear.

It's fine to cheer and pay respect to the Hornets in the pregame introductions. After all, we essentially owe our NBA membership to them. They were OKC's "First Love" and they are all very likable players and coaches. I'll probably "ooh and ahh" after a pretty Chris Paul pass or the 93rd Paul-Tyson Chandler alley-oop. I'll probably wish the players could trade uniforms. I can't imagine anyone booing them or heckling them or anything. They are the only visiting team who should ever get a cordial reception.

But I won't cheer for them and neither should you. Imagine you have an ex come into town for an evening. You and your new best guy/gal meet up with that person. Would you ever say to your new person, "Hey, so and so was my first love so, if it's cool with you, I'm going to relive the good times with him/her tonight and tomorrow it'll be you and only you again. Cool?". You can't do that in sports either.

If the game should happen to be close I will honestly be surprised and/or dismayed if the overwhelming majority of fans are not lustily cheering on the Thunder. To not do so seems inconceivable to me.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are our team now.

Friday's Off Topic: Sooners v. Red Raiders

Holy smokes am I excited for this game. There hasn't been a game this big in Norman since Nebraska came to town in 1999. The atmosphere will be special and Bobby Stoops really didn't need to call out the fans for it to be (Even though I think he's right and it was funny).

For OU to win they have to eliminate unforced errors, namely those god-forsaken kickoff returns. I swear if that happens I might throw myself out of the back of the stadium. My seats are high enough I can do it.

The Sooners also need to get some turnovers. This is entirely possible. I've seen Graham Harrel make some real bonehead throws and OU has the athletes in the secondary to come down with tips. They also have guys who can jump routes. I think it's entirely possible the Sooners could come away with 2 turnovers.

Finally, they need to play vintage Brent Venables "Bend but Don't Break" defense. The Red Raider dink-and-dunk is fine but the d has to tackle well. I hate the bend but don't break defense but it's made for offenses like this.

One more note on the Sooners defense. The Red Raiders have not faced anything like the Sooners d this year, even Texas. No one matches up better. The Sooners have former safeties playing Linebacker and former Cornerbacks playing safety. This means that there will be no mismatches anywhere on the field that the Red Raiders can exploit. It simply comes down to execution on the part of the Sooners.

Offensively for the Sooners they need to keep on trucking. I would choose the Sooners offense over the Red Raiders offense any day of the week simply because of it's balance. The Sooners can find mismatches I don't care how improved the TT d is.

Final Score: Sooners 56, Red Raider 35.

PS. I wrote this with my Crimson Colored Glasses on obviously.