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.
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.
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.
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.
Michael McNutt tells a story as he addresses the audience at his Nondoc retirement ceremony
Michael McNutt’s retirement celebration from the NonDoc online news organization was under way earlier this week when he shared a story with me from almost 30 years ago and said I played a role.
A story for which I had no recollection.
Michael is a friend and former colleague at The Oklahoman who served as the newspaper’s Enid correspondent for probably a decade before moving to the Oklahoma City newsroom.
McNutt’s retirement ceremony, organized as a fund raiser for NonDoc, was outstanding. I’ll come back to it.
As for the memory that he shared with me, McNutt recalled that I was assigned to help him conduct a focus group for The Oklahoman in northwest Oklahoma in advance of the 1996 presidential election. Michael said that I called him on the day of the focus group and alerted him that I was going to be a no-show because my wife and I were having a baby — in Abilene, Texas.
I don’t recall the focus group assignment, but I do recall that on June 18, 1996, Paula and I received a call that the baby we hoped to adopt was to be born that very day in Abilene. We jumped into the car, drove 330 miles and arrived at Abilene’s Hendrick Medical Center in time for the birth of our son, Ryan.
Anyway, it was a story that took me back to that milestone event, and obviously was an event that stuck in McNutt’s mind over the remainder of his reporting and editing career.
A St. Louis native, McNutt worked as a reporter and editor for The Oklahoman for nearly 30 years. He had a distinguished post-newspaper career, as well, working for an Oklahoma governor and a state agency, before the recent tour with Nondoc.
NonDoc honored Michael with this week’s celebration because he is retiring as managing editor of the enterprising, not-for-profit online news organization that fills a lot of holes left behind by the decline of traditional newspapers.
McNutt’s retirement celebration brought me and about 75 others to the Will Rogers Theater events center on Monday evening.
Michael McNutt with Mick Hinton, a former colleague at The Oklahoman.
Throughout his 40-year journalism career, Michael earned the respect of his colleagues, as well as elected officials across the state and of the people he really served — readers of his reporting and editing through the years.
I didn’t work on a day-to-day basis with Michael at The Oklahoman, but I got to know him as a thoughtful, approachable, empathetic person, as well as a baseball fan who remains devoted to his St. Louis Cardinals in both good times and bad.
A University of Missouri graduate, McNutt began his journalism career for the Rolla, Mo., newspaper before taking a job at the Enid News & Eagle in the 1980s. His wife, Kathryn McNutt, is also a longtime editor/reporter and veteran of The Oklahoman who now works at OKC’s Journal Record.
McNutt told me that he left The Oklahoman’s Enid bureau position in 2000 to become an editor and reporter in the paper’s OKC newsroom. He held editing positions on the state and city desks, and also covered the state capitol for eight years.
After leaving The Oklahoman in 2013, Michael served as spokesman and communications officer for Gov. Mary Fallin, before assuming the role of communications director for Oklahoma’s Office of Juvenile Affairs. He took the Nondoc position about two years ago.
Former Gov. Mary Fallin shared the stage with Steven Buck, former administrator of the Oklahoma Office of Juvenille Affairs.
You could see evidence of the respect Michael earned in the audience at the NonDoc retirement ceremony. The room was filled with former newspaper colleagues, as well as state agency and elected officials, including former Gov. Fallin.
In fact, Fallin was a featured speaker, hailing McNutt for the work he did on her behalf, but also sharing some funny moments from his years on her staff. She was joined on stage by Steven Buck, who was OJA Administrator when Michael moved from the Governor’s office to that agency.
Buck shared his thoughts with me on the experience of working with Michael at OJA:
“When I found myself seeking a communications director for the Office of Juvenile Affairs, Michael quickly emerged as the best candidate. I had known him previously and greatly respected his work ethic but to serve as a lead advisor to me, I needed some one with great discernment, communication ability, confidence to hold me accountable and, of most importance, a commitment to mission and serving kids. There was not a single day in our work together that I regretted hiring him; he far exceeded my expectations and remains one of my most trusted colleagues.”
That’s the highest of praise.
I thought Tres Savage, NonDoc’s editor-in-chief, did a terrific job as emcee of the event, which served as a fundraiser for the Sustainable Journalism Endowment. The endowment provides funding for NonDoc to operate.
McNutt was the final speaker of the ceremony and told an intriguing story about how he was ‘almost fired’ from his job as a new reporter for the Enid newspaper just because he did his job. Michael said he received a tip that Enid city councilors met in secret at a local restaurant before each Council meeting and, along with a newspaper photographer, he “crashed” the meeting.
Michael McNutt speaking as Tres Savage, Nondoc’s Editor-in-Chief, looks on.
After his story appeared in the next day’s newspaper, a group of councilors marched into the editor’s office demanding that he be fired. The editor stood behind his reporter and told the elected officials to “follow the law.”
As for me, I had a terrific time at McNutt’s sendoff, greeting lots of my former Oklahoman colleagues, sharing time with both Michael and Kathryn and laughing at some of the stories I heard.
It was like a grand reunion.
Thank you, NonDoc, for giving him such a well deserved retirement recognition and to my friend, Steve Buck, for inviting me to sit at your table.
We’re all better off because of the work that Michael McNutt did over his career.
BONUS CONTENT — While Michael told me a story about an event I didn’t recall, I also shared with him about the first — and only — time I visited his office at The Oklahonan’s Enid bureau. Since I was from the “home office” of the paper and worked in the opulent (now former) newsroom along Broadway Extension, I had visions of McNutt working out of a similar abode in Enid. However, it turned out that he worked in a tiny office in a corporate building that was like a 1960s time capsule. I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but today all I can see in my mind is the bright green shag carpet in his office.
DOUBLE BONUS CONTENT — As I was visiting with Kathryn McNutt, along with other well wishers, someone brought up Michael’s avocation of making a daily, early morning run, no matter the weather. She told us that when the weather turned cold and the terrain ice covered, she made sure he wore baseball cleats on his run. One of the speakers at the retirement event spoke of once confronting a man in his neighborhood who was running in early morning darkness and wearing a ski mask, hockey jersey and baseball cleats. It was, of course, Michael McNutt.
From left, Jim Stafford, Steven Buck, Michael McNutt
The author of this blog post ranks Fenway Park as his favorite MLB stadium.
Baseball-themed road trips have been a big part of fandom for decades. Major League Baseball fans will drive thousands of miles over a week’s time or more to watch as many games in as many different cities and stadiums as possible.
For instance, my friend Mike, along with his brother and his son, would drive from OKC to, say, Chicago to see a game at Wrigley Field one day, Comiskey Park on the south side the next. Immediately after that game, they would drive 300 miles to Detroit to catch a Tigers game the next day, then on to Milwaukee to see the Brewers the next.
Sounds exhausting, but a big part of the attraction was soaking in the atmosphere of different MLB stadiums, each of which offers a unique experience in architecture, food, fans and even dimensions of the field.
My MLB experience is much more limited. I’ve watched games in 13 different major league ballparks in my life, six of which are no longer in existence or in use. Read a post about my first MLB experience in the early 1960s at Houston’s old Colt Stadium,
But I think I’ve sampled enough to know which ones are my favorites for the in-stadium experience. So, in honor of the official opening of MLB season — even if it was in Tokyo — I’m ranking my three favorite MLB stadiums.
I’ve also asked four friends who have experienced a lot of baseball venues to weigh in with their top three, as well. Their rankings follow my list.
As for me, I was privileged to attend the annual Biotech Innovation Organization — BIO — Convention for 12 consecutive years with the delegation that showcases Oklahoma biotech industry at the show each year. Those trips created the opportunity to watch MLB games in six different cities, including San Francisco, San Diego and Boston, which are the top three venues for me.
Here’s how I’ve ranked them.
Oracle Park in San Francisco
No. 3: Oracle Park in San Francisco (opened in 2000 as PacBell Park). I was able to combine two of my passions — rail-fanning and baseball — on this trip. I caught the Muni Metro train on Market Street, and it delivered me and about 400 of my closest friends wedged into the car right outside the stadium. As far as Oracle Park, it’s in a beautiful setting, situated so close to the San Francisco Bay that many home runs to right field land in what is known as McCovey Cove in the bay. The park offered great food and drink options, as well as a display of Giants’ World Series trophies on the left field concourse. It was a great experience, despite the chilly San Francisco weather.
Petco Park in San Diego
No. 2: Petco Park in San Diego. Another ballpark with great public transportation options. I attended a Padres game on two straight BIO trips to San Diego. Located in the heart of San Diego’s Gas Lamp entertainment district, I loved the Petco experience because it has a real open feel to it, with a great picnic area in right field, and an old downtown building incorporated right into the stadium down the left field line. It is renowned for fish tacos, but food options seemed endless.
The Green Monster as viewed from lower deck seats behind third base at Fenway Park
No. 1: Fenway Park in Boston (opened in 1912). I was in awe of this ancient baseball cathedral when my former i2E colleague and fellow Oklahoman, Rick Rainey, and I attended a game while in Boston for the BIO show. Never mind that the Red Sox lost to the lowly Detroit Tigers, Fenway offers so much history that the score didn’t matter. Where do I start? Well, the atmosphere outside the ballpark was tremendous with hundreds of fans lined up to buy food and merchandise from dozens of vendors. Inside, the Green Monster taunts hitters in left field. The Pesky Pole in right. The Triangle in Center field. The Red Sox have the ultimate between-inning music, too, hitting right in my wheelhouse with a ’60s/’70s dominated playlist. And the near capacity house that night was primed and ready to belt out Sweet Caroline when it was played in the middle of the eighth inning. It’s a great memory.
Now, let’s see how my friends ranked their top three baseball stadiums. I asked two long-time newspaper reporters and editors — Mike Sherman and Bobby Ross Jr. — for their thoughts, as well as Steve Buck and Jeremy Ball, two people who have attended the same church as I do for many years.
Here are their rankings:
Mike Sherman
I’ve seen a baseball game in 25 MLB parks, including 14 still in service. Here are my rankings.
Tiger Stadium
No. 3: Tiger Stadium. I could have picked a half-dozen parks in this spot, including the Ballpark at Arlington — the easiest place to get to the bathroom and back in your seat between innings without missing a pitch. But three things stick with me from a 1988 visit to Tiger Stadium: The greenest grass I ever saw. Sitting in the upper deck, first row, and feeling like I could snatch the cap off the third-base coach’s head. The sensation of watching baseball in a time capsule and eating my first Domino’s Pizza while my traveling companion obsessed over whether he’d ever see his car again.
Wrigley Field
No. 2: Wrigley Field: This is where I’ve seen Pete Rose return from a 30-day suspension for bumping an umpire (1988) and watched Charles Barkley throw out the first pitch before a Jake Arrieta near-no hitter (2014). On Father’s Day 2023, my two sons and I watched a guy pour his grandfather’s ashes over the rail and on the ivy from the second row of the left-field bleachers. During a 2022 Orioles-Cubs series, Wrigley ushers kept giving my youngest son — Baltimore attire head to toe — Topps baseball cards of former O’s. People love this place and it shows.
Camden Yards
No. 1: Camden Yards. If you want to discount my opinion because my father once hauled boxes of cigarettes out of the Warehouse, go ahead. Or because I snuck in before it opened to pick out my mother’s 1991 Christmas present — Sunday-only season tickets in the left-field stands. Or because my wife’s surprise for my 40th birthday was flying me blindfolded to Baltimore (I am not making this up) and not removing the blindfold until we stood on Eutaw Street, where she handed me tickets to a weekend series with the A’s. (I can do this all day.) Camden Yards is the ballpark that re-started everything. Without it, there may be no Petco, PNC, etc. Oh, and crabcakes.
Bobby Ross Jr.
Wrigley Field
No. 3: Wrigley Field. I realize I’m cheating, and this is actually the fourth ballpark I’ve mentioned. But the historic nature of Wrigley — and the wide enough seats (unlike Fenway Park in Boston) to fit a 21st century human — make this one a must-visit stadium.
PNC Park
No. 2: PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Petco Park in San Diego (tie). Both of these are spectacular with incredible downtown backdrops. PNC’s setting on the northern bank of the Allegheny River may give it the slight edge.
Globe Life Field
No. 1.: Globe Life Field. The Rangers’ home ballpark is in a league of its own. You might think I’m saying this just because I’m a Rangers fan, and you would be 99% right. This is, after all, the field of dreams where I witnessed the World Series Game 1 heroics (by Corey Seager and Adolis García) in 2023.
No. 3: PNC Park. This is largely based on location and cityscape visible from the stadium, the Clemente Bridge in particular is the best backdrop for a stadium available. Inside the stadium, has a good mixture of modern amenities/foods with more standard fare, and there isn’t a bad seat anywhere in the stadium.
Camden Yards
No. 2: Camden Yards. This is honestly the cleanest ballpark I’ve ever been to, this place literally looks like it was opened last year. This is a really intimate ballpark, soon as you walk in you are close to the seats and vantage points are great. The warehouse is a cool backdrop, even more interesting when you can walk right next to it.
Wrigley Field
No. 1: Wrigley Field. As a Cardinals fan, it pains me to say this, but the Wrigley experience is baseball heaven. The stands are really flat in the lower level, so I felt more connected to others, and the prevalence of one beer (Old Style) is a cool feature of the experience. Everything about the ballpark is intimate, and there’s something cool about how the stands are largely segregated from the concessions area. What probably sets Wrigley apart is the ‘Wrigleyville’ area outside the stadium; it’s a celebration before and after the game. It’s also the first place I ever shared a beer with my dad, so there’s a personal part for me.
A couple other notes on stadiums:
Best public transportation to a stadium: Target Field, Minneapolis — Rail drops you 100 feet from the East entrance!
Best food: Guaranteed Rate Field, White Sox — The stadium is nothing special except the wet beef sandwich with sweet peppers, OFF THE CHARTS GREAT.
Steve Buck
Arlington Stadium
No. 3: Arlington Stadium. Yes, it has been replaced twice now but I attended my first MLB game there on June 25, 1976. The Rangers played a doubleheader on a Friday night (yes, that used to be a thing). Toby Harrah, the Rangers shortstop, walked off the first game with a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th. Arlington Stadium was brutally hot and a miserable experience, but that first in-person game captured a certain 10 year olds attention and fueled my MLB enjoyment that resonates to this day.
Camden Yards
No, 2: Camden Yards. My all-time favorite baseball player is Cal Ripken, Jr. I attended games in Camden several times in the early 90’s. The unique architecture (at the time), the cool community surrounding the stadium and my passion for Ripken and his teammates made attending games there an absolute must-do. I wonder if I would see it the same way now that I no longer follow the team closely but I hope to catch Jackson Holiday soon and see if the magic still exists.
Wrigley Field
No. 1: Wrigley Field. Make no mistake, it is a dump. Outdated, inconvenient and lacking modern conveniences. All of that is true. But that is part of it’s character. Baseball in Wrigley is magic. A reminder of the game I fell in love with in my earliest years. I was never a fan of the Cubbies but attending a game there is easily a top 5, personally attended, sporting event in my life, and that includes multiple golf majors (including the Masters), seeing Gretzky skate and Jordan dominate, and several other sports historical moments. I am eager to attend a game in Fenway to compare it to the absolute rush that is baseball in Wrigley.
***
Thanks to these fans who shared their personal favorites. I love seeing the different perspectives, even if Camden Yards (in three ranking) and Wrigley Field (in four rankings) appeared early and often.
Must be a reason.
Let me know what MLB parks are your favorites in the comments to this post. I welcome your perspective. If you want to know more about the cathedrals of baseball, visit this website.
BONUS CONTENT: I ranked my three favorite stadiums, but couldn’t write this without listing my least favorite MLB venue.
Oakland Coliseum
I saw a game in Oakland in 2004 between the A’s and the Reds, and I was appalled at the venue in which people paid good money to attend. The exterior of Coliseum (as I’ve always called it) was composed of plain concrete like you might see on a bridge or a highway. And the concrete facade was chipped and jagged. Inside, the concourse was narrow and dark. When more than a half dozen people waited in line at the concession stands, it was extremely difficult to navigate. And because it was (then) also home to the NFL Raiders, the outfield seating had been remade into a giant triple decker structure that felt out of place for the ballpark. Plus, the entire upper deck was closed off and covered in green tarp. Definitely, not an enticing atmosphere for baseball. You have to give it up to fans who stayed with the A’s despite their crummy stadium. No wonder they fled for Las Vegas with a 3-year stop in Sacramento’s triple A stadium.
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. 72021: 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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Plus, my favorite teachers are now deceased. I loved you, Judy Massey and Tom Oliver.
I’m not so big on family reunions, either, although I’m not sure why. Maybe, it’s because you have to listen to your Crazy Uncle yammer on about what’s wrong with the world?
But there is a reunion that warms my heart every time. It’s the impromptu reunion of unexpectedly running into an old colleague or friend from your past life. It can set off shouts of joy and hugs all around.
Anyway, as I was watching the honorees take the stage for a brief moment in the spotlight, I noticed a couple of photographers who were recording the event.
Although his back was to me the entire time, I recognized one of the photographers as Rip Stell, whom I knew from my tenure at i2E, Inc., here in OKC. I couldn’t miss him because he was taller than the other photographer and wearing his signature black shirt.
So, after Steve and all the other CEOs had been honored, I saw Rip sitting at a table not too far from where the Care Providers Oklahoma team was seated.
I jumped up and began walking toward Rip when he saw me and quickly jumped up himself. Rip gave me a big bear hug and then gave me a photographer’s pose with his camera to his eye while I shot my usual bad iPhone pic.
We had only a few seconds to chat, but it was a grand reunion.
The Love’s Cup was sort of a rapid-fire event, which required Rip to be ready for group and individual shots one after the other. His photos were outstanding year after year, with an eye for both the posed and the candid shot.
Before there was a 3 Old Geezers podcast there was the 3 Old Geezers text exchange, a sort of daily debate over the Thunder and the world at large.
The group included my friends Steve Buck and Ed Godfrey, who disagreed strongly with my stance against tanking — which translates to losing on purpose to get a better draft position — by the Oklahoma City Thunder, or any NBA team, for that matter.
We went back and forth for a couple of years with Steve often reacting with ‘we need to take this debate to a podcast.’ It was a nice thought, but none of us had any podcast experience or equipment.
Then Steve came up with a couple of microphones and technology to connect to a recording device like a computer.
We had no more excuses.
So, last fall we launched the 3 Old Geezers podcast — LISTEN HERE — which has had only moderate success. But it allows us to vent our old man rage in get-off-my-lawn type rants.
Ed’s righteous indignation over perceived ills like bad officiating in college softball or the challenges of new technology have been well worth the effort. His humorous Old Man rants are exactly why I’m participating.
Steve hosts with a steady hand, suggesting appropriate and timely topics, while I’m mostly reacting to what’s been said or forgetting the Mayor’s name or even the web address of this blog. It happens.
Anyway, last week, Steve suggested we include some of our text exchanges in this blog to provide insight into where our material comes from.
Great idea. I’ve gone back through our Geezer text string and come up with some material that has led to blog discussion. Here’s a taste:
JANUARY 9 Jim Stafford: This is from a Geezer’s wife last night after she came home from the game: “I’m so impressed with our coach because of how many players he uses in a game. Instead of using just the starting five with two or three of the same substitutes like our old coaches, he uses a lot of players throughout the game, and you never know which one might come in.”
Ed Godfrey: He will be relying on that bench this month with a heavy slate of games.
Steve Buck: Paula knows. Jim on the other hand yearns for the Scottie Brooks days of predetermined rotations
Jim Stafford: I love Foreman Scottie! He was my favorite coach until Mark Daigneault came along.
Ed Godfrey: WHAT? Daigneault is your favorite coach now? Next thing you know you will be telling us Chet Holmgren is better than Mike Muscala.
Steve Buck: #truth
Jim Stafford: I like Daigneault’s courtside demeanor. Man, you can’t get him flustered. I’m still mulling over Chet vs. Muscala.
Back to reality. Here’s the latest on Muscala that I sent my Geezer partners:
As I said online, it’s a Christmas miracle!
More text debate:
JANUARY 29 Ed Godfrey: They changed the comics today. No Shoe! No B.C.! No Wizard of Id! Who wants Pearls Before Swine? Non Sequitor? Jump Start?
Jim Stafford: Welcome to the 21st Century
Ed Godfrey: Who reads newspapers? People from the 20th Century!
Screenshot
So, are you getting the drift? The Geezer text stream never ends. Here’s one more for good measure:
FEBRUARY 20
Ed Godfrey: Just asked Alexa to play Eddie’s playlist again. She played an Eighties playlist. I give up.
Steve Buck: What exactly is on Eddie’s playlist?
Ed Godfrey: Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Turnpike
Troubadours, Johnny Cash, Coltor Wall, Zach Bryan.
Steve Buck: Yeah…no overlap with 80’s lol
Screenshot
So, there you have it. Our failures to communicate in unending text rants found their place in a podcast.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For the third consecutive year, I’ve gone through my year in BlogOKC and pulled the posts that were most meaningful to me as a “best of” column. My favorite may be the one written by my daughter after she saved a roommate’s life in Florida. I was proud of her for jumping in when needed and also proud of her for the way she wrote of the experience. There are also links at the end of this ‘best of’ column that take you to other special blog posts worth reading, including three written as guest posts by friends. The subhead on each favorite blog post is also a link, so you can click through to the actual blog and read it in its entirety, if you choose. WordPress tells me BlogOKC had 7,024 visitors to this point in 2023. I thank you for reading my thoughts.
Sarah Stafford poses in her South Florida residence
For the past year and a half, my 24-year-old daughter, Sarah, has worked as a “tech” at drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation centers in South Florida. She is trained in CPR because of the potential for relapse and overdose of recovering addicts. Sarah is a recovering addict herself, and lives in a nearby home occupied by other recovering addicts with house rules that support their road to recovery. It’s not always easy, though. Temptation sometimes leads addicts to relapse with potential deadly consequences. This is Sarah’s story about a recent incident in her home.
I went back through my social media history this morning and came across a dozen or more Dilbert comic strips I have posted over the years. If you aren’t familiar with Dilbert, it’s an insightful, often hilarious syndicated comic strip that skewers corporate office life. It features Dilbert, an engineer, his co-worker Wally and the pointy-haired boss, among others. So, it hit me hard when a text over the weekend from a former co-worker at The Oklahoman delivered some devastating news. The paper is cancelling Dilbert, and for all the right reasons.
The Beatles from an early photo as they landed in New York City.
I was introduced to the Beatles in 1964 by my uncle. I was 11 and he was 19 and had purchased the album, ‘Meet the Beatles.’ In my extended family in 1964, buying something as worldly as a secular rock-n-roll record by the Beatles was a pretty bold step. My uncle told me he didn’t care for the music, even if the Beatles were a pop culture phenomenon. So, he gave me the album. Beatlemania washed over me like it did millions of other young Americans. I couldn’t get enough. As I was listening to a Beatles playlist on my iPhone today, it occurred to me what great storytellers, they were.
Bucky Dodd, Ph.D., founder & CEO of technology firm ClearKinetic, demonstrates an AI Chatbot at a recent OKC meeting.
“If you came here today for answers, I’m sorry, you will probably leave with more questions.” That’s how Bucky Dodd, Ph.D., a long-time educator and CEO of an educational technology startup called ClearKinetic, launched his presentation on Artificial Intelligence last week to a group of association executives at the OKC Convention Center. Dodd obviously follows author Stephen Covey and his 7 habits of a highly effective person. Begin with the end in mind. But Dodd’s presentation was more of a show-and-tell to his audience from the Oklahoma Society of Association Executives. He prompted a Chatbot to actually generate some amazing content for us.
I just read Jeff Speck’s “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time,” and I don’t know where to start with my reaction. Jeff Speck, you might remember, is the urban planner and author who advocates making urban areas pedestrian friendly to encourage both economic development and urban living spaces. He consulted with the City of OKC about 15 years ago that resulted in big changes downtown, especially in the elimination of most one-way streets. I worked downtown in the 1980s, and I can assure you there was little to brag about.
A page of the 1971 Southside High School yearbook, ‘Lifestyles’
I walked into Cattlemen’s Steakhouse a few weeks ago, made my way to a back booth and was greeted by someone I had not seen in 52 years. He was an old high school chum, so it was the ultimate class reunion.
I’ve written all of this because, as most people know by now, both Berry and Jenni are leaving the paper. They’re joining a new online venture called The Sellout, Sellout Crowd, or something like that. It should debut later this month, from what I understand. I got wind of Berry’s impending exit about three weeks ago and immediately sent him an email with the subject line “Say It Ain’t So.” Berry responded and said it was so. He said it’s a good thing, not bad, because readers who follow him and Jenni will be able to read their work in a free online newsletter.
Mike West with magazine opened to classified that advertised Keystone Labels for sale
Was it karma or divine coincidence? I write that because of how I recently met another outstanding couple. Except this time it wasn’t in church; it was at The Joinery restaurant in Bricktown back in October on the occasion of the Sellout Crowd launch party. Sellout Crowd is a new online sports reporting service that launched September 1. As I sat down at a table to consume some complementary food I carried from the buffet line, I found myself across from a couple who were unfamiliar to me. The couple introduced themselves as Mike and Tonia West. And did they have a story of divine coincidence.
The 3 Old Geezers are (from left) Steve Buck, Ed Godfrey, Jim Stafford
For me, the podcast confirmed that I’m more agile behind a keyboard than with a microphone in my face, while both Steve and Ed have shown the ability to be clever and entertaining on the run. If you haven’t listened yet, I invite you to listen to our latest episode, and then perhaps invest some time in the previous podcasts. We’re all Thunder fans, but take different approaches to our fandom and perceive the team slightly differently. In fact, one Geezer has a tendency to sleep right through some of the games.
Our driver poses outside the BRT bus at the Lake Hefner park-and-ride stop along the Northwest Expressway.
The Northwest line is one of at least three BRT routes planned by the city, with two others in the works for the south side and the Northeast corridor. MAPS 4 dollars are paying for the new BRT routes, according to this story from The Oklahoman. Anyway, the bus was clean and new with about 5 people already aboard in the back seating area. I took a seat in the middle, and we headed toward downtown OKC. So, the BRT route gets a big thumbs up from me, even though it doesn’t lend itself to my daily transportation needs.
The Dot Race as presented on the Texas Rangers scoreboard in the 1980s.
If you frequented the late All Sports Stadium to watch the Oklahoma City 89ers Triple A baseball team play during the 1980s, you probably were a fan of an animated scoreboard feature known as the Dot Race. A form of the Dot Race lives on in the 2020s as between-inning entertainment for the Texas Rangers and other Major League parks around the country. And as time has passed, few people recall that the Dot Race had its beginning as humble, white dots on the 89ers scoreboard in Oklahoma City.
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.
Jim Stafford's BlogOKC 