Portland travelblog: Lots of radio duty on a Denver layover

We had a three-hour layover in Denver on Monday, flying from Oklahoma City to Portland. I needed all of it.

I’ve been besieged by interview requests in recent days, since the Russell Westbrook flap reached the NBA Playoffs and the entire sporting world seems consumed by Westbrook’s simple “next question” answer to all my questions.

I have a general rule. I make my living asking people questions and hoping they answer. Seems disingenuous to decline interview requests on my end. So I tried to accommodate as many people as possible, with priority given to people who I know or who have had me on their show before.

I did a San Diego radio show Monday morning, before heading to the airport for the flight. Once we landed in Denver, I had a full slate. A 3 p.m. podcast with Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, a 3:30 hit with Holly Rowe and Gabe Ikard on Sirius’ Big 12 show, a 4:25 p.m. slot with Tim Cowlishaw on his Dallas radio show, my own Sports Animal segment from 4:45-5:20 p.m. and finally a 5:25 p.m. chat with Bob Lutz in Wichita.

Through it all, I wrote my column on the Thunder’s 11-game playoff road losing streak. So the time went by fast before we jumped on the flight to Portland.

Both Southwest legs were completely full. Southwest generally has full flights. I got some papers read and napped a little on both flights. We landed about 6:40 p.m. Pacific time, took an Uber to our hotel – the same Residence Inn we stayed in last week – and about 30 minutes later went to dinner.

It was about 9:30 p.m. Oklahoma time, so I was hungry. We went back to Pok Pok, the Thai place that couldn’t get us in before Game 1. Brett Dawson, an Oklahoman alum now with The Athletic, joined us for dinner, and the place was good. I’m not a huge Thai fan, but I like new things. I had some mussels dish that really was a mussels omelet, plus a cabbage salad with pork belly. Very good and quite unique. But I probably wouldn’t vote to go back. Does that make sense?

When you return to a city for the second time, especially so soon after the maiden trip, you feel quite different. Almost like you know it well. I could have driven to the hotel myself. This trip to Portland will be quick – almost like a college football trip; fly in, game the next day, fly out the next.

The Westbrook saga took a turn Sunday night when Westbrook quit saying “next question” and instead answered me by saying he wasn’t sure or didn’t know. But at least he did it with a more pleasant tone. I took that as a positive sign, moving off high center.

We’ll see what happens after Game 5.