Oklahoma City Stampede

[crouchingliger]

Oklahoma City Stampede's ,there Its Plural Now! For The Stereotype's That Show's How Illiterate People Are.

Apparently, it's not a stereotype.

Capital Letters - The OWL at Purdue

The Apostrophe

[solitude]

I travel constantly to almost every state and every major city and I don't hear the negative OK view that I read here and on other OK message boards. I don't know where posters on this board come up with the idea that everyone thinks Oklahoma is in the dark ages. Oklahoma has gained respect and prestige everywhere BUT in Oklahoma.

Really? Where do you travel? I hear the stereotypes all the time. A few examples...

-- When I travel I use "GoToMyPC" and am able to use and access my computer at home - I can even use my home Internet connection as a sort of proxy. I can work on my laptop with things from my home computer. Neat service. I have had people ask - I kid you not - "they have that kind of thing in Oklahoma? I have a hard time picturing people in Oklahoma even using computers and being on the Internet." It sounds crazy - but I swear it's true!

-- I once mentioned a freeway in Oklahoma City and I noticed the lady was smiling. I stopped and asked her, "What?" She said - again, I kid you not - "I have a hard time picturing freeways in Oklahoma."

-- I had an executive in Philadelphia ask if most people travel in cars or "if it's still mostly horses." I laughed and he said that's what he pictured. He was dead serious! And then he said something I hear a lot: "Well, I didn't know, I really just don't ever think much about Oklahoma. It's one of those 'fly-over' places you just don't give a lot of thought to." That one is probably the most common.

I honestly don't see how people can travel and not hear these stereotypes. I don't see the ignorance so much west of the Mississippi, but in the big cities on the east coast, Oklahoma City just as well be on Mars. They have a perception of Oklahoma that is reinforced every time we offer up another cowboy image in an advertsing campaign, every time they see poor grammar on TV in news stories (after a tornado or something), every time they see and hear a Berry Tramel or a Sally Kern or Jim Inhofe. And some here think we don't have a serious image problem? Rover, I am serious when I ask - where do you travel and not see and hear this image of Oklahoma? You said, "almost every state," and I'm sorry, but we must travel in parallel universes. "Respect?" "Prestige?" - I don't see it. The stories above are but just three off the top of my head. I could list them one after another. It's sad - but true. If we want to reinforce that image - then let's name the team The Stampede. It's exactly what most people would expect from Oklahoma.

[RabidRed]

I've got to admit, this really has a ring to it. And yes, the team name may indeed have an "s;" it will just start with one!

For the record, I also was on the Bison bandwagon, although have to admit Stampede has an automatic appeal to me.

Ditto

[UnFrSaKn]

Latest Reviews of Oklahoma City

Tulsa Tourism : Introduction to Tulsa, OK - Yahoo! Travel

TULSA is a good-looking city, thanks in part to the striking Art Deco architecture that dates from its Twenties heyday as an immensely wealthy oil town. Despite – or possibly because of – its pleasant atmosphere, two excellent museums, and thriving art scene, the city tends towards complacency. In addition, fundamentalist Christian attitudes are hard to ignore; Tulsa is known as the "Buckle of the Bible Belt."

According to this..

MSN Travel Destinations

..we're not even a U.S. city.

[Rover]

I travel virtually every week to a major city in the US, and often outside of the country. I work with some of the largest developers in the country. I NEVER hear that kind of ignorant observation about OK. The exception are the sports fans who either do it to get a rise, or are complete rubes. The people propigating stereotypes are rubes.... just like some of our rednecks think Pittsburgh is still a steel town and everyone in Pennsylvania is a coal miner....or that everyone in California is a hippy. There are ignoramuses everywhere and you can't worry about them. I work with people investing in development of businesses and real estate, and I can tell you they think more highly of Oklahoma City than half of our own residents.

[solitude]

I travel virtually every week to a major city in the US, and often outside of the country. I work with some of the largest developers in the country. I NEVER hear that kind of ignorant observation about OK. The exception are the sports fans who either do it to get a rise, or are complete rubes. The people propigating stereotypes are rubes.... just like some of our rednecks think Pittsburgh is still a steel town and everyone in Pennsylvania is a coal miner....or that everyone in California is a hippy. There are ignoramuses everywhere and you can't worry about them. I work with people investing in development of businesses and real estate, and I can tell you they think more highly of Oklahoma City than half of our own residents.

Well, that explains it. Anybody investing in real estate and business would obviously know the 'lay of the land' better than say, someone in the computer industry, the media, banking, manufacturing, etc. I can tell you most of them don't think of Oklahoma at all; and when they do - it's nothing flattering.

[Rover]

Sorry to disappoint all these posters who want everyone to believe how poorly we are thought of. A lot of people spout off this stuff based on legend and don't actually speak with people investing in and developing this country. It is easy for some rube to spout off an ignorant opinion of OK, but businessmen do their homework when investing millions into economies. I'm sorry if I offended some posters here by telling it like it is. Don't all of you who read this board fall into this pitty party some want you to join. We have a long ways to go here in OKC, but we have come farther than many here realize. Wish they could see what it looks like from the outside.

[Rover]

By the way, we have offices and factories in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago and Oklahoma City and you may be surprised to know it is easier to recruit top engineers in our business to OKC than the others. Guess our "backward" rap doesn't hurt us too badly.

[Toadrax]

I hate it when they ask you.. "What is in OKC?"

That question used to always stump me..

Remember when Barkley said that OKC was no place for black people? I saw that interview when it was first broadcast and it was typical of the type of stuff I hear all the time anyway...

Barkley: Oklahoma 'no place for black people' - NBA - MSNBC.com

[solitude]

Sorry to disappoint all these posters who want everyone to believe how poorly we are thought of. A lot of people spout off this stuff based on legend and don't actually speak with people investing in and developing this country. It is easy for some rube to spout off an ignorant opinion of OK, but businessmen do their homework when investing millions into economies. I'm sorry if I offended some posters here by telling it like it is. Don't all of you who read this board fall into this pitty party some want you to join. We have a long ways to go here in OKC, but we have come farther than many here realize. Wish they could see what it looks like from the outside.

Rover, Rover.....You haven't offended anybody here. You shared your experiences and I shared mine. That we've obviously had two very different experiences doesn't mean you should be offended or feel you have offended anyone.

You wrote, "...businessmen do their homework when investing millions into economies." No doubt about it. But businessmen would invest on any square mile on the globe if they thought they could make a buck. They're also smart enough not to offend those with whom they're doing business, too. Just because they find there is money to be made in Oklahoma City doesn't necessarily mean they think Oklahoma City is the next great urban center. I agree completely that OKC has come a long way. We just disagree on furthering a stereotype with naming our team The Stampede.

Which makes me think - we're way off topic here.

[SCHOONER]

What About ,oklahoma City Roughnecks

[chuckdiesel]

I hate it when they ask you.. "What is in OKC?"

That question used to always stump me..

Remember when Barkley said that OKC was no place for black people? I saw that interview when it was first broadcast and it was typical of the type of stuff I hear all the time anyway...

Barkley: Oklahoma 'no place for black people' - NBA - MSNBC.com

That was a really ignorant statement from Barkley. OKC has a higher percentage of black residents than Seattle.

[RabidRed]

What About ,oklahoma City Roughnecks

Works for me!

[dcsooner]

Right Chuck, Oklahoma has a very long and proud Black history. Oklahoma has more Blacks than Washington State and I believe OKC has as many or more blacks as are in Seattle. We (Oklahomans) really need to quit "caring" about the ignorance demonstrated by athletes and anyone else who chooses to remain in the dark. Oklahoma and Oklahoma City will develop and grow leaps and bounds with the exposure the NBA brings, let's not allow others from Seattle or anywhere else to "rain" on our parade. This is a new Oklahoma proud of our heritage and excited about our future.

[dismayed]

I don't know. I travel a lot too, both professionally and for fun, and I hear some strange things and sometimes rude things about my home state all the time. But I don't know that it isn't anything that someone from a coast wouldn't say about any city or state in "flyover country."

But speaking of sports fans in Seattle, they seem to be the worst. I have heard comments like Barkley's about how we don't have black people here... wrong, our census figures show that OKC is actually a more diverse place than Seattle. I have heard us called a small city because we have a core population of 500k. Ironic since Seattle has a core population of 500k also. I have heard people say we have no jobs here when Seattle's job growth rate is 0% and ours is over 10%.

I guess how this all relates back to naming our team is that I agree most people don't have any opinion of OKC and probably just lump us in with the rest of the midwest... so whatever name we choose I hope it is something that highlights the positive about this city.

[edcrunk]

The difference between Oklahoma uisng western heritage and places like Texas using it is that no one thinks Texans are still riding horses. Even Seattle seems to be full steam ahead using Indian references. Their minor league hockey team is call the Totems, as in totem poles. But once again no one thinks people in Seattle live in tee-pees.

People around the country really do think Oklahoma is still in the horse and buggy days and half the population lives in tee-pees.

really??? come on now. in the six years i lived in dallas i herd the same things about texas (mostly from the east coast) but i never believed that they were serious. anyone that says that is effing with you.

[metro]

stampede? seriously? might as well call it the OKC Horses or OKC Cows or Billygoats. Come on people, start thinking names with GLOBAL marketability.

[Kerry]

Ed and Rover - I hate to tell you this but a lot of people do think OKC is still in the 1800's. I work at some of the largest corporations in the world and I use a picture of downtown OKC as my desktop background. When I give presentations the first thing people see is the photo and everyone ask me what city it is. They are shocked to hear Oklahoma City. When I tell them there are 1.2 million people in OKC metro they respond with disbelief and say they though the whole state only had a million.

Growing up in California I dated a girl whose parents immigrated from Germany and they though Indians still ran wild in Oklahoma. In 1989 she took a trip with me to tour the OU campus where we were both planning to attend. Her mother was genuinely afraid her daughter was going to be scalped on the trip. I kid you not.

[edcrunk]

hmmm... i have come across people who genuinely didn't realize that we do have a skyline.

i do agree that i would like a more cosmopolitan name.

[Rover]

You guys are dealing with the wrong people if they are that stupid. Either you are dramatizing or they are seriously stupid people. You need to upgrade clients if this is the amount of "worldliness" they possess. They never watch the news, never invest in or never travel to other states or ever read about what is going on in the world. 95% of this country's people are just not that ignorant.

[Rover]

Oh, and the other thing about slogans, names, etc.....it is the first rule of positioning...it has to be believable. And to hear you guys tell it, the whole world will not believe it unless it is backward or hickish. Just because you say it doesn't make it real in people's minds. So if you are correct, we are doomed to some red-neck name.

[edcrunk]

so i was reading tramel's blog and a couple of his readers came up with GUARDIANS. ya know, like the statue on the dome.
that's the only thing i've heard that i like as much as barons.

[Chicken In The Rough]

The Okies!

[Kerry]

Hey Rover - here is a true story. When I graduated from OU in '94 I went to work for Rand McNally, the mapping company. On my first day of work I had lunch in the office cafeteria and a group of people asked me to eat with them. I guess they were being nice to the new guy. A woman asked me where I moved from and knowing most people wouldn't know where Norman, Oklahoma is I said Oklahoma City. She asked me what state that was in.

Was she stupid? Yes she was but it doesn't change the fact that she didn't know.

[FritterGirl]

Hey Rover - here is a true story. When I graduated from OU in '94 I went to work for Rand McNally, the mapping company. On my first day of work I had lunch in the office cafeteria and a group of people asked me to eat with them. I guess they were being nice to the new guy. A woman asked me where I moved from and knowing most people wouldn't know where Norman, Oklahoma is I said Oklahoma City. She asked me what state that was in.

Was she stupid? Yes she was but it doesn't change the fact that she didn't know.

Wasn't it Rand McNally who conveniently "forgot" to include Oklahoma, and I believe South Dakota, in one of their annual road atlases several years ago, since if I recall correctly, according to them, neither state was "significant" enough?