An Encounter with P.J. Carlesimo, BBJ, and more

As you all know, Zorgon was on the field reporting for us at Leadership Square. As you also know, he attended the press conference wearing an old Seattle Supersonics jersey. After the epic and now infamous unveiling of the logo, Zorgon bumped into the Thunder's head coach, P.J. Carlesimo...

Here is how it went down (paraphraded, again):
P.J.: (Pat on back) We need to get you a number 35 jersey
Zorgon: (not knowing who it was) Oh, yeah.
P.J.: (Walking away)
Zorgon: (now realizing who it was) Oh, hey, I loved you when you coached for the Warriors!
P.J.: Thanks.

Also, Zorgon had the priviledge of speaking briefly with Channel 4's Bob Barry Jr...
BBJ: I'm lovin the jersey, I'm tellin' you.
Zorgon: Yeah, thanks.

Zorgon was also interviewd briefly by the Oklahoman, "a guy with a moustache" according for Zorgon, so be on the look-out for that.

Apparently a lot of people are walking around with OKC logo shirts now, kind of like those "Oklahoma City" shirts people were wearing per-logo, or so I hear.

Durant a Sure Bet for London 2012?

The United State's highly publicized "Redeem Team" recently was able to live up to their hype and grab a much anticipated gold, defeating Spain 118-107. It was the first time Team USA had been challenged in a game as late as the fourth quarter, however, stars Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant were able to produce clutch plays to cement the team's goal. The point of this post though is not to report on how the Redeem Team fulfilled their own prophecy or how a certain other blogger could have been wrong about some of his predictions, but actually it concerns recent comments about OKC star Kevin Durant's chances at the 2012 Olympic Team.

In today's Sunday Oklahoman, P.J. Carlesimo who was also the coach for the Team USA Select Team, said that he didn't "think that there was any question" about Durant's chances at making the next Olympic team. Also, according to the article, it says that Durant only didn't make the cut for this Olympic team because of his age and lack of experience. Apparently, all the Team USA coaches were very impressed by Durants game.

It's probably for the better that Durant wasn't on this year's Olympic squad. He fills the scorer niche, and on this most recent version of the U.S. Dream Team, that niche was not just full but overflowing. Not to say that that won't be the case for the upcoming team or the next 20 versions of Team USA, but a Kevin Durant 4 years from now could potentially be just as valued as any of the members of the 4-headed monster of Bryant-James-Wade-Anthony were this year.

As for the 2012 games themselves, basketball looks like it will be very interesting. Some teams, like Argentina, look as if they won't be as good as they were the past decade. However, with China's game developing and the fact that the U.K. seemingly has gotten commitments from natives Ben Gordon and Luol Deng for their national team, we could have new powers in the works...

Ranking the Top OKC Sports Media Members, 3-6

OK, it's day 2 of our series that counts down to the top sports personality in print or on the air waves in OKC. Without further delay, lets continue the countdown...


6) Toby Rowland, KREF Morning Radio Host and KWTV Sports Anchor: OK, I'll be the first to admit that the six spot may be a tad lofty for Toby, especially considereing that he tops sports directors BBJ and Mark Rodgers even though he himslef his just a #2 guy. However, no doubt that the heir apparent to Dean Blevins and News 9 is on a come up in the OKC sports scene. He's young and full of all sorts of energy on top of a very complete knowledge of the current sporting world. He's a personal favorite, which may have had some influence on his position. Again though, he's an up and coming media star.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 5
Charisma: 10
Opinion: 8
Resources: 5
Overall Score: 31/40


5) Mike Steely, WWLS Morning Radio Host and co-Host of Fox25's The Locker Room: In all honesty, his morning radio show is as close to perfection as it gets. Though the phony celebrity callers and philosophical debates on Mother's Day take center stage, Steely's vast knowledge of sports history is also top notch. Also co-hosts The Locker Room with Jim Traber. The two complement each other well, as Jim Traber takes himself very seriously and Steely takes nothing seriosly, to create by far the most successful program put together by Fox25.
Knowledge: Past 5, Present 4
Charisma: 10
Opinion: 7
Resources: 6
Overall Score: 32/40


4) Dean Blevins, WWLS Corespondant, KWTV Sports Director, and co-Host of The Sunday Night Sports Blitz: Dean is perhaps the greatest professional in the business, at least in the city. News 9 has had the best nightly sports broadcast among all the major stations. This is partly due to funding, but partly due to the immense skill of Blevins. The personality could use some color, but Dean alsways gets the best interviews and usually breaks the story before anyone else.
Knowledge: Past 5, Present 5
Charisma: 6
Opinion: 7
Resources: 10
Overall Score: 33/40


3) Berry Trammel, WWLS Radio Host and Oklahoman Chief Sports Columnist: For years, people have awoken to Trammel's words on the front page of the sports section. Trammel is at that age where he's old enough to have an enourmous knowledge of sports history but not too old to the point where he's pushing retirement and near senility. His ideas are often challanged by Traber and Eschbach on the Dominance Hour, but he always defends them (even if it isn't that well) and isn't afraid to step outside of popular opinion.
Knowledge: Past 5, Present 4
Charisma: 7
Opinion: 9
Resources: 9
Overall Score: 34/40

OK, tomorrow, the top 2 are revealed as well as a look at those who couldn't quite make the cut. Try not to lose too much sleep in anticipation.

Ranking the Top OKC Sports Media Members, 7-10

While thinking of what to write on our young yet promising blog, inspiration struck me. People love rankings. People also (at least here in Oklahoma) enjoy following their favorite sports media member as much as they do they're favorite sports team. So I thought why not further draw from our very regionally focused fan base and create a ranking of the top sports personalities in city limits?!?!

I derived the rankings not from my own presonal opinion (well, not directly at least) but instead I developed an objective set of criteria thet each is to be judged upon. The criteria was a verstatile and complete knowledge of not just one sport, but all major sporting avenues, charismatic appearances on radio, television, or in his or her writings, being starkly opinionated (controversial or not), and access to solid resources (players, coaches, general managers, you know, poeple that know stuff). Media members got a score (out of 10) for each category (knowledge, charisma, opinion, resources). The knowledge score was derived from two parts. These were present knowledge (knowledge of the sporting world since 2000) and past knowldge (knowledge of the sporting world before the year 2000). Candidates got a maximum of 5 points for each one of these sub-categories and these were added together to get the larger overall knowledge score.

So, without delay, here is the bottom of the top 10:


10) Myron Patton, KREF radio host and FOX25 sports director: It's hard for Myron to be really be competitive being the highlight talent for both the last place sports radio and news provider. He left the state awhile to be an actual news anchor in Louisiana, but came back to both Oklahoma and the sports scene.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 5
Charisma: 9
Opinion: 6
Resources: 4
Overall Score: 27/40





9) Mark Rodgers, WWLS radio host and KOCO sports director: Some might think this is kind of low for Mark, but honestly, I've never been a fan. I don't have a problem with him or anything, I just think he's all the Jim Traber bark with none of the Jim Traber bite. Though I think that KOCO sports coverage is generally better than say KFORs, I think ninth is about right for him. Radio show is average, no more no less.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 4
Charisma: 9
Opinion: 8
Resources: 5
Overall Score: 29/40




T-7) Bob Barry Jr., WWLS radio host and KFOR sports director: I really enjoy BBJ, personally. He's bright, experienced, and makes me laugh (whether or not it's intentional). I enjoy his radio a lot more than the nightly news though. Senior was also in consideration for the list, but wasn't able to make the cut, sadly.
Knowledge: Past 4, Present 4
Charisma: 8
Opinion: 8
Resources: 6
Overall Score: 30/40






T-7) John Rohde, JOX radio host and Oklahoman writer: The number 2 guy at the Oklahoman. Known for out of the box ideas and sports projects/ranikings/stories for the Oklahoman. I enjoy him, not a favorite, but usually an interesting article.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 5
Charisma: 8
Opinion: 7
Resources: 7
Overall Score: 30/40

Come back Tuesday for 3-6 on the list and Wednesday for the revealing of the top 2!