Ed Godfrey – Jim Stafford's BlogOKC

Myriad Memories so thick we have to brush them away from our faces

The site of the former Myriad Convention Center is empty as it awaits construction on new arena.

A few weeks ago, my friend Ed and I had an appointment in Midtown OKC when we decided to go take a look at the site of the Incomparable Myriad to see the progress made on its demolition.

As you probably know, the gigantic concrete box that opened in 1972 as the Myriad Convention Center was demolished to make way for a new billion dollar arena built for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Along its 53-year journey, the name transitioned from the Myriad to the Cox Business Center and finally to the Prairie Surf Studios.

I admit I was surprised when we approached the 2-square block site of the Myriad and there was nothing but a gigantic empty lot. The site looked even larger to me than it actually is, because now it’s a sea of dirt stretching from E.K. Gaylord Blvd. to Robinson Ave.

Ed slowed down to let me jump out to take some photos while he drove around the block(s). When I got back into the car, we shared some of the experiences we had at the old arena.

Then Ed said, “you should write a blog post about your Myriad memories.”

So, that’s the purpose of this post. I’m sharing my favorite memories of the building that date back to the late ’70s. But I’ve also asked Ed and several other Oklahomans to share their Myriad memories.

I’ve got three memories that stand out to me.

My first visit to the Myriad took place in roughly 1979 or ’80 when I accompanied a group of folks from Fort Smith, Ark., to attend the National Finals Rodeo. I was a young sports writer at the Southwest Times Record and was sent on assignment with the Fort Smith Old Fort Days Rodeo committee to experience the NFR.

What stands out in my mind is the location from which I witnessed the rodeo. They stationed me on the actual arena dirt behind the protection of metal fencing. So you might say I had an up-close-and-personal look at the National Finals Rodeo.

My second Myriad memory is attending a John (Cougar) Mellencamp concert at the venue in February 1986. I’m not a big concert goer, but I was (and am) a fan of John Mellencamp’s music, so I enjoyed being part of a full house, both on the floor and in arena seats. I was struck by how awesome the violinist (fiddler?) was who accompanied him on several songs.

Finally, my favorite Myriad memory is that of New Years Eve 1990. I took my future wife, Paula, to see the Oklahoma City Cavalry on our first date. I know, I’m a real romantic. Turns out, Paula may be a bigger basketball fan than am I, and has seen far more OKC Thunder games at Paycom Center over the years than I have.

Now I’m turning this over to 10 Oklahomans who share diverse memories from their experiences at the Myriad over the decades.

First up is Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, who is also Dean of the Oklahoma City University School of Law and author of the book: Big League City: Oklahoma City’s Rise to the NBA

If you get a little misty-eyed about the Myriad, it’s understandable. It may not have been much to look at, but it was the center of our community’s life in a unique way that will never happen here again.

The Myriad opened in 1972. Until the opening of the Ford Center in 2002, it was the city’s primary arena. Until the opening of the Oklahoma City Convention Center in 2021, it was also the city’s primary convention center. And until the city’s explosion in growth around the time of the Thunder’s arrival in 2008, the demand on the Myriad’s schedule was mostly for community events. All of this is worth noting, because it means that for about four decades, practically every major moment we experienced as a resident of this city was at the Myriad. The Myriad occupied an emotional place in Oklahoma City life that no venue will ever occupy again. In 2026, we utilize many venues to host that which was once held at the Myriad. And increased demand for national entertainment events and conventions means that community events once held at the Myriad are less likely to occur at its successor venues.

It is probably also worth noting that the prime decades for the Myriad were some of the worst decades in the city’s overall history. From a historical perspective, we can appreciate that. But within that narrative, we were living our lives. The milestones of our individual lives were largely unencumbered by the greater challenges facing our city. And those milestones occurred at the Myriad. Any OKC resident born between 1950 and 1985 is going to have a very long list of personal experiences tied to the Myriad. For me, it will always be the place I graduated high school, took the Bar exam and delivered my first two State of the City addresses. It was where I attended countless memorable athletic events and concerts. It was the focal point of our city’s shared experience. We’ll each carry those warm feelings forward as we experience the glorious new future destined for this site in the heart of our city.

Ed Godfrey is a now-retired longtime reporter at The Oklahoman who shares an unforgettable memory of the Myriad from 26 years ago.

Memories of the Myriad? There are many. I recall a great Whitney Houston concert there in 1987 and a tremendous Reba McEntire performance the following year.

But my most vivid memory came on March 13, 1998. I was the county courthouse reporter for The Oklahoman newspaper and covering a trial when the jury went out to deliberate that afternoon.

I left my pager number with someone in the judge’s office and asked to be paged when there was a verdict. With time to kill, I made the short walk to the Myriad to meet some colleagues from work and go to an NCAA basketball tournament game between 13th-seeded Valparaiso and 4th-seeded Ole Miss.

Thankfully, the jury didn’t reach a verdict before the end of the game, because it allowed me to witness one of the greatest buzzer beaters in NCAA history.

Valparaiso trailed 69-67 with 2.5 seconds left and had to inbound the ball from under its own basket and go the length of the court. I thought the game was over, as I’m sure everybody in the Myriad did.

I mean, how would Valparaiso even get a shot up, other than a Hail Mary, with just 2.5 seconds left? Ole Miss put a defender in front of Valparaiso’s Jaime Sykes, who was inbounding the ball.

Sykes heaved the ball over the halfcourt line to a leaping Bill Jenkins, who caught the pass and tossed it to Bryce Drew, who was streaking beside him, before Jenkins’ feet even hit the floor. Drew caught it and immediately fired up a 23-foot 3-point shot to win the game.

The Myriad erupted. No one could believe what they had just seen.
I don’t remember the verdict that day in the trial I was covering. I don’t even remember who was on trial or what it was about.

But I will always remember that shot and the noise in the arena at that moment

Don Mecoy had a long tenure at The Oklahoman as both a reporter and editor, closing out his career as the newspaper’s managing editor.

The Myriad, while incomparable in name only, was a happy place for me. I attended scores of events there over the decades, including graduation ceremonies, sporting events, business conferences and concerts.

I even worked there. As a reporter, I covered a 1991 appearance at the downtown arena by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. I was posted at a table along the front of the stage, with the 12,000 attendees at the National Baptist Conference seated behind me.

At one point, Jackson asked all the men in the arena to stand. I am a man, so I stood.

“Look at all these beautiful Black faces,” Jackson implored the crowd.
I am not Black, so I eventually sat back down.

But I digress. My favorite event that I ever attended at the Myriad was a Yes concert. I was a pretty big fan of the prog-rock band. But the performance, delivered from a rotating round stage in the middle of the arena floor, was much better than I had expected.

I even looked it up to make sure my memory hadn’t been faulty. It was indeed at the Myriad on June 5, 1979.

Coincidentally, that’s my wedding anniversary – just 14 years before the fact, and about six years before I even met my wife.

Scott Munn is also an alumnus of The Oklahoman, toiling for decades on the sports desk as both a reporter and an editor.

There were a few people who suggested that I keep a cot in a closet. For a few years in the early to mid-1990s, I was at the Myriad every night of the winter, covering either the Blazers hockey team or the Cavalry basketball team.

The Blazers would play Friday night, the Cavs on Saturday, etc. I was able to see Ryan Minor’s brief stay with the Cavalry before he went on the play baseball for the Baltimore Orioles and become the answer to a trivia question — who replaced Cal Ripken Jr., after he ended the consecutive games played record?

I witnessed Smokin’ Joe Burton develop from a rookie forward into the greatest player in Central Hockey League history. Fights. 10,000 people in the stands almost every game. The atmosphere made you feel like you were at an NHL game.

The Myriad had typical arena smells. Fried onion burgers, hot popcorn and Little Caeser’s Pizza. Even the parking garage under the arena had an odd, indescribable smell, which I think was a combination of automobile fuel and mold.

I really hated to see the Myriad go down. I saw a lot of games, stood for my share of national anthems — both American and Canadian (yes, I can sing “Oh Canada”). I tried to get one of those orange folding chairs from press row, just for memory-sake. But my “connection” never got back to me, so I figure those chairs went to the landfill like the rest of the grand old place.

Larry Newman is retired from a long career in the technology industry, but also worked part time on The Oklahoman’s sports desk while an OU student in the early 1980s.

My favorite memories of the Myriad involved time spent with my dad. We had season tickets to the Oklahoma City Blazers and Stars for about seven seasons in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

We rarely missed a game and enjoyed watching many great players when Oklahoma City was the farm club of the Calgary Flames and Minnesota North Stars.

Dad went to heaven three years ago, but the cherished memories remain vivid.

Steve Buck is a longtime friend, avid sports fan and public servant who worked for two governors and now is CEO of Care Providers Oklahoma.

Growing up in Altus, going to the Myriad was a magical treat. Even as I aged, I could never call it anything but “The Myriad” (sorry Cox). I experienced so many great events from hockey matches to CBA Hoops (Go Calvary!) and NCAA tournaments to State FFA conventions.

But the concerts are the events I remember the most. I saw some great ones, but by far the most historic was the May, 1991 event dubbed as “Farm Fest ’91”. One of my good friends helped organize the event to support our state’s farmers and the line-up of Oklahoma connected country superstars was unbelievable … Garth Brooks. Vince Gill. Restless Heart. Joe Diffie. Just an incredible night of music and an extraordinary reflection of the star power that calls our state home.

Marc Anderson and his wife, Michelle, served as Den Masters to my son’s Cub Scout Pack in the late 1990s.

I moved to OKC in 1991 and as I became entrenched in the community I would attend games at the Myriad with friends. Here are some core memories of the arena:

The May 1999 tornado and being evacuated to the parking garage during the game (Blazers?).

Also, graduations! My son, Reece, graduated in May 2014, daughter Quinn in 2016 and youngest son Beck in 2017, all at the Myriad.

There are some secondary memories, as well. Blazers hockey games, Oklahoma Calvary games and the arena’s final days as the Prairie Sky Studio, because my son, Beck, worked there for two years.

Kent Taylor is another longtime friend who is retired from a career in the oil and gas industry.

As an Okie who grew up watching football, baseball, and basketball, I was introduced to hockey at the Myriad Convention Center. An older couple from our church first invited my wife, Jamie, and me to our first game. Over the years, we attended a number of Blazer games.

I also recall attending the men’s gymnastics competition during the Olympic Festival in 1988 or maybe it was 1989. The Olympic Festival provided the opportunity for Oklahoma City to showcase itself to the country. Maybe the Olympic Festival was the springboard that birthed the renewal of downtown OKC.

Steve Hill served as Chief of Staff to two Oklahoma City mayors, Mick Cornett and David Holt, and before that was a renowned newspaper columnist and cartoonist.

I saw so many great shows at the Incomparable Myriad.

I saw Queen, twice. I also saw ELO, Neil Young, Thin Lizzy, and Whitney Houston. I think tickets were $12 for most of those shows.

I interviewed UB40 in the Green Room at the Myriad. By “interviewed,” I mean recording a conversation fueled by a ridiculous amount of Heinekens.

UB40 was opening for the Police. Mickey Virtue, the band’s keyboard player, told me to come sit on top of the on-stage speaker monitors during their opening set. So I did. Stayed there for the Police, eliciting a funny look from guitarist Andy Summers. Best seats ever.

I was friends with the Cavalry ownership group when the CBA came to OKC. I wound up selecting and playing the music during games.

OKC’s Steve Burtt was checking into a game. As he waited for the ref to motion him in, he told me he liked the baseball cap I was wearing.

“You want it?” I asked.

“Yeah!” He replied.

I tossed him the hat off my head. He grabbed it and ran back to the bench to stow it before checking in.

The CBA.

Best part of the Cavs experience was lunchtime pick-up games on the Myriad court with my buddies Mick Cornett, Dean Blevins, and other media guys.

I forget the OKC Barons played at the Myriad/Cox Convention Center in its latter years — that team was insane with future NHL stars Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Justin Shultz starting for the Barons. Loved going to Barons’ games.

Russ Florence is a longtime friend, music aficionado, writer and all-around renaissance man who also serves as OKC-based partner, President and CEO of the consulting and PR firm, Schnake Turnbo Frank.

Russ wrote a story for The Oklahoman last year about a 1977 concert experience he had at the Myriad as a 13-year old. Here are some key paragraphs and a link to the entire story on The Oklahoman’s website:

Afterward, Gary and I walked out the north doors of the Myriad, into the downtown streets with thousands of long-haired fans. We were probably the only ones looking for our parents. Neither of us recalled instructions about where to meet them. Just, you know, “find us afterward, somewhere.”

Amidst the revelry and the traffic, we looked toward the corner of Sheridan and Robinson, and Gary pointed. “There they are,” he said. Indeed, there were his parents, idling in their giant Ford LTD, cigarette smoke rolling out of their windows. They didn’t have a care in the world. How did they know when the show would be over? How did they know we would find them? Where did they go while Gary and I were at the concert? I’m envisioning a couple of Crown and Cokes at a dark, wood-paneled restaurant on the city’s west side, or a little beer joint that played George Jones on the jukebox.

“How was she?” Gary’s dad asked.

“He,” Gary said. “Alice Cooper is a ‘he.’ He was good.”

Click here to read the entire story at The Oklahoman website.

Thanks to these fellow Oklahomans who shared their memories of the Myriad Convention Center built across decades of sports events, concerts, graduations and more. And thank you, Ed, for suggesting this post.

If you have your own memories of attending an event at the Myriad, please share them in comments below.

Aerial view of the brand new Myriad Convention Center in 1972.

No, Robo Umps are NOT taking over baseball

I was listening to a late-night sports talk radio show recently when the host began talking excitedly about ‘robo umps’ coming to Major League Baseball. He was totally opposed to the concept because, as he said, ‘it takes the human element’ out of the game.

What?

In my mind I saw images of a menacing, out-of-control robot standing behind the catcher.

Turns out that Major League Baseball IS implementing the Automated Ball/Strike Challenge System in the 2026 season. But there’s no resemblance to a robo ump.

Yet, that’s how it’s presented by broadcasters and headline writers across the World Wide Web. I wince every time I hear or see the words ‘robo ump’ used to describe the new system because of how misleading it is.

A sample of ‘robo ump’ returns from a Google search

So, what is the Automated Ball/Strike Challenge System, also known as ABS, if it’s not a robotic replacement for home place umps?

If you’ve attended any OKC Comets games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark over the last couple of years, you’ve seen the ABS system in action. You may not even have noticed, because an umpire is still behind the plate calling every pitch.

However, each team can challenge two pitches per game, and then the ABS system takes over. Multiple cameras focused on home plate reveal whether the pitch crosses through the strike zone, and the results are shown on the park’s video board.

The whole process takes only a few seconds, is very low key, and the game quickly resumes. There are no hitters and catchers loudly complaining or angry managers charging home plate.

Don’t ask me how it works, because geometry is above my pay grade.

The MLB website offers up a good explanation of how the ABS Challenge System works. Here’s a quote from the article:

“The ABS Challenge System monitors the exact location of each pitch, relative to the specific batter’s zone. Players can request a challenge of a ball or strike call they feel the umpire got wrong, and, when they do, a graphic displaying the result is then transmitted over a 5G network from T-Mobile’s Advanced Network Solutions and nearly instantaneously shown to those in attendance via the videoboard and to home viewers via the broadcast.”

The MLB article goes on to describe the ABS System as a way to ensure calls are correct while keeping the human element.

“The Challenge System is seen as a way to get more of the most important calls correct without dramatically altering the sport overnight. It is a middle ground between full ABS and tradition,” MLB says in the article.

When MLB implementation of the ABS Challenge System was made last September, Alex Freedman, Broadcaster/Communications Director the OKC Comets, tweeted his support of the technology. He’s seen every Comets game in which it has been used, so he would be aware of any potential glitches.

“I’ve been a fan of the challenge system since it’s been implemented in Triple-A. Among players and coaches, it’s not unanimously loved, but the large majority likes it,” Freedman said on his X (formerly Twitter) feed.

I discussed my disdain of the term ‘robo ump’ to describe the ABS System on the most recent 3 Old Geezers podcast in which I participate. My fellow geezers scoffed at my dislike of the term, saying it’s no big deal.

Ed Godfrey said he objects more to the ‘ghost runner’ used in extra innings, but that argument can wait for another day.

Ed also reminded me that a ‘Robo Niner’ mascot once roamed All Sports Stadium back when the team was known at the 89ers.

So, call me the Robo Ump Police then, because I hate the term.

Here’s what Dan Patrick, my favorite sports broadcasting host, had to say about the ABS System and the way it’s been described on the Dan Patrick radio show, which is also simulcast on the Peacock Network:

“You still have to have an umpire. There’s not going to be a robot out there. It’s not going to be a robot; it’s going to be automated balls and strikes. Everybody thinks (it’s) like that Fox football robot’s out there.”

Yep, that’s how it’s presented in countless headlines and on sport talk shows. Go ahead and do a Google search for ‘robo ump,’ and see the dozens of headlines and videos proclaiming the coming of the robot

Well, it’s not. But the robo ump hype and hysteria is real, even if the robots are not.

Meet the International Man of Mystery from Stigler, OK

Hershel Prentice at recent OKC Thunder game

I’ve been everywhere, man
I’ve been everywhere, man
Crossed the desert’s bare, man
I’ve breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man
I’ve been everywhere
— “I’ve been everywhere” as sung by Johnny Cash

If you ask Stigler, OK, native Hershel Prentice where in the world he’s been lately, he’ll gladly tell you.

Dubai? Check. Oman? Check? Poland? Check. Austria? Check. Germany? Check, Newfoundland? Check? Labrador? Check. Check. Check.

Whew! And that’s just this year.

“I was in Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro about a year ago,” he told me.

I listened with awe as Hershel recounted some of his travel experiences as I sat down with him at the home of our mutual friend, Ed Godfrey. Ed, with whom I worked for many years at The Oklahoman newspaper, is also a Stigler native and has known Hershel for even longer.

“I’ve been to about 90 countries so far,” Hershel said. “I’ve stood in Red Square in Moscow. I stood in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and I’ve been on the Great Wall of China.”

Did you catch that? Hershel has visited 90 — 90!– countries around the world. He told me that he lives out of hotels about half the time.

How does this happen, a country boy from rural Oklahoma literally traveling across the nation and the world virtually nonstop for decades?

A couple of things to note: Hershel is retired after 29 years of service with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. A graduate of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, he has no living immediate family.

Hershel said he often made road trips with his grandparents as a child, which sparked his love of travel, seeing new places and meeting interesting people.

“And I like maps, globes, far away names, Budapest, Istanbul,” he said. “I’d hear those names and knew I would go someday.”

His parents, who owned a trucking firm, are deceased, as well as a sister, his only sibling. He lives in the Stigler house that belonged to his parents, although it seems to be only for temporary respite between trips.

Hershel has a philanthropic side, too, in support of his hometown. He funds a scholarship for Stigler high school graduates to support their college education. And he’s a regular at Shelly’s Cafe whenever he’s in town.

“I’m the first customer,” he said. “5 a.m.”

When I asked Hershel how old he was, he was reluctant to reveal his age.

“I don’t do chronological things, I do situations,” said this International Man of Mystery.

So, what year were you born in?

“Just pick a number.”

All right, 1950. “OK,” Hershel said to the random number that I pulled out of the air. I’ll go with it. That would make him 75 years old, or somewhere in that neighborhood.

Never married, Hershel said he prefers to travel alone.

“Fast and free that way, when you’re alone,” he said.

Yeah, but don’t you get lonely?

“Not really.”

Hershel’s travel is arranged by a Fort Smith, Ark., travel agent. Most of his world travel is done as part of group tours with a set itinerary. That ensures he’s not totally alone on his sojourns, although he said he uses free time to explore on his own.

How has he been treated as an American tourist in all these foreign lands? He says he’s been treated well everywhere and never feared for his safety, including in Cuba, where he went as part of a program arranged by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Here are some fun facts about the International Man of Mystery’s travels both here and abroad:

Hershel has visited all 50 states, visiting famous and little known museums, national parks, Civil War battlegrounds and much more. He’s seen baseball games in all but eight Major League parks, along with dozens of minor leagues parks across the country. He’s been to NBA, NFL and college football games, NASCAR events, toured multiple halls of fame, every presidential library and points of interest like the site of Custer’s Last Stand in Montana or the big ball-of-yarn museum in Kansas. He’s visited every county seat in Oklahoma, as well as in Arkansas.

He’s made friends and met many interesting people along the way. Sometimes, he’s run into fellow Oklahomans in, say, Europe or Asia.

“People that you meet who are visiting Auschwitz, people that would go pay money and time to go do that, they’re gonna be pretty interesting,” he says. “Or you’ll have a common factor. If I meet someone on a trip, I tell them I’ve been by their house, because wherever someone is from, i’ve been by there or near there.”

The most interesting country Hershel has visited?

“Probably Cuba,” he said. “It’s just amazing how they live there, how it was for a long time and how it is now. They don’t have Internet, you couldn’t use a credit card; they didn’t have that infrastructure. We had to use pesos or American money or Euros. They like the Euro more than the dollar.”

He visited Havana, along with the infamous Bay of Pigs, Hemingway’s home, and coastal areas along the island.

I became acquainted with Hershel Prentice a few years ago through Ed when we all went to an OKC Dodgers (now Comets) game together. Hershel’s also a big fan of the OKC Thunder, and sent me a photo of himself at a recent game at Paycom Center. He has called Ed from many museums, ballparks and foreign cities. He often brings him souvenirs from his travels.

Hershel showed me a set of refrigerator magnets decorated to represent the flags of about a half dozen Scandinavian countries. Of course, he’s been to all of them.

So, what’s on Hershel’s travel itinerary for 2026? For now, he’s looking at traveling to Uzbekistan and Kaspiysk, located in former Soviet Union territories and now independent Russian states.

Still, I wanted to know what compels him to stay on the move. His answer was about modes of travel as much as about locations. He likes planes, trains, trolleys, subways.

“Anything that moves,” he said. “I like it when it takes off, that little thrust, the movement. Here we go to a new place, new time, new day, new people. Being free.”

Hershel, you really are the International Man of Mystery.

Hershel Prentice at the Dardenelles Strait in Turkey in 2024.

Aging well: 3 Old Geezers podcast returns

A screenshot from the 3 Old Geezers recent podcast recording session

Along with my friends Steve Buck and Ed Godfrey, I will celebrate a special anniversary on Nov. 6. Two years ago we launched the 3 Old Geezers podcast, which took years of sport debate via group text messages to a worldwide audio forum.

Steve serves as our host and keeps things on track, while Ed fills the podcast with humor and angry get-off-my-lawn rants about, well, anything and everything. I mainly serve as their foil because my perspective doesn’t fit in their neat little boxes.

I wrote about the 3 Old Geezers podcast back when we started at the end of 2023, and you can read it here.

We have no set agenda each week, except to cover the latest Thunder news, as well as that of other pro and college sports. We also may go off on an occasional non-sports rant.

Here are links to our two most recent episodes so you can discover for yourself what we’re all about. These links are to Apple podcasts, but we’re on Spotify or most places where you listen to your favorite content.

Oct. 17, Episode 44, The Boys are Back!

Oct. 24, Episode 45, Celebrating a Banner Night

Here’s what my fellow Geezers say about the podcasting experience:

From Geezer Steve: “Having the opportunity to hang out with Jim and Ed regularly is something I cherish. Always spirited. Always funny. Just three guys who love sports bobbing and weaving through a conversation. When the idea surfaced one day that we should record our ramblings, the idea seemed like a natural. So, regardless our listener count, we keep going because its a chance to spend time with good friends. And time with friends is something I am learning to cherish more each and every day.”

From Geezer Ed: “Frankly, I am doing a podcast because I enjoy the company. And after 40 years in the newspaper business, I like telling stories, and now I can tell some whoppers. Besides, I can’t let Geezer Jim’s goofy opinions go unchecked. I enjoy the company and the conversation.”

My reasons for doing the pod are similar to Steve and Ed in that I enjoy hanging with the guys, as well as airing my thoughts on sports subjects, whether they are in line with conventional thinking or not.

For the most part, we’ve kept an every-other-week podcast schedule, except for an extended break we took over the summer, before relaunching the pod on Oct. 17.

We’re committed to posting a new episode weekly throughout the OKC Thunder season, which means we’ll have to do some remote when one or more Geezers are tied up with work or out of town. Episode 45 was recorded with Steve calling in from out of town, so we’re off to a good start.

I hope you listen to and enjoy the sample episodes using the links above. Then subscribe and keep up with our Geezer rants, raves and get-off-our-lawn takes.

BONUS CONTENT:

Here’s a link to the very first 3 Old Geezers podcast so you can hear where it all began.

DOUBLE BONUS CONTENT:

The 3 Old Geezers podcast is presented through the generosity of MentaliTEA and Coffee in Bethany. I hope you will visit them and enjoy a coffee or tea and something tasty off their food menu.

SEC Shorts means appointment viewing for me

A Mike Gundy-like OSU character was welcomed to SEC Shorts this week.

There was a time in my life when watching Saturday Night Live was one of my most important weekly routines. Sadly, age and the long ago retirement of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players greatly diminished my SNL viewing.

Now I click on weekly SNL highlights posted on Twitter/X to watch individual skits. Saves me time and allows me to go to bed hours earlier on Saturday nights.

However, I’ve adopted a new viewing routine in 2025. It’s a weekly show posted online every Monday during football season called “SEC Shorts.”

You should be watching, too, if you are a college football fan.

SEC Shorts is a weekly, fast-paced 5 to 8-minute show that satirizes the immediate past weekend results from Southeast Conference football games. The writers/producers/actors are comic geniuses, in my view, because each episode is not only hilarious, but right on target with its send-ups.

I discovered SEC Shorts during the 2024 season, so I’ve only watched a dozen or so episodes from last year and into the start of this season. And in my limited view, this week’s episode towers over all the others.

Why? I’ll just say that this week’s short centers on a farmer and his “Going for Two Second Chance Farm.” No spoilers, except to say that OSU and Clemson are both welcomed into the SEC Shorts family.

You can watch the episode below.

My friend Ed Godfrey also watched the latest episode and declared it “Oscar worthy.” Another friend, Steve Buck, declared them “masters” after last week’s episode. Their videos attract millions of viewers, according to the SEC Shorts website.

Here’s something astounding about SEC Shorts.

College football games are played on Saturdays, and a fresh SEC Shorts episode is posted the following Monday morning. That means the SEC Shorts producers have to create the concept, write the script, access props and film the entire thing in one day.

Since I knew so little about SEC Shorts background or how it got started, I found its website to catch up on who these guys are.

Turns out, the show was created by a couple of Alabama guys — Robert Clay and Josh Snead — back in 2014. They filmed their first episode and submitted it to the Paul Finebaum simulcast radio/TV show in September of that year, and the rest is history, as their website says.

Today, there’s a cast of 5, including Robert and Josh, who write, act and film each episode, with additional support from a few others as needed. The website also offers a ‘behind the scenes’ photo gallery of some of their productions in progress.

Here’s the lead paragraph from the “Our Story” section of their website:

“Who doesn’t want to see themselves on TV? It was this noble motivation that launched SEC Shorts in the fall of 2014. Robert Clay and Josh Snead were wasting away in the basement of a medical publishing company, where they spent all day editing gross medical lectures that would make even the most seasoned surgeons gag. As they sat across from each other in the Inverness Dairy Queen, eating their fourth chocolate dip cone of the week, they realized there had to be a better way.”

It’s obvious they don’t take themselves too seriously, unlike, say, fans who hail from Alabama, Georgia or several other SEC destinations.

If you are tired of hearing “SEC! SEC!” chanted during broadcasts of SEC teams, remember there’s a small crew of comic geniuses just waiting to poke a little fun at their Saturday heroes when the games are over.

Watching a fresh SEC Shorts episode each week certainly brightens my Mondays. It should be on your schedule, too.

BONUS CONTENT: Read the Frequently Asked Questions section from the SEC Shorts website below.

Why The Man in Black’s music, impact endures

In 1968, my parents went to see a concert by Johnny Cash while we were living as a military family on the island of Okinawa. That should tell you how big of a star the Man in Black was in the ’60s, because my parents never, ever went to a concert unless it was Southern Gospel like the Gaithers.

Cash was an Arkansas native, as were my parents, so there was a connection. We were among the nearly 100,000 American military personnel and dependents living on the island that year at the height of the Vietnam war.

Johnny’s concert for military personnel on Okinawa occurred the same year that my dad bought the ‘Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison’ album, which got a lot of play in our house over the years.

Maybe because I heard the album so often I became a fan of Johnny Cash, although my knowledge of his song catalog from among his more than 100(!) albums doesn’t go very deep.

My friend Ed Godfrey can offer much more insight into Johnny’s music.

Johnny Cash began as sort of a rockabilly star in the 1950s, recording at the famous Sun Studios in Memphis. Then he became a genuine pop culture phenomenon in the 1960s when a wider audience embraced his music.

In fact, he starred in his own network TV show in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and recorded popular duets with his wife, June Carter Cash, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and many others.

If you saw the movie “Walk the Line,” you know that Cash had some well documented run-ins with the law in the ’60s because of a drug addiction. He revived his career with help of June Carter and the release of the Live at Folsom Prison album.

His star power dimmed a bit in the ’80s and ’90s, although it seems to me the impact and legend of Johnny Cash has only grown since his 2003 death.

I think his legend endures because he was the complete package, great music, songwriter, deep bass vocals, the familiar guitar licks, the hair and, most of all, the courage to stand up for those rejected by society when that was far from the norm among entertainers.

Johnny Cash made it a point to vocally support for Native Americans, the imprisoned, the poor, and the oppressed. He said that was why he always wore black when performing.

Listen to his song, “Man in Black,” to gain some perspective.

In his final years, with his health waning, Johnny Cash covered other artists’ songs that I think are some of his best, even if he was frail and his voice had lost a lot of its force. My favorites are Hurt, and, especially, Further on Up the Road, an awesome cover of a Bruce Springsteen song.

Anyway, I decided to make a list of my top 10 favorite Johnny Cash recordings, whether written by him or covers of other artists. I’ve also invited Ed Godfrey to weigh in with his list, too.

Here are my top 10 songs recorded by Johnny Cash:

No. 1 — Folsom Prison Blues
A song he wrote in the early 1950s while still in the Air Force, it became probably his more popular recording and his signature song.

No. 2 — Ring of Fire
The horns, the imagery … a great song that was co-written by June Carter Cash before she married Johnny. Must have been a hot romance!

No. 3 — I Walk the Line
Cash’s deep bass voice, the guitar intro, Johnny’s hum at the beginning of each chorus, the pledge of fidelity — I love it all. Of course, the Gregory Peck movie based off this song was all about infidelity. Oh, the irony.

No. 4 — Sunday Morning Coming Down
I can just see a lonely, broke alcoholic ambling along on a big city sidewalk on a Sunday morning, longing for a life in this awesome Kris Kristofferson cover.

No. 5 — Further on Up the Road
Another superb cover, this one written by Bruce Springsteen. Ed says that he’s adding it to his funeral playlist. Me, too.

No. 6 — A Boy Named Sue
My dad and I had a great time listening to this song together back in the ’60s. Written by Shel Silverstein.

No. 7 — Girl from the North Country
A great song of lost love, and wonderful duet with Bob Dylan, the song’s author.

No. 8 — Jackson
Fun duet by Johnny and June Carter Cash; this got lots of airplay over the years.

No. 9 — Hurt
A late-in-life cover of a Nine Inch Nails song, Great guitar, piano that backed Johnny’s delivery.

No. 10 — The Man Comes Around
Johnny wrote this song and recorded it one year before his death. It’s obvious that he saw the end coming

BONUS SONGS

Don’t take your guns to town — Johnny had a way of telling a sad story; this one fits right in.

Five Feet High and Rising — Might not be everyone’s favorite, but I’ve liked this song for decades. I can just see Johnny as a kid with his family panicked over water that’s flooding the family’s hardscrabble acres.

Now, I present the Johnny Cash top 10 list from Ed Godfrey that you should really respect:

No. 1 – Sunday Morning Coming Down
When Cash first performed this on his TV show, network executives asked him not to sing the lyric “wishing I was stoned.” Cash sang it just as Kris Kristofferson wrote it anyway. I guess the network executives had no problem with having a beer for breakfast and one more for dessert.

No. 2 – Cocaine Blues
Cash’s version of this song on his “Live From Folsom Prison” album is just fantastic.

No. 3 – Ring of Fire
Cash said the idea to add Mexican trumpets to June Carter’s and Merle Kilgore’s lyrics came to him in a dream.

No. 4 – Unchained
Unchained is a song on Cash’s album by the same name produced by Rick Rubin. Their collaboration caused a resurgence of Cash’s career in the ’90s. Unchained is an album of covers and my favorite Cash album, even eclipsing “Live From Folsom Prison.” I have left instructions with my family to have Unchained played at my funeral.

No. 5 – I Walk The Line
Cash wrote the song as a promise of fidelity to his first wife. That didn’t work out, but the song is still great.

No. 6 – Flesh And Blood
I love the details in the lyrics of this song. It begins, “Beside a singin’ mountain stream, where the willow grew, where the silver leaf of maple, sparkled in the mornin’ dew.” Then in the next verse after the chorus, “I leaned against a bark of birch, and I breathed the honey dew, I saw a north-bound flock of geese, against a sky of baby blue.” I close my eyes and picture myself there.

No. 7 – Meet Me In Heaven
Another song off the Unchained album that I have asked to be played at my funeral.

No. 8 – Hurt
I am not a big fan of music videos, but this song is actually better and more powerful with the video. It was another collaboration with Rubin.

No. 9 – Folsom Prison Blues
I mean, this song has to be included, right? I can’t leave off Folsom Prison Blues on a list of best Johnny Cash songs.

No. 10 – I’ve Been Everywhere
Did I mention how much I like the Unchained album? This is another song off that album. Hank Snow first adapted it from a song originally written with Australian place names, but nobody performs it better than Cash.

Honorable Mentions: God’s Gonna Cut You Down and The Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea. Two more songs that came from the six albums Cash made with Rubin. The Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea also is on the Unchained album.

BONUS CONTENT FROM KENT TAYLOR:

You know Jim, I’ve been thinking about your Johnny Cash article since you posted it. I also grew up listening to my parent’s Johnny Cash vinyls. I’d have to put A Boy Named Sue at the top because it reminds me of my dad every time I hear it. He loved that song.

I thought that, as a kid, I had heard every JC song ever sung. However, it wasn’t until the past 10-15 years or so that I’ve heard songs I’d never heard before. One that I have grown fond of is Chicken in Black. If you’ve not heard it, I’d encourage you to listen to it.

SPONSORED LINK: I purchased this Vekkia Rechargeable LED Neck Reading Light on Amazon, a book light for reading in bed, not knowing what to expect. I bought it so I could read in bed without disturbing my wife. Turns out, it’s perfect, because it shapes around your neck, with two LED lights that you can adjust to shine onto your book page. Check it out! https://amzn.to/3IPaDF4

Best of Barney: Quoting the greatest sitcom character in television history

Don Knotts as Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith Show

EDITOR’S NOTE: My friend Ed Godfrey has memorized more word-for-word dialogue from The Andry Griffith Show than anyone I know. He can quote Don Knotts as Barney Fife from almost any scene. And they are some of the funniest lines in television history. So, I told Ed that if he would compile a list of his favorites, I would publish it in this blog. I’m proud to offer you Ed’s 15 favorite Barney Fife quotes:

By Ed Godfrey

The best sitcom character in the history of television is Barney Fife, played by the great Don Knotts. I’m sorry, if you don’t agree, you’re wrong.

Not long ago, my good friend Jim Stafford wrote a blog post ranking his favorite Andy Griffith episodes. Pretty good list, although the Barney and the Choir episode was ranked much too low.

I mean, that scene where Andy is explaining to Barney how he has to keep singing softer and softer into a “powerful” microphone until his voice is less than a whisper rivals Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First” routine in my book.

Jim’s blog about The Andy Griffith Show has been his most viewed blog this year, so I suggested he keep it going and rank Barney’s best lines in the show. He told me I was the expert and that I should write the blog, without financial compensation, I might add.

So here are my favorite Barney Fife lines. If I missed one, well, just remember I am not getting paid for this.

Number one has to be his most famous quote which he repeated in many episodes and which I have on a T-Shirt. NIP IT IN THE BUD! He’s used it when discussing romance, crime, parenting, etc. It was his go to phrase, but my favorite is when he was lecturing Andy about raising Opie.

“I say this calls for action and now. Nip it in the bud. First sign a youngster is going wrong you got to nip it in the bud… You go read any book you want on the subject of child discipline and you will find everyone is in favor of bud nipping.”

Number Two: Barney lays down the law to the new prisoners at the Mayberry jail.

“Now men, there are a few things we ought to get straightened out right at the start to avoid any grief later on. Now here at The Rock, we have two basic rules. Memorize them so that you can say them in your sleep. The first rule is, OBEY ALL RULES. Secondly, do not write on the walls as it takes a lot of work to get writing off of walls.”

Number Three: Barney gets tangled up with a guy littering on the street and accidentally captures a fugitive. When Barney realizes what he has done, he turns into a peacock and starts strutting his stuff to the crowd who has gathered around, including his girlfriend Thelma Lou, who wants him to take the rest of the day off at Andy’s suggestion.

“I would like to, Thelma Lou, but I don’t guess I better… You just never know when another beast might come down out of the forest. You understand don’t you Thelma Lou? I really don’t expect you to. You see Thelma Lou, this is what we call the deadly game. I am in it for keeps.”

Number Four: In Barney and the Choir, Andy, Aunt Bee and Thelma Lou don’t want to hurt Barney’s feelings by kicking him out of the Mayberry choir before the concert, so they try to make him think he is sick because of the redness and lump they pretend to see in his throat. Barney immediately goes to the doctor to get checked out and returns with the good news after choir practice had ended.

“You know that lump you seen? That’s a uvula. Everybody’s got one. Did you know you had a uvula Andy? Open your mouth. Go ahead, open it. Yeah, there is a good ole’ uvula. They got a uvula. I got a uvula. All God’s children got a uvula!”

Number Five: In Opie the Birdman episode, a classic, Opie kills a mama bird with his slingshot and then starts caring for her orphaned young in a cage. Barney demonstrates how birds communicate with each other with their chirping.

“A bird that’s feeling chipper will chirp nice and chipper. Well, like, ‘Gee, I’m feeling good’… And then it works the other way around, too. When a bird’s feeling sick why he chirps, ‘Gee I’m feeling bad…Here comes a cat! Let’s fly away! OK.’

“Yep, the ways of the creatures of the wild are many and wonderful.”

Number Six: Barney sings A capella for Andy, thinking it is a song.

“A capella, a capella.”

Number Seven: Barney offers a comforting shoulder to Andy, who has been jilted by Peggy.

Barney consoles Andy with a heart-to-heart talk

“OK pal, there it is (tapping his shoulder). Cry all over it if you wanna. Get it off your chest. Talk it all out. That’s what a friend is for. It’s welling up inside of you so get it out…. I know you don’t want to but you got to. It’s therapetic.”

Number Eight. Barney offers another memorable line after unknowingly capturing a fugitive on the street.

“I might as well have me a look around town. You never know what might be coming up. You know Andy, I never thought our town would come to this. Mayberry, gateway to danger.”

Number Nine: Barney gets conned by a man pretending to be an FBI agent who is in Mayberry to give the sheriff’s office a reward for having a low crime rate. Barney explains why crime is so low in Mayberry.

“Well, I guess to sum it up you could say there is three reasons there is so little crime in Mayberry. There’s Andy, and me and baby makes three (while patting the gun in his holster.) Say, that is kind of a good phrase if you would like to write that down.”

Number Ten: In the Cyrano Andy episode, the first appearance of Betty Lynn as Thelma Lou in the series, Barney likes Thelma Lou but is too shy to tell her, so Andy calls on her on behalf of Barney. Thelma Lou makes Barney jealous by telling him Andy is interested in her, so Barney tries to even the score by paying a romantic visit to Elly Walker, Andy’s girlfriend. Barney, of course, gets rejected by Elly.

“I feel sorry for you, baby. You – you had your chance to fly with me but you wasn’t woman enough. Now the balloon’s gone up withoutcha.”

Number 11: In The Pickle Story, Andy and Barney swap out Aunt Bee’s homemade pickles for good store pickles, and Barney is dismayed when Andy suggests they are going to have to get rid of the store pickles and replace the jars with more homemade ones.

“You can’t be serious? You actually want her to make another batch of them kerosene cucumbers?”

Number 12: In Barney and the Choir, Barney drops a not-so-subtle hint to the Mayberry choir director about who could replace the first tenor who had to drop out (clip taken from same episode, but doesn’t include the quote).

“As my old voice teacher used to say, a choir without its tenor is like a start without its glimmer. You know who used to say that? My old voice teacher. That’s the teacher I had when I studied voice.”

Number Thirteen: In the episode Man in a Hurry, an out-of-town businessman whose car breaks down on a Sunday in Mayberry learns how slow life can be in the small town. He paces nervously back and forth on Andy’s front porch waiting for his car to be fixed while Barney contemplates how he will spend the rest of his afternoon.

“You know what I think I’m going to do? I’m going to go home and have me a little nap, then go over to Thelma Lou’s and watch a little TV. Yeah, I believe that’s what I’ll do. Go home. Have a nap. Then over to Thelma Lou’s for TV. Yep, that’s the plan. Right home. Take a nap.”

The impatient out-of-towner then yells at Barney, “For the love of Mike, just do it, do it! Go take a nap. Go to Thelma Lou’s for TV. Just do it:

Barney replies, “What’s the hurry?”

Number Fourteen: In the episode Barney’s Sidebar, Barney buys an old motorcycle with sidecar at an auction and sets up Checkpoint Chickie on the highway to catch speeders. His first traffic stop is a trucker who points out there has always been an understanding with law enforcement that they could go five miles over the speed limit to get over Turner’s Grade.

“Well, I tell you Eddie, I let you do 40 today, you will do 45 tomorrow. I let you do 45 tomorrow you do 50 the day after that. You do 50 the day after that, you’ll do 55 the day after that.”

Number Fifteen: Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie fame guest stars as a manicurist and sets up in Floyd’s Barber Shop. She finally gets Barney to sit for a manicure, but Barney has one condition.

“Be extra careful with that one. That’s my trigger finger. You damage that and I might as well quit the business.”

SPONSORED CONTENT: Ed Godfrey gave this book, “Andy & Don,” to me as a birthday gift a couple years ago. I started reading and could not put it down. It’s that good, mainly because it reveals some behind the camera info on both Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, as well as other stars of Andy Griffith Show. For instance, Andy was quite the lady’s man, while Frances Bavier was not a fan of her role as Aunt Bee, nor of the show in general. Check it out on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4mb7RbA

A critique of the OKC Thunder ‘City’ edition uniforms through the years

Together with my friends Steve Buck and Ed Godfrey, I cohost a podcast known as the 3 Old Geezers.

Steve and Ed are only pretend Geezers, while I am the real deal. Or as Ed says, I live in downtown Geezerville. That’s ageism, Ed!

Anyway, all of us are OKC Thunder fans, and much of our podcast discussion revolves around the team, the players and the potential for success as the season progresses.

We also share an interest in Thunder branding and the various uniform schemes the team uses. For instance, I’m a big fan of the team’s “Sunset” uniform, which might be seen as orange by some folks.

All of which brings me to the annual “City” edition uniform the Thunder unveils as each season begins. The 3 Old Geezers recently critiqued the 2024 City edition. on the podcast (LISTEN!)

Someone suggested that we rank the City edition uniforms from 2017-2024 by our personal preferences. So here are mine, ranked No. 8 to No. 1:

No. 8 2020: I take issue with leaving the word “City” off of a uniform of the team known as the Oklahoma City Thunder. Makes no sense unless you think the folks in Tulsa or Elk City will buy into the team even more than they already do when they see “Oklahoma.”

No. 7 2021: Not sure what statement a gray-on-white City edition uniform makes, except that it doesn’t stand out to me.

No. 6 2022: I have nothing against this uniform, except the lettering looks too much like what we’ve already seen, And it uses “Thunder” instead of OKC or Oklahoma City.

No. 5 2019: White lettering on a gray uniform doesn’t do much for me. At least it says “Oklahoma City.”

No. 4 2017: I’m just not a fan of racing stripes on a gray background. But it gets extra credit because it says “OKC.”

No. 3 2024: I really like the color scheme but can’t rank this one higher because leaves off the word “City” AGAIN.

No. 2 2018: The lettering and the turquoise make this one of my favorite City edition unis. And I like that it reads “OKC.”

No. 1 2023: I love this City edition version. It’s got orange and yellow trim on the navy jersey with bold orange “OKC”. That’s good enough for me.

Here are the takes from my fellow Geezers:

Steve Buck
Geezer Jim asked Geezer Ed and me to rank our team’s city jersey series. I am not a graphic artist so I’m sure my limited mind has missed some really cool elements that others love, but my rankings fell out pretty darn clearly.

No. 8 2020: Just not much to like on this one. Looks like the packaging to a Hot Wheels car. Points deduction for reading “Oklahoma”

No. 7 2017: I almost moved it higher because the year matched Poku’s number but common sense prevailed. I can’t find any connection to Oklahoma City and it just doesn’t look very sharp.

No. 6 2021: Not awful but not that attention grabbing either. The vertical look makes it somewhat unique but I prefer a bit of color in my uniforms and this is just too blah.

No. 5 2019: Almost crept into my top half of rankings. Like ’21 there is jut not a pop in terms of color but the arched Oklahoma City is just fine with me.

No. 4 2024: First too similar to ’23 so I had to provide some penalty for copying the prior year’s efforts. I like the colors and the detail on the sides are a nice nod to OKC. Speaking of…why didn’t it say Oklahoma City instead of simply using Oklahoma. Like the ’20 version, points deducted.

No. 3 2022: This one could’ve easily been my #2 choice. The blue and red pops against the dark gray. Just a super crisp look that was a wonderful look on the floor.

No. 2 2023: I loved every element of this jersey. The dark blue with all the intricate details was so solid. The accent colors stand out beautifully. The diagonal in motion OKC is really on nice.

No. 1 2018: Yes, the color scheme has nothing to do with our current colors other than a few subtle uses in the accents but the design is fantastic and this jersey screams OKC like none other. It was unique in the league and a true reflection of honor and respect for our community and state. Bring these back. For my votes, this was the hands down winner.

Ed Godfrey
No. 8 is the first city edition jersey to not include “City” in the name, the 2020-21 version. Again, they are the Oklahoma City Thunder, not the Oklahoma Thunder. I think the jersey is ugly.

No. 7 is the first city edition jersey, the 2017-18 gray uniform. An orange and blue stripe with the OKC logo above it. Meh.

No. 6 is the simple all white city edition of 2021-22. I’m not a big fan of the all-white look with the OKC logo displayed vertically on the jersey, but it’s OK.

No. 5 2024-25 is the latest city edition jersey. I love the look and the colors that pop. This jersey would rate higher if it had the word “City” on it and not just “Oklahoma.” A city edition jersey without the word city?

No. 4 is the 2023-24 version. I like the vibrant colors of yellow and orange and the design is interesting and artistic.

No. 3 is the 2022-23 City edition jersey. A simple, but solid look with “Thunder” emblazoned across the chest. The “Oklahoma Standard” badge is displayed on the jersey.

No. 2 is the 2019-20 slate gray City edition tribute to the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The gray uniforms with gold lettering and white accents are fantastic.

No. 1: My favorite City edition jersey is the 2018-19 turquoise version that paid tribute to Oklahoma’s Native American heritage. I love the color and the diamond influence in the OKC logo. It’s a sharp look.

So, what’s your favorite and least favorite among the Thunder’s City edition uniforms? Leave your thoughts on the City editions in the comments.

Clickbait always reels me in

Screenshot

I stumbled across an online headline last week that was so shocking that I couldn’t click on the story fast enough.

“The Phoenix Suns Will Trade Kevin Durant to the Oklahoma City Thunder,” the headline shouted.

What? Click.

Turns out it was only someone’s outlandish conjecturing with nothing to back it up. It wasn’t even a rumor.

In fact, the story led with an editor’s note that said “This article is a PREDICTION and not a REPORT.”

What it was, was “clickbait,” designed to pull in as many readers as possible because clicks equal eyeballs which equal advertising revenue.

I felt foolish for even clicking on the headline.

Still, I always click.

Clickbait seems to dominate the sports headlines you are likely to run across in a Google search or as a link found on your favorite social media platform.

For instance, I shared a headline I saw last week in a group text with my friends Steve Buck and Ed Godfrey that said “The Giannis to OKC discourse has started.”

Screenshot

Steve immediately responded, “Clickbait.”

Yeah, but I still clicked on it. Just call me gullible. I can’t NOT click when I see an intriguing-yet-preposterous headline.

Just a couple days ago I ran cross a headline that said Russell Westbrook sent the OKC Thunder a “message” after the Denver Nuggets sent the Thunder to their first defeat of the seas week.

I clicked on it, of course. Turns out, Russ didn’t exactly drop the Big One on the Thunder. Here’s the “message” Westbrook delivered during the course of a postgame interview:

“Right now they’ve got the best record but I feel like we’ve got a better team and tonight we showed that.”

Not exactly bulletin board material and not a pointed comment, really. But it captured my eyeballs with a click.

So we come to tonight. As I am writing this blog post, I came across yet another intriguing headline.

“A Bucks-Thunder trade sending Brook Lopez to OKC would benefit both sides”

What? Click. I AM gullible.

Screenshot

What’s in a name? Apparently, a lot in OKC Baseball Club rebrand to ‘Comets’ … Or not much.

Comets scorebard — The Bricktown Ballpark scoreboard shows the team’s new name at reveal event.

The Oklahoma City Baseball Club revealed its new name, “Comets,” in a ceremony Saturday evening at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark witnessed by at least a couple thousand enthusiastic fans.

I was among those who showed up for the Big Reveal, so I can attest to the collective cheer that went up when the “Comets” name and logo appeared on the scoreboard screen.

I was not expecting “Comets,” although I’m not sure what I expected. Maybe “Flycatchers,” which my friend Ed Godfrey had predicted as the future team name. Or the “Waving Wheats” or something that related to Oklahoma.

An aside: There’s is already a “Flycatchers” team in Oklahoma in the Pecos League team Blackwell Flycatchers. Yes, Blackwell.

The OKC club tried hard to make “Comets” make sense for OKC baseball fans by linking it to Commerce, OK, native and MLB Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. If you are like me, over the age of 60 and a long-time baseball fan, you know that Mantle was known as the “Commerce Comet.”

But if you are, say, 30 years old and a casual baseball fan, you may not even know who Mickey Mantle is or that he was from Oklahoma or that he had the “Comet” nickname.

In its presentation that night at the ballpark, the team also pointed out that stadium is located on Mickey Mantle Drive.

I thought it was a pretty big reach to link the “Comet” name to Mantle, but not entirely out of order. The team also linked the “Comets” name to the number of astronauts who were native Oklahomans.

Now THAT is a reach.

Ed Godfrey attended the event with me, and he was pretty ambivalent to the “Comets.” If I remember correctly, he said “meh.”

But our mutual friend, Steve Buck, had a much stronger reaction. About two minutes after the “Comets” name reveal, Steve unloaded on the name in our group text.

“Comets!!!! Why? Help me understand please? I hate it”

Yes, but how do you really feel, Steve?

The reaction on social media was similar, with dozens of folks posting on Twitter (now X) their opposition to the new name.

Screenshot

However, they aren’t ALL negative. In fact, Whitley O’Connor, co-founder of the Curbside Chronicle, went so far as to declare it the “best name in OKC Baseball’s history.”

Screenshot

Whitley makes a good point.

Before we left the “Comets” name reveal event on Saturday night at the Ballpark, I ran into my friend Russ Florence, and his son, Luke. Russ was all in on the new name, so I told him about Steve’s instant reaction.

“He’ll love it by the end of next season,” Russ predicted.

Bottom line: I’m pretty sure the actual name of the team won’t lure more people to the ballpark next year or drive any away. (Full disclosure: Steve Buck and I are both partial season ticket holders; and the team name won’t influence our decisions to follow the team)

Those of us who attend Comets games will be there just to watch some good ball, as my old editor, the late Bob Colon, would say.

As Ed and I were walking out of the stadium afterward, Ed said the name really didn’t matter because the team would change it in three years, anyway (presumably for the boost in merchandise sales, for you cynics).

If that is true, then the “Comets” name is perfect, I replied. A comet appears in the sky one night, and a few nights later it has disappeared.

And we’ll be on the the next name.