Emails on Thunder & college football
The new emails are in, and lots of talk about the NBA. Mike from New Orleans checked in: “Your second game ever and you didn’t even sell out?? What’s up with that? I thought Oklahoma City was ‘big league?’ Oh well, I’ll just go back to the New Orleans Arena on Wednesday night for our 16th straight sellout, and you can start your streak back at 0, my friend. I can’t wait to see how Clay papers the house after you guys start 4-25.”
You know, Mike, you’re right. That game should have been sold out. It makes for questionable marketing, more than a squishy market, in my opinion. OKC is near the top in season tickets and has a waiting list for season tickets – so why didn’t it sell more to start with. I thought that was a strange move, capping ticket sales, and darned if it didn’t bite the Thunder in Game 2. And good for New Orleans. Great, great team, and we know they have an organization you can rally around, and it’s great for the city, too. Wouldn’t it be cool if New Orleans got to host the NBA Finals? I’m all for Byron Scott and George Shinn and that little point guard whose name I can’t remember.
Craig attended the Thunder opener and wrote, “If this team doesn’t show a better effort, the attendance will only average 15 to 16,000 by the last quarter of the season. I mean this FIRST season. That team is bad.”
I agree, the team is bad. But I think the fans still will come out in Year 1.
James wrote about the Thunder’s game-day presentation: “You may not remember back in the 60’s (I think), there was a movie called Thunder Road with Robert Mitchem (and his son). If my 70-year-old memory serves me correct, there was a music score played when they were on the road running from “revenuers”. The beat may be a good one for the team.”
Consider it passed on. And you’re right. I may not remember the ’60s.
Barb, our Hornets-made NBA fan, wrote about the Thunder’s opening night. “Game lost because of opening night hoopla! Isn’t that a first? It’s Oklahoma, where we expect the unexpected, so I guess it should come as no surprise that although most teams feed off the energy in their arenas, our team chokes on that same energy in the first game. Should we fans put bandannas over our mouths and gloves on our hands to muffle the noise?”
No. That theory about the Boomers struggling because of opening-night hype was silly. Not enough height had as much to do with it as too much hype.
Terry wrote about my idea that the Thunder will be a unifying force in OKC: “Hate to disagree with you, but rather than a uniter, I think the Sonics are a divider. The circle I run with, except those who don’t live in OKC, are still miffed that their taxes are going to support billionaires and millionaires at the expense of the poor. Wonder how much all the hoopla today is costing me in the way of city forces doing extra work for it. Over and under for the Sonics to be here: nine years. Here’s hoping for an 0 and 82 season. Way too much of the shrinking sports pages devoted to this Johnny-come-lately team.”
So I guess those tightwads in that circle you run with are miffed that Ford Center ushers and parking-lot attendants and Bricktown waiters are seeing a lot more work. Yes, I would hate to do anything that helps people making $25,000 a year.
Rob is an analyzer of all things OKC, even though he now lives in the Dallas area. Here’s what he wrote about the Thunder: “I am a Thunder fan. I like this about the OKC Thunder: the strong local ownership and leadership. Chesapeake, SandRidge, Devon, a big bank (MidFirst) and The Oklahoman. These major deep pockets care about the city. The Thunder has a great thing going for it with the local ownership team.”
Glad to be of service.
OK. On to college football. Ralph, a Penn State fan, said, “You still keep dogging Penn State, indicating that Texas would beat them by 40 points. I humbly disagree. Remember what Penn State did to a high powered Miami offense in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl (Lions 14 — Miami 10). No one gave Penn State a chance that night. I see the same scenario setting up again this year. One other thought. Go back to 1977, OU-Texas game. They ranked #1 and #2 going into that game in October. OU had a good offense with Thomas Lott at QB, and Texas had Earl Campbell, who won the Heisman that year. Final score: Texas, Oklahoma 6. Only 1 TD was scored with those big offenses. Anyway, my point is Penn State could hold Texas to less than 17 points.”
OK. Let’s go back to 1977. OU and Texas weren’t ranked 1-2 when they played. They were ranked 2 and 5. OU that season opened with a sloppy win over Vanderbilt; the week before Texas, the Sooners beat Kansas 24-9, and that was a bad Jayhawk team. That was not a great OU offense, at least not in October. Texas was carried by defense, too; its two biggest games were won 13-6 and 13-9. Which looks a lot like Penn State 2008. And what happened to OU and Texas in the post-season? Notre Dame beat Texas 38-10, and Arkansas routed OU 31-6.
Jim wrote, “After watching Penn State and Ohio State play, I think neither one of those guys could play a down in the Big 12.”
Oh, I think either one could win the Big 12 North.
Dave is still down on Brent Venables: “The OU coaches that are left have no prayer of being offered a big-time college coaching job. The true talent has been picked up and are long gone (Leach, Mangino, Mike Stoops). Tell it like it is! We are not that good! We’re not a solid team! Yes, would be nice to be undefeated but, we’re not and more losses are very likely. We are in no way deserving of a No. 4 rating. Our defense is so bad and shows no QB lit us up (over 500 yards!!!). How bad would it be if Tebow or someone of his caliber is passing on us? We wouldn’t have a prayer of stopping them. It would be a repeat of the USC beatdown.”
I love amateur historians. Does anyone remember that when Kansas hired Mark Mangino, the prevailing opinion among Sooner fans was that KU had done OU a big favor by taking Mangino off its hands. The truth was, Mangino was a heck of a coach, and so is Venables.
Marc, a Texas fan, wrote, “I will be disappointed if OU is ranked ahead of Texas after the Horns beat them head to head. Voters tend to forget things as the weeks go by. Texas should be fourth and OU fifth, but I doubt OU moves down after a big win. Bama, PSU, Tech, Texas, OU. Texas might even be third in the BCS, but I doubt it.”
You forgot about Florida, my friend. You forgot about Florida.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
For the love of KD! Quit calling them the Boomers Barry! Really! It sounds silly, and it irritates the Cowboy fans. Besides, the phonetics of a nickname must make it easier or faster to pronounce the name, and Boomers and Thunder have the same number of syllables, as well as similar pronunciation times. NO REASON to do it!
I remember the PSU win over thugish Miami. That win was sweet! I’m not saying that Penn State is a good football team, but if they get into the BCSCG I know they will be well prepared, will play good on defense and most likey be very very motivated in a good way. They could definitely win the B12 North.