First Game in Ford Center..

[Karried]

Here it is .. OKC Thunder vs LA Clippers

First 'game' played by the OKC Thunder in the Ford Center..

(I know, it's only Pre-season but I don't care)

Who is going?

I'm counting down the minutes. woot!

[Intrepid]

I'll be there with a friend of mine. We might hang in the Ice House before the game. Assuming there will be space available to sit.

[Karried]

I'm bringing the kiddos.. does Ice House allow under 21?

[Luke]

I'll be there with 3 others.

[Intrepid]

I'm bringing the kiddos.. does Ice House allow under 21?

Yes they do..or they used to. When I went to an event a couple of years ago, we had a couple of kids in our group and there wasnt a problem.

[Luke]

This game isn't a sellout yet, I wonder how full it will be?

I do know that there are no more seats left in my section, 300 something. I called because I wanted to add a seat and they said there was only one seat left in the whole section. That was last week. I'm guessing that seats gone now.

I went to Ticketmaster's site and all the $10 tickets are gone. You can still find four seats togther in the upper deck, lower level and club level, but not on the floor.

I'm guessing over half full.

[metro]

Luke, I doubt it will be a sellout.

[taylor83]

My company handed out several tickets to our department today. I got two in section 117. Now I just have to find someone to bring along.

[john60]

I hope (and expect) that the Thunder court will be here in a week and a half! Also, are we going to get a new scoreboard anytime soon? That seems like it should be a priority. That scoreboard is an absolute joke. Have any other improvements been made to the Ford Center yet?

Looked like a great turnout and atmosphere for a meaningless preseason game nonetheless. I can't wait for the real deal to get rolling; I think this team could surprise a few people like the '05 Hornets. Maybe not 40 wins, but I think they'll win more than 20.

[Luke]

16,410 was the announced attendance. Good crowd. 4th quarter was great.

Sucks we lost.

This is a great bunch that we will rally around big time. I'm gonna try to get $10 tickets to the first regular season game. Anybody have a couple extras?

[Karried]

It was a great turnout.. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Intrepid]

My friend and I enjoyed it. I hope they were holding back on the team introductions and pre-game "show". If not, they have a LOT of work to do.

One funny moment was when the announcer said "And now here's (the name of the game host that I now can't remember) with the Thunder Girls." And then the host says something to the effect "the girls are now going to reveal their name" and they all said "Thunder Girls!" LOL Talk about a D'oh! moment.

[Karried]

lol, yeah, I heard that too.. They do have a lot of work to do.. the game Opener should be much better. I hope.

[metro]

16,410 was the announced attendance. Good crowd. 4th quarter was great.

Sucks we lost.

This is a great bunch that we will rally around big time. I'm gonna try to get $10 tickets to the first regular season game. Anybody have a couple extras?

Luke, I agree. Good crowd (although didn't get hyped up until 4th period. We should have one if they weren't playing so sloppy. Nice 3 pointer at the buzzer. FYI...I've been looking around for cheap tickets for the home opener, good luck finding $10 tickets. The best I've seen is people scalping them online for about $50-$150 a piece for the cheap LOUD CITY tickets. I know it's unethical, but supply/demand. I'm not happy about it but unless you find a good samaritan, we'll both be shelling out alot more than $10 a ticket. Especially if the person bought them online, then there's like another $5-6 bucks in miscellaneous fees tacked on.

[metro]

A few more observations from last night.

1.) I sat up top in Loud City behind the goals for the first half. Had a bunch of self-proclaimed rednecks sitting next to us. Kind of funny, but very rude. They were throwing peanuts at people and throwing them down to the lower level the entire time. They kept cheering to see the cheerleaders but they were no where to be found. I guess they had to hide until they figure out the "huge" dilemma of figuring out a name for themselves. They did come out at halftime to throw t-shirts, but that was about it. I'm not sure why they can't cheer without coming up with a name. Also, apparently the mascot hasn't been figured out either yet since there was no one to be seen. I thought Bennett said additional logos, jerseys and mascot would be announced back on Sept. 29th. Apparently it was jerseys only.

2.) Halftime show was pretty great, even though it was local people. The dunk contest was a riot. Half those clowns didn't think they had to run before they hit the trampoline and fell flat on their faces. The cowboy was a riot and showed up the city boys.

3.) I'm not liking the new court. It's ugly at best. The plain generic Ford Center court we had for NCAA, etc. was light years better than the new one. The blue fade is lame as is the 3 different shades of wood. We had a blank slate chance of having a signature court like the Boston Celtics (even made by same company) and IMO it looks like a junior college court with an NBA price tag.

Also Mark Rogers from KOCO said last night at 10pm news there was about 14,000 at the game, while at the game they announced official "IN ATTENDANCE" was 16,410.


Did anyone notice any of the new upgrades they have been working on? I didn't see any. I thought the bathrooms were supposed to be done before the season started. By 2010, though it sure will be nice.

[Luke]

I'll get some tickets down there on game night from some kind people selling tickets. They can't sell them for more than 50 cents above face, legally. And if they try, I'll tell on them.

[CCOKC]

Metro,

The mascot is not supposed to be announced until the All-Star break.
I am pretty sure this is the same OKC floor and the THunder floor is still being made and will have the logo in the center.

[ksearls]

That was the Big 12 floor. The new floor will be there for the Opening Night game as well as all of the expected hoopla.

kim

[Saberman]

That was the Big 12 floor. The new floor will be there for the Opening Night game as well as all of the expected hoopla.

kim

Also, most of the upgrades being done right now have to do with lighting, restrooms, and TV broadcast lines(electronics). Most of the cosmetic stuff starts after the Big 12 Tournament next spring. New entry to be finished some time 2010.

[metro]

Saberman, I was asking if anyone noticed the new "lighting or restrooms". I didn't notice any of it, but I thought they were supposed to be done before the season started.

[BFizzy]

The restroom that I went into had already been renovated.

[betts]

I hope (and expect) that the Thunder court will be here in a week and a half! Also, are we going to get a new scoreboard anytime soon? That seems like it should be a priority. That scoreboard is an absolute joke. Have any other improvements been made to the Ford Center yet?

Looked like a great turnout and atmosphere for a meaningless preseason game nonetheless. I can't wait for the real deal to get rolling; I think this team could surprise a few people like the '05 Hornets. Maybe not 40 wins, but I think they'll win more than 20.

The new scoreboard is scheduled to be installed for next season, I believe. I don't know how long it takes to order and receive one, but they're pricey and we haven't started collecting sales tax yet, so that may be the reason it's going to be delayed until next season.

[John]

2.) Halftime show was pretty great, even though it was local people. The dunk contest was a riot. Half those clowns didn't think they had to run before they hit the trampoline and fell flat on their faces. The cowboy was a riot and showed up the city boys.

All of the good dunkers were plants and the rest were picked from the audience. The 'cowboy' was/is the Yard Dawgz mascot.

3.) I'm not liking the new court. It's ugly at best. The plain generic Ford Center court we had for NCAA, etc. was light years better than the new one. The blue fade is lame as is the 3 different shades of wood. We had a blank slate chance of having a signature court like the Boston Celtics (even made by same company) and IMO it looks like a junior college court with an NBA price tag.

The court is still the Hornets court that the city purchased and repainted for the OSSAA/BIG XII. The Thunder court looks very good and professional.

Did anyone notice any of the new upgrades they have been working on? I didn't see any. I thought the bathrooms were supposed to be done before the season started. By 2010, though it sure will be nice.

There seemed to be more/better court lighting, but I'm not positive if that has been fixed yet. The bathrooms upstairs were remodeled and look very nice. They still have a few bathrooms closed off currently being remodeled, but those should be open by the 29th.

[BDP]

...I thought they were supposed to be done before the season started.

The season hasn't started yet. They still have some time to get a lot more done.

[Laramie]

The management has done an outstanding job with what they have to work with at this time.

Let's be patient, the best is yet to come!