Because Thanksgiving is all about reuniting with friends and family and recounting tales from the days of yore, let's compare the weekend's events to classic memories from my past.
Wednesday, November 26th: Cavaliers 117, Thunder 82
Lebron and the Cavaliers more or less pistol-whipped the Thunder. It was over really before it started as the Thunder were completely overmatched. They had no answers, no control and the best thing they could do was learn from it and move in.
It reminds me of the first time I got drunk. I got picked up by some of my baseball teammates in high school and we headed out to the lake. I proceeded to drink Bud Ice as quickly as I could. Before I knew what happened I could barely pee standing up, I couldn't run without falling and as we headed home at the end of the night I threw up in my buddy's Ford Escort. I, like the Thunder, was overmatched, dominated and clearly not ready for the big time. Bud Ice would be ranked last in the league if such rankings existed.
Friday, November 28th: Timberwolves 105, Thunder 103
A buzzer beating dagger to the heart reminds me of the time in college where I made my first (and only) attempt at long distance romance. I met a girl who went to Mizzou and for a semester we traded letters, talked on the phone forever and saw each other when we could. The Sooners were scheduled to play Mizzou in Columbia. Perfect excuse to go see her. It felt like it had been forever since we had seen each other. I drove up, met her at her house with roses in hand. She then proceeds to tell me she's cheated on me multiple times and it was over. There I stood, roses limper than you know what and that classic look on my face that said it all; "What the @#$^ ?"That was me, sans the bouquet and lost love but with the "What the @*#&" look on my face, at the end of the this game.
Saturday, November 29th: Thunder 111, Grizzlies 103
Again, a college memory. Me and many of my friends were die-hard fans of the band Phish. A group of us decided to take a road trip to see them in Kansas City and St. Louis. There was only one problem. My family was in Florida on vacation and I wanted to meet them since, you know, an all expense paid trip to the beach is pretty awesome too. So we saw the band in KC and it was predictably awesome. The next night was St. Louis and my plan was to stay at the show as long as possible but leave early to catch a cab to the bus station and head to Florida to meet the family. The cab never came and I missed half the show, which, according to my friends, was twice as good as the night before. I did make it to Florida though and it was one of the best vacations I remember.
What does this have to do with the game? Nothing really. But it's the closest thing I could think of. I missed a rare Thunder win (the Phish show) because I failed to set my DVR and I was with most of my family watching the Sooners beat the Cowboys 61-41 en route to leap-frogging Texas for the rights to go to the Big 12 Championship (Florida vacation).
|