Oklahoma City Blue

There was an exuberant buzz of excitement sweeping through the lobby of the Cox Center in OKC last week. Yes, it was the American Spirit Championship for a bunch of Jr. High and high school cheerleaders. However, by the time Margaret and I had wandered into the place to watch a little D League basketball the excitement was all but a memory. While we were in town for the OKC Thunder game we thought we d take in the Thunder s little, minor league brother, the OKC Blue. While the crowd for the Thunder game was fired up, rowdy, and filled to capacity, the crowd for the Blue game was\u2026well, somewhere else. I honestly believe there were more fans at Margaret s granddaughter s Girl s Club basketball game the previous week. None the less, I was excited because this was the legendary, COX CONVENTION CENTER where so many great rock stars of the 70 s, 80 s and 90 s had played. Led Zeppelin had rocked within these very walls! Of course in those days, it was called the MYRIAD. That s back when such places had cool names that had nothing to do with sponsorship. As soon as I took my seat I started pointing out to Margaret where I had been seated to see such legendary acts as Heart and Jimmy Buffett. She was so rivetted in my tales of past glory that she pulled out her phone and started playing games. Now for the current glory. The mighty Iowa Wolves were in town to battle with the local OKC Blue. Not sure where that name comes from, but I suppose we ll go with it. Both teams were struggling against each other for the top spot in their division, and apparently the Blue was so serious about the contest that they pulled Daniel Hamilton down from the Thunder roster to assist in a serious thump n on the guys from Iowa. Of course being a loyal OSU fan, I quickly notice that the Blue s starting postman was none other than former OSU star 6 8 Michael Cobbins. I was wondering what happened to him. Yes, seeing one of my former OSU players was nearly worth the price of admission right there. The ticket prices aren t that high by the way. Okay, let s get this game rockin ! Iowa s Michael Bryson struck gold first with a 3 pointer, but that was okay because it would be the last points he d score for the game. Then after Cobbin s rolled in two points, Iowa s Anthony Brown laid in two more points for the Wolves. Nice to see Brown putting his degree from Stanford to good use playing in the D leagues for this huge crowd of me, Margaret, and an usher here and there. The second quarter stared off with PJ Dozier cutting inside with a wild dunk giving OKC a ten-point lead. However, the quarter ended with OKC s guard Bryce Alford s three-point shot giving the home team a two-point 51 to 49 lead. Two-point lead? What happened to the ten-point lead? I suppose I had become preoccupied looking for the team s dance squad. I m guessing minor league teams in Oklahoma don t rate finely shaped and scantily dressed dancers. That should be printed on the ticket. Warning, this game comes with no dancers. In Dallas, even the minor league hockey teams have dancers. What s up with that? The OKC Blue might boost up their attendance if a few hot women were added to the scene. At least they might get a few of the dancer s boyfriends to show up occasionally. Every fan matters. What the game did have, however, were a couple of double doubles. Iowa Wolves standout forward, Amile Jefferson was able to drill in 23 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. However, even with teammate Elijah Millsap s 30 points, the Wolves didn t have enough bite to stop the mighty Blue (still don t know about that name) as they took a pretty commanding lead in the 4th quarter. Aided by the sometimes OKC Thunder player, Daniel Hamilton s 23 points and 12 boards the Blue put the Wolves on a leash with a 111 to 97 defeat. As the fans (all three of them) rushed out to lobby to get in line to hang out with the players, I looked out over the arena that I used to think was so huge at one time. With a capacity of 13,846, the old Myriad seems small compared to the 18,200 seat Chesapeake Energy Arena across the street. Oh well, there s little fear that the Blue will ever fill the place to capacity. Dancers would help though.

the attendance is not there yet, people dont know the team is there. Also there are no childrens activities (like at the Legends game) easy parking and getting upstairs to the court, in all weather.my grandchildren wanted the hoops and wall climbing etc..

Very exciting game. Good seats. The entertainment by the Storm Chasers and the jumbo tron videos were fun. The announcer who entertained during the breaks was very good.

This is a great way to watch up and coming pro basketball players at an inexensive price. Very family friendly....More fun that I could have imagined!!!!