OKC Performance
I attended the NCAA wrestling championships this past weekend. I stayed in a hotel with my parents who live in Tulsa. Here is my recap.
We went to bricktown for every meal. There were six of us and I think we spent close to $1000 on food and drinks during those three days. The wrestling fans make nationals a big party. I would say that 75% of the crowd is the same every year. It is a hell of a time.
The main problem with bricktown was that they closed the kitchens too early. The restaurants were obviously not informed about the time of the sessions. We left the session early on Thursday night to get a table at Bourbon Street. The waiter came to our table to tell us that they were closing the kitchen in 15 minutes. This was at about 10:30. I told them that the crowds were about to get big. He told me that is what they thought, but that the crowds never came. I informed him that there were 15,000 people at the Ford Center that were about to crash Bricktown. Needless to say, my parents didn't get to eat and while we were waiting for a taxi, we had to inform over 50 people that the kitchen was closed.
In the future, someone needs to make sure the restaurants know the schedule of the events. There was a rumor that Half Time ran out of liquor on Friday night. I would not be suprised... the wrestling fans throw it down.
The NCAA aquired every room downtown for the teams and media. That was a pain. I look forward to the addition of the new hotels, but we need more. For events like this, every fan would stay downtown if they could.
My friends from other parts of the country were suprised by the lack of retail downtown. We have discussed that topic at length on this site...
The next time, I think Bricktown will be ready for the wrestling fans. There will be more hotels and retail. We will make a strong case to host this event every year. I hope to see a rotation between us and St. Louis... I am not looking forward to Detroit next year.
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