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I think ALOT of it had to do with the Funk divorce. Word I heard from Blazer fans in the know down there was that his wife was going to get the hockey club. If he made it not viable, guess what? She wouldn't take it most likely.
I was at the 1994 game in Tulsa where the team brawl spread into the stands. They got it under control, after a while. It was pretty wild
It happened a lot, even without us playing OKC...especially when we had Sasha Lakovic on our team. That dude was certifiable. I remember him stripping down all his gear from the waist up, skating out to center ice and calling out the entire San Antonio bench to come fight him. There were no takers.
It happened a lot, even without us playing OKC...especially when we had Sasha Lakovic on our team. That dude was certifiable. I remember him stripping down all his gear from the waist up, skating out to center ice and calling out the entire San Antonio bench to come fight him. There were no takers.
That's the Blazers, Ruff, not the oilers. I know enough about the Oiler organization to know it has not lost money in the 17 years of it's operation. When Express Sports took over the Blazers is when it went in the tank. If you'd research a little about it you might know this.
Research?
Please post links detailing the Tulsa Oilers' financials over the last 17 years to prove your case.
Can't find any? What a surprise.
Bob Funk took over the Blazers in 1999. The complaint at the time was over how the team was run pre-1999.... not after 1999. Express Sports was committed to not giving out as many free tickets, and keeping expenses low.
OKC Blazers fans proudly told me their team was operating "in the black" around 2002, and that it was the member of the Lund family in Tulsa who didn't know how to run a hockey team.
The Phoenix Coyotes NHL Team recently attempted to leave the Phoenix AZ area for Hamilton Ontario Canada (The Toronto Ontario Area)...Do you think that TULSA should make a play for the team..simular to the attempt that Tulsa made for the Pittsburgh Penquins when they considered moving.
Five years ago the Penguins were in Bankruptcy and trying to move. The City sued and won because they had invested $180 million in facilities. That is nothing compared to what Glendale has invested and they have the Pittsburgh case law. The Coyotes won't be leaving try for the LA Kings, LA only supports B-Ball and Soccer.
Yes, really...utter BS. How many hockey games have you ever gone to. I used to frequent the Roughneck games at Skelly Stadium back in the day and I did play soccer. Soccer (or hockey for that matter) will never have the hold on school kids that football or baseball does. Why? Because it's not seen as a major sport. You never hear of 'the Big Four' of sports do you. Hockey is considered Canadian, but how many professional hockey teams (including the minors) exist south of, say, the Kansas/Nebraska border? Now, count how many professional soccer teams exist south of said line.
I'm not tryin' to play down soccer. It's just fact. Soccer had it's chance here with the NASL back in the 70s. They blew it. MLS is barely hangin' on, even with Beckham, who tends to bleed the team he's playing for dry with his exorbitant salary.
Mark my words. Soccer will NEVER be a mainstream professional sport. A school sport? Sure. Do I like watching soccer. Just the women. Not sexist, they play with more passion and even aggression then even the men do. And watching some of these silly falls and dives taken by some of these players just kills me.
You're just chock full of "utter BS" statements these days, aren't you, hockey boy?
I like soccer. You like hockey. My point (and Artist's point) has been that Tulsa would do well in working towards an MLS team rather than the NHL. I have stats and history and 5,000 pledged season tickets from the spring of 2003 that remind me of Tulsa's viability.
Mark my words.
Soccer will take its proper place in this country.... Top 4? Not sure. Up there with NASCAR and hockey?
I suppose the old fart, jocksniffing, domestic soccer-hating media and their dittoheads will have to retire or die off first.
You obviously were never a good enough soccer player to understand the conditioning and skills that World Cup players and other professional level players have to have. You like watching women play soccer because you listened to one too many of Jim Rome's anti-soccer tirades and was taken in by the Madison Ave success of the US in the Women's World Cup over a handful of soccer novice opponents. Every year that passes, our national men's team gets more and more competitive...... when you tell me you think women's soccer is better than the men's game because the women play with more "passion and aggression," I laugh. Talk about "utter BS." It shows your soccer illiteracy and contempt for the sport.
I saw quite a few Ice Oiler games when I was a kid. Every year. I've seen a Chicago Wolves game or two.... I got great seats to a Blackhawks vs. Canucks regular season game a few years back, and I swear to god they started off the game with a staged fight, akin to WWF.
No comparison to watching Germany-Spain and Germany-Belgium at Soldier Field in '94.....
I am proud of Joe Max-Moore. I am proud of TU's goalkeeper (Dominic Cervi) who's playing overseas. I've enjoyed watching games with other Tulsa soccer fans at the Fox & Hound.
MLS is expanding. Seattle is playing in front of crowds of over 30k this season. Toronto regularly sells out their 21k soccer specific stadium. Salt Lake City just opened their new stadium. Philly will be playing in a newly constructed soccer stadium in 2010, Vancouver and Portland will be joining the league in 2011. MLS has many of its own "soccer specific" stadiums.
The NASL never had that, and they played the game on oldstyle astroturf with aging stars... the NASL thought Skelly Stadium was fine for them back in 1978...
But in 2002, MLS told the city of Tulsa that Skelly Stadium simply wouldn't work.
But they were still interested in Tulsa. Too bad Dave Sittler couldn't even spell "MLS" at the time...
You're just chock full of "utter BS" statements these days, aren't you, hockey boy?
I like soccer. You like hockey. My point (and Artist's point) has been that Tulsa would do well in working towards an MLS team rather than the NHL. I have stats and history and 5,000 pledged season tickets from the spring of 2003 that remind me of Tulsa's viability.
Mark my words.
Soccer will take its proper place in this country.... Top 4? Not sure. Up there with NASCAR and hockey?
I suppose the old fart, jocksniffing, domestic soccer-hating media and their dittoheads will have to retire or die off first.
You obviously were never a good enough soccer player to understand the conditioning and skills that World Cup players and other professional level players have to have. You like watching women play soccer because you listened to one too many of Jim Rome's anti-soccer tirades and was taken in by the Madison Ave success of the US in the Women's World Cup over a handful of soccer novice opponents. Every year that passes, our national men's team gets more and more competitive...... when you tell me you think women's soccer is better than the men's game because the women play with more "passion and aggression," I laugh. Talk about "utter BS." It shows your soccer illiteracy and contempt for the sport.
I saw quite a few Ice Oiler games when I was a kid. Every year. I've seen a Chicago Wolves game or two.... I got great seats to a Blackhawks vs. Canucks regular season game a few years back, and I swear to god they started off the game with a staged fight, akin to WWF.
No comparison to watching Germany-Spain and Germany-Belgium at Soldier Field in '94.....
I am proud of Joe Max-Moore. I am proud of TU's goalkeeper (Dominic Cervi) who's playing overseas. I've enjoyed watching games with other Tulsa soccer fans at the Fox & Hound.
MLS is expanding. Seattle is playing in front of crowds of over 30k this season. Toronto regularly sells out their 21k soccer specific stadium. Salt Lake City just opened their new stadium. Philly will be playing in a newly constructed soccer stadium in 2010, Vancouver and Portland will be joining the league in 2011. MLS has many of its own "soccer specific" stadiums.
The NASL never had that, and they played the game on oldstyle astroturf with aging stars... the NASL thought Skelly Stadium was fine for them back in 1978...
But in 2002, MLS told the city of Tulsa that Skelly Stadium simply wouldn't work.
But they were still interested in Tulsa. Too bad Dave Sittler couldn't even spell "MLS" at the time...
OK Ruff, I bow down to you. You are all knowing and all seeing when it comes to sports in the Tulsa market.
Now, tell me...why is there not MLS Soccer in Tulsa, but we have minor league hockey?
And I like the women's soccer because yes, they play, with what I perceive (which is the important word here) as more passion than the men. You may PERCEIVE it differently, soccer boy. That's why opinions are so great.
You still haven't pointed out to me where I ever said we were going after an NHL team or where I said we should. As a matter of fact, search on this forum in the sports section and you'll see where I say the best we might ever do is the AHL. That post was made several months ago. But what I do deem utter BS? Comparing the markets of MLS franchises to those of NHL franchises. Utter BS. How many common sports fan can even name more the one (if one) soccer team in the MLS? Now, how many hockey teams can the common sports fan name from the NHL. Hint? It's usually at least two. I know I couldn't name one soccer team from the MLS, and don't really care.
So yes, to say I like hockey but not soccer is spot on. But to say that soccer is a bigger sport in Tulsa (in the professional ranks) is UTTER BS. Maybe on the grass fields, but I was talking with some people regarding that today and alot of those soccer matches now are springing up due to the immigration of Mexicans into the area and their passion for futbol...
No professional soccer team in Tulsa. But there is professional hockey. Fact. Not smearing, just giving my opinions. MLS is a long way out, I believe. I also don't think that you could make the MLS viable in an old minor league baseball stadium.
Utter BS ad infinitum.... I know you are, but what am I?
Sometimes I respond to single posts. Sometimes I respond to individual posters. Sometimes I respond to the general mindset of a thread. In this case, I respond to a mindset that insinuates that one newspaper interview with Bob Funk Sr about the prospects of the NHL in Tulsa is superior to Tulsa's efforts at getting MLS.
And posters who belittle one guy's opinion by DISRESPECTING MY FAVORITE SPORT will have to answer for it. When you call someone else's opinion "UTTER BS" or imply soccer is "a sissy sport," I will call you on it..... until you cry "utter bs" over and over again like a rootin' tootin' hockey loving dooshbag....... "utter bs" "utter bs" "utter bs" "waaaaaaaahhhh, waaaaahhh, waaaaaahhh".... thumbody call a waaaaaahhhmbulance...
Here's the deal: pro hockey's been around for decades and has a history in Tulsa that has nothing to do with the sports Tulsans actually play. Name the list of native Tulsans who played hockey in Tulsa, then went on to the NHL... sound of crickets... and I see you still haven't posted any Tulsa Oilers' financials over the past 17 years to prove your point that the team breaks even when the Blazers clearly did not....
Do minor league hockey and minor league baseball enjoy huge traditional advantages in Tulsa and OKC over the prospects of pro soccer due to tenure and entrenchment? Yes.
What was done for Tulsa back in the 70s and 80s by those soccer players from Northern Ireland, et al, was something that was actually "ahead of the curve," not to be confused with the perpetual "behind the curve," "can't do, won't do" mentality that far too many Tulsans have had for far, far too long. Those same soccer pros who played here came back to Tulsa in the late 80s and early 90s and established competitive youth soccer in Tulsa: Tulsa Soccer Club, the Nationals, etc, etc. Go to a game sometime and then tell me that soccer is a sport for hispanics....
TU doesn't play college hockey, and as far as I can tell, have never played college hockey... heck, TU doesn't even play college baseball anymore.... but they do have a nationally ranked NCAA D-1 men's soccer team. The coach (Tom McIntosh) was one of us Roughnecks kids....
And naysayers like yourself are part of the problem.
14,000 fans buy tickets for an MLS exhibition game.... 3500 sign up for season tix..... most of the fans at that game were not hispanics.... nice try to stereotype, hockey boy...
Tulsa soccer is part of American soccer history.... we DESERVE a PRO TEAM.... someday we will get one, but it will likely be AFTER the entire rest of the country passes us up and looks behind and smirks at Tulsa from their rearview mirrors... kinda like how OKC passed us up in the 90s....
/rant.
quotes from Lamar Hunt to the Tulsa World in the summer of 2002:
"Tulsa's opportunity is there."
"I think soccer is going to be a major successful sport in this country. It will succeed where young people are playing the game, and it will succeed where there's an adequate market size."
"Tulsa's not New York City or Chicago. But I believe Tulsa can make a name for itself."
"Oklahoma City certainly would be considered. They have been progressive with their new arena and baseball stadium, but they aren't at the same level where Tulsa is from the interest standpoint."
...snipped for brevity... quotes from Lamar Hunt to the Tulsa World in the summer of 2002:
"Tulsa's opportunity is there."
"I think soccer is going to be a major successful sport in this country. It will succeed where young people are playing the game, and it will succeed where there's an adequate market size."
"Tulsa's not New York City or Chicago. But I believe Tulsa can make a name for itself."
"Oklahoma City certainly would be considered. They have been progressive with their new arena and baseball stadium, but they aren't at the same level where Tulsa is from the interest standpoint."
Wow, a 7 year old article is what you base your information off of, or at least cite?
Look, posting financials ain't my deal. I do know that the Oilers have been operating in the black for years, simply because they have owners too cheap not to.
But hey, keep livin' your pipe dream soccer boy. MLS will be gone long before the NHL ever is.
And how many of the Roughnecks still live in town outside of Charlie Mitchell..or does he even still live here? There are plenty of former Ice Oilers, old and new incarnation, that either lived their lives out here (Willard 'Sonny' Wakeford ring a bell?) or currently live here or in Green Country. I can name at the very least ten. Oh, and the former coach, and Iron Man Garry Unger...you know...he held the record for most consecutive games played at one time...put his kids through school here and stills maintains a home in Tulsa.
And you can continue to think I'm livin' in my pipe dream, but to think professional soccer would flourish here when it lasted how many seasons here compared to hockey? Hockey has been around Tulsa off and on (more on than off) for 80+ years. Do you know the Edmonton Oilers don't lay claim to the Oiler nickname? We do. We were the first professional hockey franchise to use it.
Oh, but I guess you don't care.
Fine, I'm through with this argument. It's obvious we're not going to sway each other. But I do find it curious that your voice rings hollow as the lone advocate of professional soccer in Tulsa on this board.
Funny how YOUR voice rings hollow as one of maybe two or three hockey fan posters on this forum.....
The dirty little secret of American professional sports teams is that they ALL lose money. If the losses are "acceptable," then the franchise puts out a press release telling us the team is "in the black."
Sports teams tell us they're looking for investors; but they're really looking for benefactors....
BTW, Victor Moreland is still here; he runs the Nationals Soccer Club; Steve Earle played for the Roughnecks and is part of Tulsa Soccer Club.... Keith Eddy was an all-NASL defender for the New York Cosmos, he is prez of TSC.... there are several others.... and Tulsan Joe Max-Moore went on to play for the USA in the World Cup...
----"Wow, a 7 year old article is what you base your information off of, or at least cite?"---
I can cite literally dozens of articles from 1994-1996 and from 2002-2004... I can cite more from late 2005 when the group that bought DC United was going to partner with private investors to do a mixed use/retail/condo/soccer stadium for 2006....
I can cite two Conventions, Sports & Leisure feasability studies: one from 2003 that estimates Tulsa can expect crowds of over 14,600 fans per game for MLS; another done in 2004 estimates that a team playing in Johnson County in KC could expect crowds of approx 12,000 fans per game.... let's see what CS&L's study will show on Tulsa's ability to support the WNBA.....
More quotes: from TU coach Tom McIntosh: "I want to keep pro soccer in the minds of the people of Tulsa. I think it's a great sport and I think it would be great for the city. I always thought it was the one arena where we could go and compete with New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and be on the same level."
"We'd have a team right now if we had the stadium and an ownership group," McIntosh said. "The MLS would love to have a team in Tulsa, but we don't have the proper facility here in town, and an ownership group really hasn't stepped forward."
from Kansas City Wizards General Manager Curt Johnson: "The marketplace is a good one. It's ready, assuming an appropriate facility and owner can be found," Johnson said. "We had a tremendous crowd when we played there a couple of years ago. Tulsa certainly can be a good marketplace for professional soccer, I believe in that."
You know, I'm not arguing to topple, defeat and humuliate the steady success of the Tulsa Ice Oilers in the CHL.
I'd be more polite to some of you hockey fans if you'd stop systematically trying to emasculate the sport of soccer...... Tulsa is known for getting major golf tournaments at Southern Hills.... TU has a great relatively new first class tennis center.... yet I don't hear bizarre comments from hockey fans that consistently insult the supporters of those sports....
USL1 (soccer's version of AAA) wants a team...... in Tulsa..... and they'd be okay playing at the old Driller Park. How do I know? You'll likely find out in the coming weeks/months....
I fear MLS has passed Tulsa by in the last 3 or 4 years -- MLS fans seem confident in thinking so..... but I believe if teams in KC or Dallas or Denver fail in the next decade or so and need to relocate at the last minute, that may be the only way Tulsa can get a team....... my dreams for MLS in Tulsa aren't based on MLS becoming one of the "Big 4," but based on its continued success as a niche sport....
And I believe Tulsa is a niche city...
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Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
The Phoenix Coyotes NHL Team recently attempted to leave the Phoenix AZ area for Hamilton Ontario Canada (The Toronto Ontario Area)...Do you think that TULSA should make a play for the team..simular
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