Thundering up: THE FINALS.

It's on, Oklahoma.  The Thunder are in the finals.

I am proud to be an Okie right now.  True, I have resisted the moniker for most of my life, but when you have nearly 40 years residency it's time to admit it:  I am an Okie.  But that's not the story here.

In about 4 hours, the Oklahoma City Thunder will take the court in the Chesapeake Energy Arena about 110 miles from where I'm sitting and begin the best-of-seven series against the Miami Heat for the NBA Championship.  Win or lose, it is a momentous achievement considering that a scant 10 or so years ago, landing a professional team of any sport in Oklahoma was a laughable prospect at best.

Up uintil Clay Bennett bought the Seattle Supersonics and moved them to Oklahoma City, the state has been used randomly as a sort of chess piece for pro team ownership to get better facilities and such.  At one point in my life I remember that the NFL's Seattle Seahawks were considering a move to Oklahoma, and at another point, when the Thunder's home arena was still under construction, the Calgary Flames of the NHL were considering a move to OKC.

So what is about to happen in the City is a transition from being known only for the Oklahoma Sooners and tornadoes into a for real, major league friendly sports state.  What brought it home for me was when my girlfriend and I took in a game down in OKC in April.  It was amazing to see inside the Chesapeake, which I heretofor knew as the Ford Center, decked out as a major league, professional sports venue.

From stem to stern I noted that that arena was not what it was when I left it.when I was traveleing down there to watch the Tulsa Oilers play hockey against the Oklahoma City Blazers.  It had been upgraded to reflect the new tenant, and there were continuing upgrades in progress while we were there.  More striking than that was that the atmosphere in the building was absolutely electric, and it was a game that was pretty much a guaranteed win for the Thunder (they played the Sacramento Kings that night).

It was awesome.  That's all I can say.

Now it's time to prove once and for all that the Oklahoma City Thunder are for real.  Sure, making the playoffs in their second year after a 20-59 inaugral year to winning the NBA Western Conference makes that case in and of itself, but now that they are in the actual NBA Finals it is time to put up or shut up.  I am optimistic, sure, but anything can happen in the championship round and win or lose, one thing is for sure...

Oklahoma City is where amazing happens.