Thunder Up

I reside in the home of the Thunder. And I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t a fan. But I certainly wasn’t fanatical. I was happy when they won, but I could shrug off a loss like an ugly cardigan. That has changed.

I went to the playoff game last Wednesday night against the Lakers. It changed my whole perspective. It gave new meaning to the random visits that Jamba gets from James Harden from time to time. Not joking. We’ve chatted.

Okay, I’ll stop name dropping now. At the beginning of the game, before the refs went blind (more on that later), this video played.

(before anything else I need to say that I spent significant time searching for this video. And I wanted it in actual video form, not video of video. But this is all I could find. And Miss Brittney doesn't know how to type because according to her, this city is actually our cury apparently....moving on.)

I’ve mentioned before that Oklahoma isn’t my favorite place. But I’ve never felt such pride in this state as when that video played. I clutched Megan’s hand and whisper-yelled over and over again, “I have chills!”

My state patriotism continued throughout the game as I internally cursed and externally boo-ed the bad calls. I was beyond ready to highlight the exit signs for the Lakers use. Mr. World Peace himself forgot what sport he was playing and legitimately tackled a Thunder player. But of course that was our fault, right refs?

The atmosphere of the arena was unbelievable. All of downtown OKC was united in anti-LA sentiment. A beautiful sight. But not as gorgeous as that scoreboard. We stayed until the very last second (even the extra 0.3 seconds that the Lakers insisted on utilizing) and screamed until our throats were raw. It was one of the best sporting experiences of my life.

I’ve never been one to announce ownership of a team. But I think I’m ready to commit to the Thunder. For life. 

I, Taylor Olivia Arceneaux, take the Oklahoma City Thunder to be my loftily adored NBA team. To have and to cheer for from this day forward. For better or worse. For winning or losing. Through lockouts and crazy crowds; to love and to cherish, from this day forward until James Harden shaves his beard.

It’s a Very Lucky Girl that claims this city as HER city.