quote:
Originally posted by perspicuity85
So South Tulsa/Jenks gets the Drillers, and DT gets a Wal-Mart? Ouch.
I'm still waiting on Rufnex to come out of nowhere with some clutch news concerning a MLS stadium. If Tulsa's unique urban scene continues to expand, maybe it will be attractive to MLS. Most of the D-Fest crowd, for example, would definitely attend an MLS game in Tulsa. If the Drillers move to Jenks, Tulsa needs to look for alternatives. Sporting venues can be great anchors for urban development. Think Wrigleyville, Chicago, on a smaller scale.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I've never been privy to insider info from anyone living in Tulsa... dating back to 2002...
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=142997&postcount=7 [
]
...and over five years later, I still have no clue
"who the mysterious Tulsa people are." [}:)]
As much as I believe a "unique urban scene" is a desirable goal for Tulsa, no amount of
urban chic will lead Major League Soccer (or any major sports league, IMHO) to consider Tulsa over the sexier cities of Portland, Philly, Atlanta, St Louis, Las Vegas, etc, etc... Tulsa has had chances at MLS based on the city's high level of support for the Roughnecks back in the late 70s and early 80s. It made perfect sense, less than ten years after the NASL's collapse in 1985, that Tulsa should rise to the top of the list of potential MLS cities.
You see, MLS also wants to be in cities where they have the best chance of being treated fairly by the local media, local government, and get local corporate support and local ownership along with a high level of fan support. A lot of this happened in the early 80s with the old Roughnecks.... and in 1994, Tulsa rose to close to the top of the list of potential MLS cities, leapfrogging much larger cities like St Louis and Indianapolis and Detroit and Portland and Seattle... the only thing missing at the time was a grass field at Skelly.
I thought that with Lamar Hunt (who owned multiple MLS teams) believing in Tulsa and Winnercomm's close relationship with MLS, it'd only be a matter of time before Tulsa got its soccer team back. I also saw enough games in Denver, Chicago, and Boston to still feel like Tulsa could be a success in this league... and still do.
Back on topic, I guess I just don't understand all the bad blood about Jenks possibly financing a stadium for the Drillers. After all, the Arkansas Travelers now play across the river in North Little Rock... I mean, it's not like they're moving to Muskogee... or Springdale, AR...