Brew Pub by the ballpark

[Red Arrow]

Just about everybody plays sports growing up. It is a huge deal at just about every school. I can't imagine Portland being much better in that regard. Oklahoma produces more NCAA football players (despite being a smaller state), slightly fewer basketball players and about the same number of baseball players (again, despite the lower population).

Probably the most notable area where Oklahoma schools shine.  But stop to think about it, it's a way out of Oklahoma for the selected few who make it to the top.

[davideinstein]

I guess you haven't been to Fassler Hall or other similar establishments that show games during Thunder playoff time (or NACC tourney, Olympics, or World Cup). There's a big Thunder following among the young/artsy/creative crowd and big passionate crowds for many of the other big sporting events.

Just about everybody plays sports growing up. It is a huge deal at just about every school. I can't imagine Portland being much better in that regard. Oklahoma produces more NCAA football players (despite being a smaller state), slightly fewer basketball players and about the same number of baseball players (again, despite the lower population).

People play a more variety of sports outside of Oklahoma. I played lacrosse in high school, which is just now being offered at some high schools here.

[davideinstein]

Stop

Ok, I'll stop with the smartass comments and let you guys keep telling me this is good sports town.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Passionate? Attendance at Roughnecks and TU football tell me otherwise.

Lets see, obviously you did not read my comment. I was referring to the original Roughnecks not the current version, and as to my attending TU games in my youth, back in the 70's, it was time for my father who is a TU Alumni who graduated from TU with a mechanical engineering degree in 1962 while working at McDonnell Douglas, to spend time together cheering on TU. I had a brother that attended one year at OSU and then graduated from TU in 1976 with a teaching degree.

It's very obvious that you have a disdain for college sports in Oklahoma, and you have a dim view of of sports fans in the Tulsa area, as well as you have a dim view of the employee base as well.

You seem to have this idea that some parts, Williams Center Tower, needs to be torn down because you view it as an obstruction to the way downtown should be. You also seem to be against the food truck industry as well. You seem to feel it interferes with your business at Jimmy Johns.

I don't know how long you have lived in Tulsa, and what your understanding of it's history is, but you seem to want to crap all over everything. While some of it may be warranted, the rest of it is rather bitter and obnoxious. If it's that bad that you complain about almost everything. why don't you move to some place that fits your ideals. If Tulsa doesn't have what is your idea of a sports culture, there are several thousand places you can go to.

Just an observation, it seems you have a very narrow view about Tulsa. I lived there for thirty four years from birth in 1963 until I moved in 1998, and while there are things that I may be critical of, the one thing that I will never change is that I still love where I was born and raised. There are so many members here that remind me of what Tulsa is, and I agree and disagree with them on issues since as much as thing change some remain the same, but they are what Tulsa is, but they don't sit and constantly crap on everything, and when the see something that should change they talk about why, and how it could make things better. They offer constructive criticism, and several are actively involved in making changes.

[Ibanez]

Lets see, obviously you did not read my comment. I was referring to the original Roughnecks not the current version, and as to my attending TU games in my youth, back in the 70's, it was time for my father who is a TU Alumni who graduated from TU with a mechanical engineering degree in 1962 while working at McDonnell Douglas, to spend time together cheering on TU. I had a brother that attended one year at OSU and then graduated from TU in 1976 with a teaching degree.

It's very obvious that you have a disdain for college sports in Oklahoma, and you have a dim view of of sports fans in the Tulsa area, as well as you have a dim view of the employee base as well.

He's just dim.

[Conan71]

People play a more variety of sports outside of Oklahoma. I played lacrosse in high school, which is just now being offered at some high schools here.

What about lacrosse makes another city or town more sports-oriented than another?  To my knowledge, Holland Hall has had a lacrosse team for eons.  Tulsa has had amateur and youth hockey leagues since the 1970s.  Youth soccer started here in the mid ’70’s and is still very strong.  Tulsa has tons of competitive cyclists, a rowing club for youth and adults, multiple college teams to root for within 150 miles, two dirt auto racing tracks in the immediate area as well as a drag strip and road race course not far from Tulsa.  It’s hard to drive a mile in traffic here and not see an OU, OSU, TU, or Arkansas sticker or tag on another car.  That’s usually a fair indication the owner of that car is a fan of that school’s sports programs.

When you have a high school football rivalry which can come close to selling out Skelly Stadium, it’s hard to claim Tulsa is not a sports-oriented city.

[Weatherdemon]

What about lacrosse makes another city or town more sports-oriented than another?  To my knowledge, Holland Hall has had a lacrosse team for eons.  Tulsa has had amateur and youth hockey leagues since the 1970s.  Youth soccer started here in the mid ’70’s and is still very strong.  Tulsa has tons of competitive cyclists, a rowing club for youth and adults, multiple college teams to root for within 150 miles, two dirt auto racing tracks in the immediate area as well as a drag strip and road race course not far from Tulsa.  It’s hard to drive a mile in traffic here and not see an OU, OSU, TU, or Arkansas sticker or tag on another car.  That’s usually a fair indication the owner of that car is a fan of that school’s sports programs.

When you have a high school football rivalry which can come close to selling out Skelly Stadium, it’s hard to claim Tulsa is not a sports-oriented city.

Youth soccer, baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse, and hockey are all pretty popular around here these days.

[davideinstein]

Lets see, obviously you did not read my comment. I was referring to the original Roughnecks not the current version, and as to my attending TU games in my youth, back in the 70's, it was time for my father who is a TU Alumni who graduated from TU with a mechanical engineering degree in 1962 while working at McDonnell Douglas, to spend time together cheering on TU. I had a brother that attended one year at OSU and then graduated from TU in 1976 with a teaching degree.

It's very obvious that you have a disdain for college sports in Oklahoma, and you have a dim view of of sports fans in the Tulsa area, as well as you have a dim view of the employee base as well.

You seem to have this idea that some parts, Williams Center Tower, needs to be torn down because you view it as an obstruction to the way downtown should be. You also seem to be against the food truck industry as well. You seem to feel it interferes with your business at Jimmy Johns.

I don't know how long you have lived in Tulsa, and what your understanding of it's history is, but you seem to want to crap all over everything. While some of it may be warranted, the rest of it is rather bitter and obnoxious. If it's that bad that you complain about almost everything. why don't you move to some place that fits your ideals. If Tulsa doesn't have what is your idea of a sports culture, there are several thousand places you can go to.

Just an observation, it seems you have a very narrow view about Tulsa. I lived there for thirty four years from birth in 1963 until I moved in 1998, and while there are things that I may be critical of, the one thing that I will never change is that I still love where I was born and raised. There are so many members here that remind me of what Tulsa is, and I agree and disagree with them on issues since as much as thing change some remain the same, but they are what Tulsa is, but they don't sit and constantly crap on everything, and when the see something that should change they talk about why, and how it could make things better. They offer constructive criticism, and several are actively involved in making changes.

I'm an Oklahoma State football season ticket holder, my favorite place to eat in Tulsa is a food truck and I like complete blocks over super blocks with large office buildings. I'm not bitter, I just openly post my thoughts and ideas. I've lived in Tulsa proper, by choice, for a decade now.

Plus, this conversation is about sports culture. Not sure how more active I need to be in the local soccer scene to formulate an educated opinion on this. But, whatever.

[davideinstein]

What about lacrosse makes another city or town more sports-oriented than another?  To my knowledge, Holland Hall has had a lacrosse team for eons.  Tulsa has had amateur and youth hockey leagues since the 1970s.  Youth soccer started here in the mid ’70’s and is still very strong.  Tulsa has tons of competitive cyclists, a rowing club for youth and adults, multiple college teams to root for within 150 miles, two dirt auto racing tracks in the immediate area as well as a drag strip and road race course not far from Tulsa.  It’s hard to drive a mile in traffic here and not see an OU, OSU, TU, or Arkansas sticker or tag on another car.  That’s usually a fair indication the owner of that car is a fan of that school’s sports programs.

When you have a high school football rivalry which can come close to selling out Skelly Stadium, it’s hard to claim Tulsa is not a sports-oriented city.

Every city has sports. I just don't think there is a great sports culture here. All I get are lectures about the Roughnecks and TU football from four decades ago. I think Tulsa has one really awesome, top notch sporting event in Tulsa Tough and that's it.

[davideinstein]

He's just dim.

Because you disagree.

[BKDotCom]

Gentlemen, please!

[Conan71]

Every city has sports. I just don't think there is a great sports culture here. All I get are lectures about the Roughnecks and TU football from four decades ago. I think Tulsa has one really awesome, top notch sporting event in Tulsa Tough and that's it.

I think you are missing the forest for the trees.  Tulsa has always been a very sports-oriented town.  We simply to not have first tier professional sports, that's the only thing which is lacking here.

[rebound]

I think you are missing the forest for the trees.  Tulsa has always been a very sports-oriented town.  We simply to not have first tier professional sports, that's the only thing which is lacking here.

Despite his lack of elaboration, I'm giving David some leeway here.   He's definitely coming at this from a "watching big-time sports as a group" angle, and from that perspective he has a point.   As Conan notes, we don't have tier-one pro sports in this town, and also because we are so close to OSU, OU, and AR, those die-hard season ticket holders go to there to watch the games, etc.  So I generally agree, there is not this rabid sports culture that you might see in, say, a South Eastern state with a pro football team and SEC colleges.  It's just a different vibe, especially here in Tulsa.

But for me, I like it.  We ARE a very sports and outdoors oriented city, where a large percentage of the population actually participates in whatever their sport or pastime is, instead of simply rooting for a team.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see MLS come to Tulsa and would support it, but overall I'd rather be doing than watching any day, and there are ton of Tulsans that apparently feel the same way.

[DowntownDan]

What Tulsa lacks is a diversity of sports supporters because we don't draw in a lot of people from other areas like big cities do.  In Dallas every college and pro team has a large supporters group that meet at sports bars to watch their games.  Here we have OU, OSU, TU, and Arkansas groups for college, Cowboys and Chiefs followers for NFL (mostly locals who choose one or the other), and Cardinals fans for MLB.  Other than that, other teams have small groups of fans that might gather, but it's nothing like a big city.  I was in Washington, D.C. on a Sunday recently and found a bar that was all Dallas Cowboys.  When I lived in Dallas all of the major colleges had big groups of supporters at sports bars on Saturdays.  We don't have that in Tulsa.  The issue affects only sports bars though.  Our minor league teams do fine, we have strong youth sport groups, Southern Hills will get another major eventually, Tulsa Tough is awesome, the BMX facility will likely be a success, etc.  The one thing I can't get into around here is high school football.  I don't get the interest unless a friend or family member is on the field.  But that's just a cultural thing I guess that I didn't get.

[davideinstein]

Actually, I completely overlooked putting Southern Hilla in the conversation. The PGA events they've hosted are worth noting and there is for sure a top notch golfing community here. That and Tulsa Tough are elite.

My argument was mainly in regards to pro/college sports culture. I try not to pick on TU too much because it's the smallest FBS program in the country and they exceed expectations overall with sports. But tomorrow they will have a football game on national TV and I know there will be empty seats. The Roughnecks are a laughingstock and the Drillers/Oilers are just minor league teams. Down the road in OKC (I'll prelude this with, I have no interest in living there really and prefer Tulsa for other reasons) they have an NBA team and now have MLS momentum. The guy who essentially went off on me earlier suggested I've done nothing to improve it. I've had season tickets, spent thousands on tickets/tailgating/travel and so on only to be let down by owners, politicians and apathetic fans for the one thing we had a chance at which was a good pro soccer culture. Now we have an NPSL team with no stadium because of politics and a USL team that couldn't care less about the product on the field because of bad owners. So maybe I am bitter, but it's not like I'm coming from a viewpoint that is clueless. It's not the best experience as a sports fan here in town.