Comments on: Oklahoma City Thunder: Thunder Alley goes the way of Commerce Street

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:21:32 +0000

Wow. Never thought I would see Cornett getting based like this. People, if it wasn’t for him we would have no Thunder. Yeah, Clay Bennett owns them but, Cornett really went to bat for this all to happen. Should this have been handled better? Yes. Don’t just put the blame on Cornett. Why is the OKC Police Department not taking any blame? Not saying its their fault either. It’s the punk kid who is in the County Jail right now fault. Quit blaming Cornett for something that was out of his control. We should have had police officers all over the place. This wasnt the first time this happened. After game 2 against the Lakers, a gun was pulled in the same exact area. Leaving parents to lay over their children just in case. There is no reason for this to have happened. I dont care how tough you think you are, with a gun you are nothing but a coward.

By: R L LENTZ

R L LENTZ — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:43:03 +0000

Letz, let thugs keep the rest of us “after school” Be serious and let the tax dollars pay for extra security; not to punish the fan’s or merchants.
“WE ARE OKLAHOME HOME OF THE THUNDER AND LIGHTENING”
not detriot or other foolish cities……….!

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:39:18 +0000

The Thunder Squad? Anyway, didn’t the Eskimo Joe’s shooting happen AT Eskimo Joe’s? Didn’t the Commerce Street shooting happen ON Commerce Street with rowdy fans being both the villains and victims? This wasn’t an all-out war, this was a shooting that happened a few blocks away in the already dangerous at night Bricktown. It just happened to happen on the night of a game and Thunder fans are taking the fall for it. Cornett could’ve come up with a way to improve Thunder Alley and make it safe so that shootings aren’t likely to happen there, but that would involve him doing a bit of work, paying some taxpayer’s money, and not being a coward. I truly think he was just looking for a reason to end Thunder Alley’s watch party, be it a good reason or not.

By: wilie

wilie — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:31:45 +0000

Don’t blame Tricky Mickey, he works for Clay Bennett.

By: wilie

wilie — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:29:52 +0000

Here’s a perfect solution. Put the big screen down at the OKC police department. Problem solved.

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:54:04 +0000

Like I’ve been saying on every one of my posts in all the forums…DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN! You can’t let the Bullies, Thugs, Terrorists, etc. ruin it for all. Create a Group, not unlike “The Guardian Angels” to work with the Police and disburse them throughout the crowd. Heck, call them “The Thunder Angels”! There are plenty of our Good Citizens that are in attendance to the Thunder Events that possess a Concealed Carry License just for such situations as this. What harm could it do? Or, better yet, what harm could it prevent?

By: KW

KW — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:26:46 +0000

I am sorry for the double post but i am just baffled by why any reasonable, educated, well thinking man can actually draw a connection here. Should more restrictions be in place, YOU BET, should tighter controls be placed on participants YOU BET, should the message be sent that THIS IS FOR THE THUNDER FAN FAMILIES…DOUBLE YOU BET….but for you to sit here and say after a few playoff games that this scenario was the same as all that — Shame man, really? c’mon — you’re better than that!

By: KW

KW — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:22:32 +0000

I’m sorry, but you could not be MORE WRONG here….You want to equate a 1x isolated incident with years and years and years of incidents despite every last effort of the city to preserve this tradition? One time something happens, for the “good of the city” (i.e. holy hell the insurance guys said we better cut this crap out) you shut the whole thing down — c’mon Berry — I actually am your fan and KNOW you’re smarter than this deep down in you!

By: CHRIS PEMBERTON

CHRIS PEMBERTON — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:20:39 +0000

When Mayor Cornett and the city leaders were campaigning for the arena tax which became known as Maps for Millionaires, one of the new features trumpeted was a concourse “similar to the one at American Airlines Arena with a video board for viewing.”
Did they think that there would not need to be any management of events held there? To say that this event was poorly managed would be a monumental understatement. There was no management period.
Why in the world would ice chests let alone guys pushing shopping carts full of beer (I along with many others saw this) be allowed? People openly carrying in cases of beer?
The solution would be so simple, just do it the way that it should have been done in the beginning.
1). Temporary fencing at each end with controlled access points, gates if you will. Don’t fence off the entire block, only the are from where the screen can be viewed. 2). Do not allow Ice chests or outside beverages. Besides the obvious reasons this was very unfair to the vendors who had paid money to set up there. 3). Marked sections for seating leaving clear pathways. 4). Provide trash receptacles. 5). A security presence of some type inside of the event instead of them congregating on the corner at the end of the block. 6). When it’s full, it’s full, do not let anyone else in.
To be fair they could do a raffle similar to the ticket giveaway or just make it first come first serve. Or a combination of both. Fill up 3/4 of it on a first come basis, then have a raffle with the ticket giveaway for the rest. That way late arriving fans would still have a chance.
It’s sad that our city’s NBA image which was on the rise is now in jeopardy because of this. It looks very amateurish to not be able to manage a crowd of 25,000-30,000.
Save the Alley and Rally for the Alley are beginning to get national media attention and they claim to have more lined up when they rally at the city council meeting next Tuesday and Thunder Alley for next Thursday’s game. Their social media pages have exploded to over 6,000 members in two days. I hate seeing this when it could have easily been prevented.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/city-canceled-outdoor-viewing-party-oklahoma-city-thunder-174103821.html;_ylt=ApaYeRT9f78uiGSaUP662H68vLYF

By: vicki

vicki — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:18:23 +0000

And in both cases the punks/thugs/whatever you want to call them, win. Sad.