Sooner04
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- Joined
- May 15, 2009
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I've attended every Big 12 Tournament since 2003 which means I've seen:
Three in Dallas: '03, '04, '06
Two in OKC: '07, '09
One in Kemper: '05
Two in the Sprint Center: '08, '10
Dallas is a big-time city, but it is NOT a college basketball town. Unless you were inside the AAC or inside Reunion Arena you had no clue that the Big 12 Tournament was in progress in the city. They simply did not seem to care enough to make it the "scene" it usually is.
Oklahoma City is a great host. You cannot beat the proximity of the two arenas. That's just really cool. It gets no better than that. The City put its best foot forward and has shown the Big 12 two really good tournament weekends, and it will only get better with improvements to both the OKC Arena and the Myriad as well as Bricktown.
But Kansas City is the old pro. They just know how to do it right. EVERYTHING feels bigger up there because you can tell the town is pumped to have the fans walking its streets. Waiters at restaurants talk to you about the results, the secondary ticket market booms; it's just a fun thing to experience. The KC Star always has great coverage and stories to browse through, the hotels go all out for whichever teams are staying there. Awesome, awesome experience.
If you're ranking the arenas it would go something like this:
1. Dallas (but where would the women play?)
2. KC
3. Oklahoma City
If you're ranking the atmosphere of being in the town for that weekend it goes:
1. KC
2. Oklahoma City
3. Dallas (and this is a DISTANT third)
I don't like that it's in KC this many times in a row, but it's another example of short-sighted vision by the powers who lead this conference. If I had a vote, I'd say you do it in a three-year cycle: KC for two years, OKC for one year. 2012 and 2013 in KC, 2014 in Oklahoma City. 2015 and 2016 in KC, 2017 in Oklahoma City....and so on.
Three in Dallas: '03, '04, '06
Two in OKC: '07, '09
One in Kemper: '05
Two in the Sprint Center: '08, '10
Dallas is a big-time city, but it is NOT a college basketball town. Unless you were inside the AAC or inside Reunion Arena you had no clue that the Big 12 Tournament was in progress in the city. They simply did not seem to care enough to make it the "scene" it usually is.
Oklahoma City is a great host. You cannot beat the proximity of the two arenas. That's just really cool. It gets no better than that. The City put its best foot forward and has shown the Big 12 two really good tournament weekends, and it will only get better with improvements to both the OKC Arena and the Myriad as well as Bricktown.
But Kansas City is the old pro. They just know how to do it right. EVERYTHING feels bigger up there because you can tell the town is pumped to have the fans walking its streets. Waiters at restaurants talk to you about the results, the secondary ticket market booms; it's just a fun thing to experience. The KC Star always has great coverage and stories to browse through, the hotels go all out for whichever teams are staying there. Awesome, awesome experience.
If you're ranking the arenas it would go something like this:
1. Dallas (but where would the women play?)
2. KC
3. Oklahoma City
If you're ranking the atmosphere of being in the town for that weekend it goes:
1. KC
2. Oklahoma City
3. Dallas (and this is a DISTANT third)
I don't like that it's in KC this many times in a row, but it's another example of short-sighted vision by the powers who lead this conference. If I had a vote, I'd say you do it in a three-year cycle: KC for two years, OKC for one year. 2012 and 2013 in KC, 2014 in Oklahoma City. 2015 and 2016 in KC, 2017 in Oklahoma City....and so on.
