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Originally, I was scheduled to write a column that talked about how much I love July 4. Which I do. It’s my second-favorite day of the year, trailing only Thanksgiving.

I used to like New Year’s Day — wall to wall football — but two things have happened to New Year’s. 1. We get wall to wall football every Saturday of the college football season. And 2. I’m usually working on New Year’s, and while I appreciate the wall to wall football in some Miami or Phoenix hotel room, it’s not the same.

So Thanksgiving and Independence Day it is. I like Thanksgiving because the weather is great, the food is splendid, the football is good and I’m always with family, never in some faraway city. July 4 doesn’t have good weather, doesn’t have football, but I’m always with family, and often the day comes in the middle of the week.

I love holidays that don’t cater to the Monday tradition. Nothing against July 4’s summer brothers, Memorial Day and Labor Day, but a holiday that sticks to its date packs a punch. It’s got attitude. And Friday is the best day for July 4; most people get off, plus they have Saturday off to recover from late-night fireworks.

Of course, if I did write about why it’s great to be American, this would be a special year to do it, for Oklahoma sports fans. Dreams do come true. The NBA is in Oklahoma City, not temporarily. The Sonics — sorry, I’m calling them the Sonics in an act of rebellion against the authorities until the team gets a new name; the team’s phone bank answers calls by saying “Thank you for calling the Sonics…” — are here, and the city is buzzing.

This is a monumental time for Oklahoma City. All those grand plans by politicians and business leaders and Bricktown pioneers has continued to pay off and pay off, and OKC soars. All of Oklahoma, too.

Around Oklahoma lakes and gas grills today, the NBA will replace the price of fuel as the No. 1 topic of conversation. It’s a special time. We’re on the ground floor of Oklahoma City’s elevation into the national consciousness.

We’ve encountered the first problem with having a major-league franchise. What the heck do we call this team?

I don’t mean Thunderbirds or Barons or Energy or any of the myriad names suggested for Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise. I mean, what do we call them until they pick a name?

The order came from the sports editor Wednesday night. Can’t refer to them as the Sonics. They’re not the Sonics anymore. ESPN’s SportsCenter alluded to the same thing.

I don’t know. Sounded a little like Pierre Trudeau, the old prime minister of Canada, who wouldn’t let Taiwan into the 1976 Olympics using the name Republic of China. “They’re not China,” Trudeau said, a logic he did not extend to the cold-war states of East and West Germany.

Anyway, the team formerly known as the Sonics have no such fallback name as Taiwan. Ex-Sonics doesn’t work; sounds like Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. Oklahoma City’s NBA team is a mouthful.

I don’t know what to call them. Everyone will call them Sonics until a different name is picked. I wrote around them last night, but if they’re not going to let us call them what everyone around town is calling them, I’m lost.

The new name has got to come quickly. I don’t see how Clay can sell his team to sponsors or much of anyone until he’s got a name to hang his hat on. Stumbling over all those words to describe a team, when a simple word like Sonics could do it, only gets in the way of marketing.

Hurry up, Clay Bennett, and pick a name. Business of the NBA in Oklahoma City can’t start without it.

It’s going to be a strange, strange day. We await the ruling from Judge Marsha Pechman, who will post her Sonics/Seattle decision on a federal court website at 6 p.m. Oklahoma time.

Do you remember the climactic scene in “A Time to Kill”? Everyone just milling outside around the Southern courthouse. The cameras don’t show us the courtroom. All of a sudden, the doors open, and a little kid screams the verdict. There’s an instant of silence, then pandemonium.

That’s what today will be like. The Internet has changed many things, and now it’s changed courtroom drama.

If the Sonics win, there is one major question. When are they coming? Immediately? Within a few weeks, which would bring the NBA to Oklahoma City?

If Seattle wins, there is one major question. Will the Sonics still come to OKC in two years? Does Clay Bennett and his partners have the stomachs and the pocketbooks to stick it out?

In the frantic two or three hours after 6 p.m., we’ll try to answer those questions for you. Until then, we’re like the interested residents in that sleepy Southern town, awaiting the fate of Samuel L. Jackson, awaiting the Internet doors to burst open and deliver the news.

We took a getaway day in Tulsa. The Dish and I and another couple had tickets to Phantom of the Opera on Saturday night, so we made a day of it. The girls went shopping at Utica Square, we drove around some cool old-Tulsa neighborhoods, we toured Oral Roberts University and we figured up ways to make money on Riverside Drive along the Arkansas River.

Tulsa is a cool town. I’ve always thought so, and just because it hasn’t been as progressive as Oklahoma City over the last 20 years is no reason to believe otherwise.

Downtown Tulsa has its charms, starting with its churches. I’ve never seen a downtown so marked by its churches. Boston Avenue Methodist, Christ the King Catholic, First Presbyterian, plus a half dozen more, the architecture and splendor the churches defines downtown Tulsa.

The BOK Center, which is scheduled to open in September, will be a superb addition to Tulsa, giving T-Town an elite arena. It’s a solid looking building but not a palace, not from the outside anyway. More opulent than the Ford Center, but not as plush as Kansas City’s Sprint Center. Stay tuned on the interior. Construction of the BOK Center has caused some of the downtown Tulsa streets to be turned upside down, so driving around is a mess.

Tulsa’s Performing Arts Center is not in the class of OKC’s Civic Center Music Hall, though it was quite adequate for “Phantom.” Walking into the lobby of the Performing Arts Center is like walking into the lobby of a nice college drama theater. Not the plushness you would expect.

Phantom was not my favorite musical. I haven’t seen them all, but I liked Les’ Miserables and Beauty & the Beast better. The Music Man, too. Probably some others I’m not thinking of. Phantom was better than Cats.

We had dinner at a cool Italian place in south Tulsa, Ti’Amos on Sheridan. Dave Sittler of the Tulsa World recommended it, and while Sittler isn’t the first person I would turn to for culinary expertise — he’s a room-service guy on the road — he steered us right on this one. I had seafood pasta, which I almost always order in an Italian joint, and it was big-time good.

I took my pal to ORU because he had never seen it, and most people find the campus stunning. I went to basketball camp at ORU in 1976, when I was 15, and I still remember thinking the campus looked like something out of Star Trek. All gold medal and new-age architecture. The City of Faith hospital, which no longer is connected to ORU and no longer is a hospital, stands 60 stories on its central tower. The tallest buildings in OKC are less than 40 stories. The shimmering gold skyscraper failed as an ORU hospital and stands as a monument to the evangelist’s outrageous visions.

The praying hands at the entrance to the campus are impressive, too, and frankly, so is every building on campus. Even the baseball stadium looks like something otherworldly. I first heard the word “aerobics” at ORU, during the 1976 camp. ORU’s student activity center — like OSU’s Colvin Center or OU’s Huffman Center  – was called the Aerobics Center. That’s where we played our basketball during the camp.

We drove through some great neighborhoods, both near ORU and near downtown. We also drove from I-44 north to downtown along Riverside Drive, and it’s a beautiful stretch, overlooking the Arkansas River. I say if someone could develop the east side of Riverside with condos or luxury apartments, looking out over the river and the park that runs alongside it, the demand would be high.

Driving home Saturday night was a breeze. First time in my life I’ve zipped across the turnpike completely on cruise control. Made it home by about 12:45 a.m., and that’s with a stop to drop off our friends. An excellent day. Tulsa’s a good city. I’m glad we’ve got it in Oklahoma.

Another round of emails, ranging from college football to the NBA.

Greg wrote about Mike Gundy’s new job of ticket-seller: “I really hope OSU can find 25,000 more butts in the seats. Those 25,000 are likely student parents who have not participated in the past, recent graduates who get out of the habit of going like they did as students and, finally, college football fans who cannot always get tickets or lack the confidence to go to Norman and just stick their fingers in the air. 60K fans filling the stadium, OSU winning at least eight games a season is good for OU. It makes for more interest and makes the Bedlam game always deserving of a lot of attention. I just disagree with how Coach Holder is going about it. I honestly don’t think it will work, and frankly, even if there is an increase, it is something which only works every other year. It all comes down to winning.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The success of OU or OSU in most any sport elevates the other program. A rising tide lifts all boats. You are defined by your opponent.

Sam, quite the erudite reader, read my home run column and wrote, “I think the trouble in general is the lack of fight. Specifically, we could say steroids replaces commitment with nervous anger. But to the general case, I can find no more appropriate summation than to recall a speech given by Allen Dulles of Duke University in November 1962. One of the remarks I specifically recall was his trademark, “You may think me an old fool now, young men, but I’m telling you it is better to have a committed man as an enemy than to have a dozen weaklings as allies. It is essential to know where you stand.” Custer and Crazy Horse both believed that. But our enemies are not men of commitment. Our allies are weakling.”

Which again goes back to scheduling. If you want all your rivals to go splat, join Conference USA.

Chris wrote about Tiger Woods. “Great article (once again) on Tiger. Yes, he is great at this time, but the jury is still out on him breaking all the records. This is a stupid statement if not looked at properly. He wins but he is not dominate like Ruth, Aaron etc. He doesn’t win by much; take a stroke her and there and he loses. Weird way to look at this but in my eyes he isn’t dominate like the athletes I mentioned above.”

Not to be disrespectful, Chris, but what in the heck are you talking about? Tiger has won the Masters by 12, the U.S. Open by 15, the British by eight, and the PGA and another British by five shots. That’s five of 14 majors that were absolute routs. Only three of his titles came in playoffs, and another was by one stroke, so that’s four of 14 that were very tight. Only three were by two strokes. So half his titles came by at least three shots, which in golf is a runaway.

Mike wrote about the Shaq-Kobe feud, which won’t seem to die. “Glad you gave a jeer to Shaq. He sounds to me like a guy who knows he’s no longer relevant as a player, knows his old team is better off without him and thus feels compelled to draw attention to himself. And I liken Kobe’s struggles against Boston to those of MJ (yeah…hate to keep making that comparison) against the great team defense of the Pistons in the late ’80s. But when MJ’s supporting cast got strong enough, he broke through. With a healthy Andrew Bynum and a Boston team that’s a year older, so too will Kobe and the Lakers, who in my opinion overachieved to begin with by knocking off the Spurs, winning the West and even reaching the Finals.”

All the Kobe fans who “hate to keep making that comparison” with Jordan had better cut it out, or Kobe’s stock’s going to keep dropping.

Craig wrote, “I get the sense some things are changing regarding OU fans support of traveling to BCS games, especially Glendale. I have been to all the last four BCS losses. We have a party of about 8 or 10 of us who travel together for these things. While we really liked San Antonio, we don’t really care to go to KC. But if OU plays for the Big 12 Championship, we may go. We have all decided not to travel and spend our money on a BCS game unless OU is playing for the national championship. All the other BCS games are meaningless. My wife said she would rather go “somewhere else” like Hawaii or something. Then, the other day, I met with a friend who is an extreme traveling OU diehard. He surprised the heck out of me when he announced he wouldn’t be traveling to any bowl games this next season either. I think many of the fans support the team, but have no desire to attend another meaningless BCS game. Do you get that vibe from others?”

I get the vibe that anyone who has to drive to a bowl game isn’t getting past the first gas station. Here’s what I think. OU fans accustomed to going to Miami or Phoenix for a bowl game, who instead go to Honolulu or someplace, will enjoy their vacation paradise. Then about the third day, someone will say, when’s the game? And everyone will look at each other and admit, “I wish the Sooners were here.”

Joe wrote about the possibility of OSU removing the Eddie Sutton signature, but not the name, from the court at Gallagher-Iba Arena. “I completely agree with you that it is too early for Holder and Pickens to run all the Suttons out of Stillwater. We both debated the pros and cons of Sean being fired, but Eddie is a different story. He put OSU back on the map in basketball. The new renovation and attention drawn to the program was a big plus. They really hadn’t done squat since Mr. Iba left. To say that you reverse all Eddie did is going a little too far and way too fast for OSU fans. However, they have taken that money and now they have a one-man show calling the shots. It is kind of like we take the government’s money on grants and stuff. You can sure bet there are strings and they are going to tell you how it can be used.”

If OSU has a one-man show calling the shots, his name is Mike Holder. I don’t know how many times I have to explain it, but Boone Pickens is not running Cowboy athletics. He’s an owner, in the major-league sense of the word, but he’s an absentee owner. He’s not Mark Cuban or Jerry Jones. Boone has other things to worry about.

Brad questioned my description of Ana Ivanovic as a no-name. “Ana Ivanovic is a megastar on and off the court. A knockout (a 10 in some eyes). She won the French Open three weeks ago and I believe reached two major finals last year, and I think the semis in another major. She is by no means a no-name. And yes, when Henin retired, Sharapova went to No. 1 then was jumped by Ana following the French. She may not be household to the general public (will soon), but she is a giant giant name in tennis circles. I saw a feature on her yesterday that paralleled her popularity to soccer stars in Europe. Just jump on the Internet and google her, you will see how big she is. Again, on and off the court, exactly what tennis needed.”

Well, I googled Ivanovic. She is indeed a looker, and she indeed finished second at the ‘07 French and the ‘08 Australian. She’s an up-and-comer, but giant-giant? I don’t buy that. She’s the next great hope, and part of that hope is she stops losing in the third round at Wimbledon, which she did last week.

John wrote about the Sonics. “Your column today hits the nail right on the head. While I don’t care for or about basketball, my interest is piqued by current Sonic litigation. The city [administration] has validated its desire ‘not’ to fund a new basketball facility. Seattle has little to defend its position in court. Win or lose, the city will wear a forever black-eye and illustrate ‘incompetence.’ Poison Well and all other things aside, the intelligent thing for Seattle to do is negotiate a buy-out. Then again, intelligence demonstrated to date by the city seems wanting. The judge has but one consideration in arriving at a decision, can the Sonics buy out the lease? I may be qualified to comment; study of contract law earned me my best grades in law school, if long ago.) If Sonic owners fail to prevail in court, I have suggestions that might garner further headlines and comment.”

Wow. I like that last part. We’ve been looking for a law consultant who works cheap.

Mike wrote about the Sonics. “In Seattle, the Sonics’ attorneys (through their expert) have been quoted as taking the position that ’sports teams do not have a net economic impact since the consumer dollars spent would be spent elsewhere in the area.’ Clay Bennett is sitting there while someone makes this argument for his benefit. Oklahoma City and its residents did not benefit from this position when it was asked to approve a tax to support the team’s move to Oklahoma City. It seems to me that you should take issue with this. The whole manner in which this was sold to the residents should be examined. I am a avid sports fan and not against sports in anyway. I am not a supporter of the concept of helping sport team owners so they can pay additional millions in payroll to those who are paid plenty. No city has ever offered me facilities support for manufacturing in companies I owned.”

Well, the city never rallied at Mike’s plant and cheered, so it’s not a direct comparison. I don’t think Clay Bennett ever said getting an NBA team means more direct money value, but becoming major league would lead to enhanced status for the city in a variety of ways. Now, the ad campaign sort of milked it — more jobs, more whatever — and those were silly when they aired, long before this trial. The difference, as I see Clay seeing it and I would tend to agree, is that the value of the NBA in Seattle is not great, since Seattle has other major-league franchises, while the value of the NBA in OKC is much greater, since it would elevate us to major-league status. That has inherent value.

I spent Thursday at the Adrian Peterson Football Camp and came away with a slightly higher appreciation for football camps. Because of Peterson.

Football camps are largely silly. Football camps are like football practice, in that no way they can be fun. When you go to baseball practice, you basically play baseball. Hit, field, throw. When you go to basketball practice, you mostly play basketball. But when you go to football practice, you don’t do much football playing.

Peterson’s camp contained a lot of stations with kids going through drills that will help for footwork and technique and cause a 9-year-old to scream out in boredom. Later in the morning, the camp broke up into 7-on-7 games, which was a lot more entertaining for the campers.

Thus the dilemma of a football camp. To learn football, you can’t have any fun. To have fun, you won’t learn anything.

So what’s the value? Peterson, I’d say. Adrian went all over the camp, working with the kids, clowning around, saying hello. He took a break to do a media bit, but otherwise, he was with the kids.

Which had to be pleasing to the campers. The truth was these kids, who seemed to range in age from seven or eight to maybe 12, didn’t come to OU’s intramural fields to learn football. They came to get as close to Adrian Peterson as possible.

The Sonics came up with three first-round draft picks Thursday night, and while two of them were in the high-rent, low-return district, don’t forget this NBA truth. The league is littered with starters who were picked late in the first round.

There are 150 starters in the league, and counting injuries and rotations, you could raise that figure to probably 180. Yet there are only 10 top-10 slots available each year, and let’s give players 10 years in the league. That’s just 100 players. Even if you go 14 deep, the size of the lottery, that’s 140. And when you factor in high-pick busts, of which there are many, you’ve got to conclude that all kinds of valuable players are found somewhere in the 20s of the draft.

Which makes Sam Presti’s dealings even more impressive Thursday night. Presti entered the draft with four second-round picks, and my theory was to use three of those picks on international players. Maybe even all four. If just one pans out, you’re ahead of the game. It’s more difficult to decipher the potential of internationals, so sometimes you can get some steals. And they often aren’t ready to, or can’t by contract, come over to the USA, so it’s almost like a farm system in which they develop on somebody else’s dime.

But Presti instead decided to make his second-round picks pay more immediate dividends. He traded two of the second-round picks to Detroit for its first-round selection, Indiana power forward D.J. White. So the Sonics ended up with three first-rounders and two second-rounders.

One of the No. 1’s, Serge Ibaka of the Congo, is one of those international projects who probably won’t give the NBA a try for a few years. And Presti’s final selection in the second round, Kansas center Sasha Kahn, was traded to Cleveland for cash. Kahn is expected to play in his native Russia and is a long-term project, too. I didn’t like that trade. Who knows what kind of ballplayer Kahn will become? I always liked him at KU; if he comes to Cleveland in two years and helps LeBron James win an NBA title, what money from the Cavaliers going to help pay the legal fees in Seattle will seem like chump change.

But back to Presti. The acquisition of D.J. White was a solid move. White was mentioned as a possible selection at No. 24, where the Sonics took Ibaka. So the Sonics in effect got point guard Russell Westbrook and White in the first round, plus the flier pick on Ibaka.

This draft will be judged largely on how Westbrook develops. If he’s a bust at No. 4, no amount of solid play by the later guys will spare Presti. If Westbrook is a solid NBA point guard, Presti will be hailed, even if we never again hear of White or anyone from the Congo.

But White was a solid pick. Who knows if he can turn into a ballplayer, or even a guy who can contribute. But this roster is not loaded. It needs talent. An extra first-round pick always comes in handy. Another good job by Presti.

We keep talking about a Michael Beasley to Oklahoma City scenario, and I don’t see it. Such is life when you have the No. 4 pick in a three-player draft.

Oh, the NBA draft tonight is deeper than three players, but in the weeks since the lottery, the one consistent thread has been the elevation of O.J. Mayo into the previously two-man inner sanctum inhabited by Beasley and Derrick Rose.

The speculation that the Miami Heat might somehow pass on Beasley and take Mayo has merit. But how in the heck would the Timberwolves then pass on Beasley. That’s ludicrous. And if the Heat took Beasley with the intention of trading him, again, how would Minnesota pass on Mayo?

The T-Wolves are destitute at just about every position except power forward, where they have Al Jefferson. And while Beasley is an unorthodox power forward — not that tall, but a heck of a shooter — you don’t pass on a guy like Beasley. You draft him and make it work.

The Sonics almost surely will have to settle for someone just outside the Big Three, and my vote goes to Arizona point guard Jerryd Bayless. They say he’s not a true point guard, not yet anyway, but think of how little basketball he’s actually played that’s counted. Thirty-odd games in college. AAU ball that doesn’t count at all in developing team attributes, only individual skills. Plus high school, where he played maybe 100 games.

In other words, Bayless will accumulate virtually as much real experience in his rookie year as he has in his basketball life. Maybe he’s not a Chris Paul point guard and never will be. But why can’t he excel as a shoot-first point guard.

Detroit and San Antonio haven’t withered with Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker playing point guard. Neither is in the top 14 in assists per game among active point guards.

Scouts say Bayless can penetrate and get into the lane, and when you get into the lane, holes start gaping in opposing defenses. If Beasley miraculously falls into the Sonics’ lap, well, count it good karma. But if not, take Bayless and be glad you’ve got him.

Another $28 million or so is headed to Oklahoma State athletics, courtesy of booster Malone Mitchell’s donation, and here’s an idea where to put the money: In the operating budget.

Capital improvements are great. OSU needed an overhaul in the worst of ways, and Boone Pickens’ generous donations have made that possible. OSU is a remade campus athletically, and few thought it possible.

But the Cowboys also need help on the budget end. Their budget is about $40 million, which is not chicken feed but lags well behind the likes of Texas, particularly, but also Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

I know nothing of finance, but seems to me take that $28 million, invest it and endow a chunk of the budget. Coaches’ salaries or something. Anything that would alleviate the pressure on the budget. Anything that would boost OSU’s daily operations.

New facilities are great, but sometimes money is needed for more than brick and mortar. The gifts of Malone Mitchell and others give OSU options.

Eddie Sutton said Monday night he would be surprised if OSU removed his signature from the Gallagher-Iba Arena court. I would be surprised, too, and just contemplating it was a very unwise PR move.

Eddie Sutton Court is in need of a paint job, so that’s always a good time to make any changes in color and style. So OSU came up with eight options, and some include the removal of Sutton’s signature. Not his name, which would be somewhere in all eight options. But his signature remaining on the court is not a certainty.

It should be. The controversy surrounding Sean Sutton’s removal as coach drove a wedge between the Suttons and OSU, with fans divided as well. The wedge was unavoidable but still regrettable. To pound a hammer on that wedge WAS avoidable.

Even if we all agree that the Sutton signature is too large or too garish — I don’t necessarily think so on either case — this is no time to be pondering removal. The wounds are too fresh. If nothing else, delay the whole danged paint job a year.

Far too many college basketball courts are mosaics. Too much color, too much wild patterns, too many huge logos. Eddie Sutton Court was not on that list. You can say the lane color scheme — blending from orange to black — was not stylish and you can dislike the Pistol Pete logos out on the extended wing and you can lament the 21st-century OSU logo at midcourt. Those are art issues worth discussing.

But removing Eddie Sutton’s signature is not a topic that should be on this table. Not now.