Opening Night on CNN

[jbrown84]

Did anybody else see OKC's Opening Night festivites shown on CNN this morning along with Times Square and Atlanta?

Also the Centennial float led the Tournament of Roses Parade, but I missed it.

[Karried]

Yes! I did see the ball dropping for OKC.. what's going on? Suddenly OK is everywhere! lol

Check out the pics on the parade topic.. I borrowed a few of the floats but there are video clips all over NewsOK.com | Powered by The Oklahoman and NEWS 9

It was really cool to see Rocketman flying over the parade crowd.. I was even reading in my hometown paper (No Calif) about that portion of the parade..

[metro]

Yeah, the rocketman was tight! Never seen that before and the crowd was in awe. Didn't see OKC on CNN but I'm sure swake will have something negative OKC pro Tulsa to say about it.

[PUGalicious]

Yes! I did see the ball dropping for OKC..

Then you were watching the wrong thing... for some backasswards reason, Oklahoma City's New Year's Ball goes UP... I've always wondered why they decided to do it this way... and it looks real first-class to have a crane lifting it up, usually a second or two behind the countdown with a sudden speed-up at the end to try to catch up. It's VERY Busch-league.

If you can't do something right, sometimes you just shouldn't do it...

[metro]

I'll give you that one Brad Street, it is kind of bush league to have the ball going up by a crane.

[oumoodman85]

Then you were watching the wrong thing... for some backasswards reason, Oklahoma City's New Year's Ball goes UP... I've always wondered why they decided to do it this way... and it looks real first-class to have a crane lifting it up, usually a second or two behind the countdown with a sudden speed-up at the end to try to catch up. It's VERY Busch-league.

If you can't do something right, sometimes you just shouldn't do it...

What a pessimistic viewpoint. I've been visiting this forum for a while now, and just couldn't keep my mouth shut any longer.

I agree OKC's New Year's celebration isn't the biggest or the best, but hey it is a unique experience and quite entertaining. I think 68,000 other people would agree with me.

So there is some validity to your point Brad Street, except for your last line!

[PUGalicious]

I guess my standards are different. If you enjoyed it, great for you.

[oumoodman85]

I guess my standards are different. If you enjoyed it, great for you.

Oh wow. I'm sorry, but where do you live? It's not about standards, its about being REALISTIC. And OKC is simply not a large enough city to warrant a NYC-type celebration. So pull your head out of the clouds (or somewhere else), and take a look around. It is a decent celebration/production for a mid-sized city on the rise.

We all have our standards, some of us are simply intelligent enough to pair our "standards" or expectations with reality.

[BDP]

Sounds like we need to erect the OKCtalk.com Tower from which we can drop a ball.

Then again, why do we need a ball anyway? How about a big O that spins faster and faster until it reaches the RPM equivalent of the old year, at which pont it will look like a ball and then explode into a number of pieces equivalent to the new year.

The OKCTalk.com Exploding O!

Seriously, though, maybe we should do something other than a ball altogether.

[PUGalicious]

Oh wow. I'm sorry, but where do you live? It's not about standards, its about being REALISTIC. And OKC is simply not a large enough city to warrant a NYC-type celebration. So pull your head out of the clouds (or somewhere else), and take a look around. It is a decent celebration/production for a mid-sized city on the rise.

We all have our standards, some of us are simply intelligent enough to pair our "standards" or expectations with reality.

You mean settle for second best...

Conversely, Oklahoma had two outstanding floats in this year's Rose Bowl parade. They were impressive and something to make us proud. Those are examples of doing something well. Opening Night is not.

Like I said, if it pleases you, by all means, enjoy them. I still think Oklahoma City's "New Year's Ball" is a pathetic ripoff of one that's done well. When it's done backwards from the way the traditional ball is done, it reinforces people's "backwards" view of Oklahoma. If that's being "realistic", I'll keep my head IN the clouds and continue to hope for better.

For the record, I live in Edmond. I know that seems like a whole other region, but it can't be that far off from the way things are where you live.

[oumoodman85]

You mean settle for second best...

Conversely, Oklahoma had two outstanding floats in this year's Rose Bowl parade. They were impressive and something to make us proud. Those are examples of doing something well. Opening Night is not.

Like I said, if it pleases you, by all means, enjoy them. I still think Oklahoma City's "New Year's Ball" is a pathetic ripoff of one that's done well. When it's done backwards from the way the traditional ball is done, it reinforces people's "backwards" view of Oklahoma. If that's being "realistic", I'll keep my head IN the clouds and continue to hope for better.

For the record, I live in Edmond. I know that seems like a whole other region, but it can't be that far off from the way things are where you live.

Ok ok. You make some valid points. I agree the Rose Bowl Parade floats were first class, and yes--the idea of our ball is a bit second rate. So maybe we should open this thread to new ideas for OKC's own NYE centerpiece?

[Karried]

Yes! I did see the ball dropping for OKC..

Sorry about that.. didn't mean to stir it up... let me rephrase.. I saw a Ball on CNN.. it wasn't going up or down that I saw.. I was just excited to see our state on CNN - caught it out of the corner of my eye.. OK - Ball - CNN - yippee

and last year... at the Opening Night, I can't recall which direction the damn thing was going, I think it was spinning but that could have been the champagne.. lol

[shane453]

It goes up. But obviously there's a reason behind that, a conscious decision somewhere to make the ball go up instead of down- it's not like someone in charge just thinks that's what they do in NYC. Someone told me Sunday night that there are several cities who send the ball up instead of letting it down. Maybe we could say that raising the ball symbolizes the optimism of moving forward to the next year? Or the image of a rising, lit ball is a good prelude to the fireworks? Whatever reason, Opening Night is still one of the most electric and fun celebrations of the year, and many larger cities don't even have a party as good as ours.

It would be cool to do something other than a ball. Maybe a starburst-shape or something. I think we need a giant jumbotron somewhere near the plaza to make it really complete... To direct the countdown, etc.

[PUGalicious]

I could go along with that. If we don't want to copy NYC, then let's do something original so it doesn't look like a bad ripoff or that we got it "backwards" again.

[metro]

One thing of note, next year, the Skirvin will be open in the heart of the Opening Night celebration. This hopefully will add a lot more visitors, and a touch more of class.

[jbrown84]

Opening Night is still one of the most electric and fun celebrations of the year, and many larger cities don't even have a party as good as ours.

Obviously, or we would not have gotten on CNN.

[metro]

I agree, we could easily fix it up a little, we don't have to have a ball made out of Swavarski crystals but we could drop it from a nice pole on top of the Skirvin or something instead of a crane. Doesn't matter if it goes up or down to me. Just get rid of the crane.

[BG918]

I was in Tempe for NYE and they had a pretty big celebration, and yes they had a ball that was hung from a crane just like OKC. I didn't see it a midnight though so I don't know if it went up or down. The good thing about Opening Night is that it's the main attraction in the Metro on NYE. Back in Phoenix there was one celebration in Glendale, one in Tempe, one in Scottsdale, etc. I like how OKC seems to "centralize" its main events.

[SoonerDave]

Opening Night is one of the most successful regional New Year's Eve parties in the central midwest. It didn't get CNN's attention because it was considered bush-league.

Yes, I agree, the ball going up is dense, but the entertainment format for Opening Night is not just a "ripoff" of NYC. It doesn't pretend to be. To my knowledge, NYC is simply an outdoor mass of bodies with some live entertainment; Opening Night multiple entertainment venues throughout downtown culminating in a outdoor countdown.

I've never heard of anyone "pretending" we're NYC. NYC has no monopoly on New Year's eve, and if you don't like Opening Night, don't go. But don't crap on Opening Night because it doesn't match up with your preconceived notions that anything on New Year's Eve had better be as good as NYC's, or its obviously bush league. That's shortsighted and silly. It takes a great many civic-minded folks who want to offer a civic-oriented, family-friendly New Year's celebration to put together Opening Night, and I believe their work is to be commended, not to be crapped on my some NYC-elitist who thinks the world rises and sets on the East Coast.

Pardon my insolence, but this implicit "NYC does it better so you shouldn't even bother" crap just makes me want to fume. You like NYC, that's great. Go there. But for those of us who are completely happy with OKC, and couldn't care less if it does or doesn't compare favorably with NYC or anywhere else, I wouldn't change Opening Night's format one bit.

-SoonerDave


-SoonerDave

[PUGalicious]

I believe their work is to be commended, not to be crapped on my some NYC-elitist who thinks the world rises and sets on the East Coast.

If that was a not-so-subtle snide remark aimed at me and my criticism, it only demonstrates your ignorance.

You don't have to be a "NYC-elitist who thinks the world rises and sets on the East Cost" to be critical of Oklahoma City's Opening Night ritual that looks remarkably like a blatant Busch-league knock-off of the original New York City New Year's tradition. And Oklahoma City certainly was a "Johnny-come-lately" in having this type of celebration. So, it would not be unreasonable for an outside observer to mistake OKC's "ball (assbackwards) rise" as a crude, unoriginal and comical copycat of the internationally recognized event in New York City. If Oklahoma City doesn't want people to think it's a poorly conceived and/or executed ripoff, those promoting and organizing the vent should have come up with something original.

I don't live in New York nor do I have any connections with New York nor do I think New York City is inherently a better place than Oklahoma City. I certainly don't think the world rises and sets on the East Coast, but apparently you believe the world rises and sets on Oklahoma City (which I also do not believe). So, your insolent comments were definitively misguided. Such ignorance "just makes me want to fume."

[HOT ROD]

I think instead of a ball (going up or down), OKC should do a countdown ticker - maybe with "ALSO" large video screen displays.

Make it truly big city but not a replica of Time's Square or its ball. Make it unique to OKC yet also show that OKC is a big city with its own premier New Years celebration.

[SoonerDave]

111,

If there was any doubt that my comments were aimed at you, let me apologize for being obtuse. They were aimed precisely at you. And your response to them was probably the best evidence of the point I made.

looks remarkably like a blatant Busch-league knock-off...

But you're not an east-coast elitist, right?

If Oklahoma City doesn't want people to think it's a poorly conceived....

Since Oklahoma City has been successful in pulling off this event for well over a decade now, I think it is more than safe to assume that those who organize it really couldn't care less what you or NYC thinks about it. I suspect you personally have devoted a great more thought to the comparison than NYC has.

..apparently you believe the world rises and sets on Oklahoma City

So, in your book, one good ignorant turn deserves another? I make no bones about the fact that Oklahoma City is my home, and you couldn't pay me enough to live anywhere else. You seem predisposed that we should be preoccupied with how everyone else perceives our New Year's celebration...I couldn't care less how anyone perceives it. It is an enjoyable, family-oriented way of celebrating the new year. And its success suggests that more people perceive it positively than you.

So, your insolent comments were definitively misguided. Such ignorance "just makes me want to fume."

Actually, you meant to say "definitely," not "definitively."

I reassert and stand by each and every word of my previous post. I am confident enough in my city not to worry how others perceive it, and I'm quite sure New York City couldn't care less how Oklahoma City celebrates New Year's Eve. It is manifestly irritating to see others trash the effort that goes into Opening Night merely because they think it doesn't measure up to what NYC puts on. You assert my ignorance for claiming your personal east-coast bias, but you then go out of your way to reassert the bias you insist you don't have.

The end result of this exchange is, essentially, nothing, because (fortunately for us all) Opening Night will endure - defective and hackneyed though you may view it - as a wonderful way to start the new year in Oklahoma City. Here's hoping we never change it merely to cater to the whimsy of others.

-SoonerDave




I

[metro]

Good idea HOT ROD. I think SoonerDave's comments were somewhat ignorant. While I am a strong believer and supporter of OKC (and I think I've proven that over the few years on here), I partially agreed with the comments stating that our ball is a little Bush-league. The festivities itself are very nice and a matter of fact, I volunteer on committees that plan this event and The Festival of The Arts so saying those remarks ("it takes civically minded folks........") are out of context in my opinion. I would love to see something a little nicer. If whomever can rent those video boards for boating events on the Oklahoma River, why can't we use them for opening night on top of the Sante Fe parking garage or something?? Get rid of the crane. HOTROD, I like your idea of the giant video boards, etc.

[SoonerDave]

The festivities itself are very nice and a matter of fact, I volunteer on committees that plan this event and The Festival of The Arts so saying those remarks ("it takes civically minded folks........") are out of context in my opinion.

I think SoonerDave's comments were somewhat ignorant.

Well, metro, it was intended as a compliment. I think anyone who devotes his time and energy to volunteer for the purposes of organizing the Arts Festival or Opening Night has to be a civic-minded soul, and your effort is to the benefit of everyone in OKC.

Guess still makes me ignorant, tho...

* sigh *

-SoonerDave

[metro]

Well SoonerDave, now reading your latest post, which was posted just a few mins before mine (while I was typing mine). I wasn't sure who you're previous post was directed at. Yes, mine was less harsh than 111's, which is who you seemed to be directing your comments to, however, I agree'd with him on the ball thing, it's totally second rate, if I had any pull on this whatsover I would change it. I agree with you on most of your other points, however, I didn't see how you could call him an NYC elitist. While I agree with you we aren't, nor have tried to be an NYC or anywhere else copycat, we still have to be realistic. While you and I might have a great deal of pride in our city, the fact is, these types of things are impressionable upon outsiders no matter of our own confidence in our city. Is it a dramatic detriment to our city in luring businesses or future residents, probably not, but it still helps the overall image of our city to outsiders and residents alike. As you may know, the one thing this STATE, not just city needs to overcome (and we've been doing a good job the last few years), is to take some PRIDE in ourselves and change outsider's perceptions. That's just my two cents.