I respect and give credit to Kevin Durant and the Thunder organization for making sure that their entire staff and players understand the importance of the bombing and this city’s history.

But that video made my blood pressure rise. For anyone to make a connection between the bombing and the Thunder is asinine and an insult to the memories of those whose lives were forever changed by that horrid event. There is NO causation of the bombing and OKC getting an NBA team. NONE. MAPS was passed by the voters years before the bombing. Yes subsequent MAPS have passed since then, but again, they have absolutely nothing to do with the bombing. This reminds me of the ludicrous claims that Hurricane Katrina happened, thousands of lives lost, just so OKC could get an NBA team. Anyone who supports those views should be ashamed of themselves.

Larry, I was there that morning. Trust me when I say I shared in the grief and horror that morning. I hate when the bombing is trivialized. Maybe I just blocked something that you didn’t, but I took out of this an entirely different message – that it our persistence, our determination not to be victims, that led us to move forward and gain an NBA team… I especially liked the idea of Durant committing to the task of getting Oklahoma City to a point where we are known for more than just the April 19, 1995 bombing.
The bombing for sure remains a very sensitive topic and can trigger a lot of raw emotions.
All in all, one thing is for certain: we all wish it had never ever happened.

I haven’t bawled my eyes out in a while and this video made the water works flow… I love this town so much!

Steve, feel free to remove this post if you don’t feel it is appropriate for this particular forum, but I can’t let it go unsaid.

Make no mistake, take pride in the Thunder. Take pride in the accomplishments of MAPS. Take pride in the response to the Bombing (the Oklahoma Standard). But absolutely, do NOT try to link the Thunder or MAPS (as the Chamber did with their economic impact of MAPS study), with the Bombing and the Memorial.

Steve, I understand what you are saying and some of that is in the video but there was also this: correctly stating after the Bombing we built the Memorial , but then it goes on to imply with the voiceover and images that the MAPS projects and the Thunder/NBA were a result of the bombing. This is the part that really made me incensed:

“…and over the next decade, citizens approved sales tax after sales tax so they could rebuild the downtown area. Including the construction of an NBA caliber arena.”

“IF NOT FOR THE BOMBING, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT AN NBA TEAM WOULD BE HERE RIGHT NOW?”

“I THINK IT WOULD BE…A…SLIM. The NBA team coming here has been the…the absolute evidence…and I…as a judge I deal with evidence…the NBA team arriving in Oklahoma City was exhibit A that Oklahoma City survived the bombing.” (Steven Taylor, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice )

(voiceover) “SSeven blocks is all it takes. SEVEN BLOCKS TO WALK FROM THE MEMORIAL TO THE NBA PLAYOFFS”

Then Justice Taylor went on to come to the conclusion that even making the playoffs, somehow are a result of the Bombing.

Just as bad if a sports team from New York made the playoffs or the championship game years later and someone would suggest it was a result of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Especially if the team relocated from across the country after the attacks. No causation.

Mr. Durant did a much better job explaining it this time than in a previous statement. Think it was a year ago and it went something to the effect (not a direct quote), that everything happens for a reason (implying that the Bombing happened so we could get an NBA team). This is the only time I have had anything but positive thoughts and remarks for Mr. Durant. With the exception of that one instance, I think he has done an exceptional job representing this city and the team.

That previous statement and this video was just as absurd as when Jenni Carlson made a similar statement that Katrina happened so OKC could get an NBA team. There was an analyst during one of the games (may have been during the playoffs) that made the causation link with either the Bombing or Katrina.

I have no problem with a story being done on the effect of the Bombing and the Memorial on the Team, but NOT the other way around. Reporters with various media outlets have made this same mistake, and it must stop.

Again, what role did the bombing have in bringing an NBA team here? NONE

What role did the bombing have to do with MAPS? NONE (the bombing happened years AFTER MAPS was passed and the “rebuild(ing) the downtown area” had already begun. Rebuilding downtown wasn’t a result of the bombing but of Urban Renewal. How many MAPS sales tax funded projects were rebuilding any of the damage of the Bombing?

Ballpark?
Canal?
Ford Center?
River Improvements?
State Fair improvements?
Cox Center improvements?
Trolleys?
Downtown Library?
Civic Center Music Hall?

Larry, I think that some of Justice Taylor’s remarks (those saying that there is a causal relationship between the bombing & the Thunder being here) are a bit of a stretch, but I don’t hold it against him nor do the comments make me angry. He’s entitled to his opinion. Yes, the 1st Maps tax had passed but I’m pretty sure that the 6-month extension which made construction of the arena possible came later than the bombing. There is no doubt in my mind that the bombing brought the city together more than it had been at that time, and the Thunder do represent something else which is doing the same. I don’t see that the video trivialized the bombing at all and I think that it was well done and took some research time and sensitivity for ESPN to put it together.

But, it doesn’t matter whether the bombing led to the team being here. Like many of us, I was downtown when the blast occurred, in the 1st floor of the Oklahoma County Courthouse sitting in a jury box seat next to the alley separating the Ok County Office Building, and virtually everything that occurred after that nightmarish sound is still vivid in memory and, like you said, Steve, raw emotion. Like you, Dustin, the tears could not be controlled while watching this video.

And, for sure, if Kevin Durant hopes that he and his team are helping the city have something better than the bombing to be known for and if that is part of his motivation, I, too, say, “Thank you, Kevin. Thank you for caring. Thank you for being here.”

Thanks for posting this video, Steve. Otherwise, I’d have missed it.

Steve, I know that it wasn’t your intent to strike a nerve with this blog piece and I am sure it wasn’t the intent of the makers of that broadcast either.

I think you have to look at the context of this story. This wasn’t a news story on a news channel. This was a story on a sports channel. That channel was actually using the story of the Thunder just prior to a playoff game to show what Oklahoma City had been through as well as the reason behind the team’s motto: “Rise Together”. So it was, of course, going to be telling the story of the team rather than other stories of what we did as a city after the bombing.

I think, as a city, we’ve had a goal. We do not want to be defined by tragedy alone, but we do not want to forget. This story, to me, was far more about the people of OKC than the team. But it also illustrated how the team has been one part of us achieving that goal.

Larry, I don’t think the intention of the video was to upset you. I do agree with a lot of your comments, MAPS had already passed and the arena was part of it. I don’t think anyone in their wildest dreams thought that OKC would have a NBA franchise 14 years after the bombing occured either. I think the bombing, in a way, did keep the momentum going, as grotesque as that sounds.

I am glad that another positive, national piece about OKC was aired. This city really gives me a lot of pride.

Thank you Steve for this (In Tuesday’s Oklahoman): http://newsok.com/oklahoma-citys-revival-tale-needs-proper-retelling/article/3568634?custom_click=headlines_widget