The Surrender Cobra strikes (again)

I realize that I have done this before. Less than a month ago, in fact, when I spent an entire morning reveling in the expressions of agony that could be found across the Oklahoma City crowd following a loss on a last-second shot.

Guess what?

It doesn’t get old. At least not for me, and in my thorough analysis of the aftermath of Tyrese Haliburton’s pull-up jumper to beat the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I found a rare, rear view of the famed “surrender cobra.”

Remeber this fan. They’ll be part of an exhibit at the end of this newsletter about the different stages of fan grief.

As for the game? I’m not going to lie, it looked pretty grim for an awful long time. The Pacers led for exactly 0.3 seconds of this game. It was the most important 0.3 seconds, however. The final 0.3 seconds.

At some point this Indiana team will have to be studied for its ability erase seemingly insurmountable odds. I’m not all that concerned with the “how” though. So long as the Thunder don’t win the title. In fact, I’m embarrassed to admit just how much I would sacrifice of my own happiness for Oklahoma City to lose this NBA Finals.

If you’re looking for a spot to practice schadenfreude, it appears that Mike’s Chili Parlor in Ballard is a gathering spot for the bitter and the spiteful. There were eye-witness reports who said they spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening there on Thursday.

I would absolutely be there if I were in town. Instead, I was sitting in my apartment living room when I shouted “Yeah!” in a tone of voice that was way too loud for 11 p.m. after Haliburton made the shot.

I followed this up by saying, “Suck it,” which certainly isn’t the classiest of responses, but hey, I’m not the classiest of guys. Before I move on to some links, I’d like to share a graphic from Adam Beckwith that I found quite compelling:

I (belatedly) learned of comic Dustin Nickerson a few weeks back, and he was generous enough to spend more than 20 minutes talking about both his work and Seattle sports. I really enjoyed getting to hear from him:

I also talked to Casey McClain, a comedian who lives in Tacoma for his show, “Poor Sports Seattle.” (Unfortunately, I failed to switch the camera from my laptop to my Web cam so you get a tremendous view of my second chin throughout this recording.)

Then there’s my regularly scheduled programming with Christian Caple as we close in on 150 episodes of “Say Who, Say Pod.”

In honor of the NBA Finals, I did done Sonics gear on Thursday.

By noon, it was too hot for the satin jacket so I was down to a T-shirt and hat, and when I took my dog on a walk through Riverside Park in the afternoon, I did get one reaction.

“Are you rooting for the Thunder?” a gentleman asked.

He paused ever-so-slightly before saying the team’s name letting me know that he was genuinely curious. This answered what had been something of a lingering question for me. Would people here in New York understand that someone wearing Sonics gear would want anyone other than the Thunder to win?

Or would they think this was perhaps some sort of retro fetish in which I was a Thunder fan representing my team by wearing the colors of its ancestors?

“God no,” I told the passerby. “I hope they experience nothing but pain.”

“Fair enough,” he said.

Five hours later, I got my wish. Remember that fan from the picture atop this email? Well, they went on quite a journey through the final 10 seconds of this game.

Stage 1: Fear

Stage 2: Oh, it’s not really going to happen is it?

Stage 3: Oh God, it actually did happen didn’t it.

Stage 4: Back where we started