I walked out of there with the clear perception that there was really nothing in the city's future concerning the NBA. I've been trying all along to get a tenant for our sports arena. It was built for an NBA or NHL team.

I've never seen a tornado and I've lived in Oklahoma City basically my whole life. It's not like we're infested with them on a continual basis. But you learn to live with the warnings. And you learn what to do if one is coming your way. And then you cross your fingers and make the best judgments you can.

We've seen the kind of social impact a professional sports team has on a city. A team brings high-profile role models into your community who are healthy and they're great images for the city to gravitate toward, especially for kids.

I'm learning a lot about the culture of weight loss. I didn't know there were bloggers out there who were proud to be fat.

If you can attract highly educated people from other parts of the country and keep your own best and brightest, chances are the job creators are going to be successful.

The bottom line is that we have entered an age when local communities need to invest in themselves. Federal and state dollars are becoming more and more scarce for American cities. Political and civic leaders in local communities need to make a compelling case for this investment.