LNC renovation rumor

[SoonerSpartan77]

If so this is great news! Are we really complaining about the student section at the LNC? Seriously, the student section at our beloved OU hasn't been much to brag about since Tubbs left. When I was in school in the late 90's we had some great turnouts but it never got crazy like it does at major D-1 basketball schools around the country. Lets be real and not kid ourselves, sure we have sold the place out in the past but the LNC has never been known as a consistently crazy environment in the college basketball world. Last time I checked there were 30'000 students enrolled at OU so other than bad coaching as most of you lay the blame on what is the problem?

 

[Big Old Booger]

One more note...I think soonerstats.com lists an "average attendance" for all games not just home games. I didn't do the math but I would bet you he does because he tracks attendance for all games (not just home but home, road, and neutral). So, that stat is probably useless for comparisons sake.

 

[Tundrasooner]

i find watching the thunder more entertaining than the sooners this year



boom

NBA equals WWE.

 

[Big Old Booger]

If so this is great news! Are we really complaining about the student section at the LNC? Seriously, the student section at our beloved OU hasn't been much to brag about since Tubbs left. When I was in school in the late 90's we had some great turnouts but it never got crazy like it does at major D-1 basketball schools around the country. Lets be real and not kid ourselves, sure we have sold the place out in the past but the LNC has never been known as a consistently crazy environment in the college basketball world. Last time I checked there were 30'000 students enrolled at OU so other than bad coaching as most of you lay the blame on what is the problem?

I don't remember anybody blaming the students. I think more of it has been that if anybody should be there besides the families of the players and coaches it's the students. It is their school the kids are representing.

We are just alums and it is also our school, but I don't have any of these basketball players in class like I did back when Jeff Webster played and Terry Evans. And, a large percentage of alums live more than an hour from campus and have other obligations. Most students only have their studies...I say only like it's no big deal, but that's not what was meant.

 

[Section31]

There were good crowds BGs second year, don't get it twisted. Student ticket allotment sold out in 2008-2009.

I just get really sick of the "well back when I was in school it was this way" posts. Listen, it's not 1990 anymore...if I went to school back then I would probably skip class to go watch an OU game. Now I can go to class and watch it on my laptop while I pretend to listen to an instructor. Do the same thing now in grad school, only way I keep up with what's going on in CBB. Nothing is ever as good as it seemed back in the day, its like the guy who played basketball in high school...over the past 20 years his HS team went from 12-12 to 20-4 while he went from the first man off the bench to an All-District player.

Television packages have changed everything. Stop holding people to your standards. You can barely see the students on TV, it's not that big of a deal.

Sporting event attendance is down across college basketball...people need to deal with it. Students will show up when the Administration, coaching staff and players put a quality product on the floor.

Curious to know, how much was a student ticket back in the 1980's?

I REALLY wasn't making a comment about them being bad fans for not going, I was just pointing out that it happens EVERYWHERE, not just OU games.

Actually, I think we are on the same page, I just didn't lay out WHY they don't come.

As for the attendance comparisons...how many of those are student v. general public. We'll never know. I'm just telling you, my wife was a student between 88 and 92 and we went to some big time games that we waited outside with the rest of the students to get in to...Duke, Loyola Marymount and UNLV come to mind.

The student section could get really rowdy back then.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

If so this is great news! Are we really complaining about the student section at the LNC? Seriously, the student section at our beloved OU hasn't been much to brag about since Tubbs left. When I was in school in the late 90's we had some great turnouts but it never got crazy like it does at major D-1 basketball schools around the country. Lets be real and not kid ourselves, sure we have sold the place out in the past but the LNC has never been known as a consistently crazy environment in the college basketball world. Last time I checked there were 30'000 students enrolled at OU so other than bad coaching as most of you lay the blame on what is the problem?

There is absolutely no reason OU can't have a great student section even though we're a football school. Other football schools have good student sections, such as:

-Michigan
-Ohio State
-Texas A&M
-Florida
-Nebraska

Heck, I would go so far as to say that had we shown any signs of life in the Texas game, we would have had a good student section then. We certainly had the numbers to have one...but it's hard for casual fans to get excited when we're getting absolutely hammered the entire game. Bottom line: Win and the students will show up.

 

[Big Old Booger]

I REALLY wasn't making a comment about them being bad fans for not going, I was just pointing out that it happens EVERYWHERE, not just OU games.

Actually, I think we are on the same page, I just didn't lay out WHY they don't come.

As for the attendance comparisons...how many of those are student v. general public. We'll never know. I'm just telling you, my wife was a student between 88 and 92 and we went to some big time games that we waited outside with the rest of the students to get in to...Duke, Loyola Marymount and UNLV come to mind.

The student section could get really rowdy back then.

I was in those same lines and it did get rowdy, of course it helped that we were top 5 and played an exciting brand of basketball.

 

[quick release]

if you guys think nba games aren't fun to goto than you just don't know as far as im concerned. You get to watch the best ballers on the planet plus you get to booze. That works for me.

 

[NickZepp]

if you guys think nba games aren't fun to goto than you just don't know as far as im concerned. You get to watch the best ballers on the planet plus you get to booze. That works for me.

Going to an NBA game is one of the most fun experiences you can have. Anyone that thinks any different is either blind or doesn't watch basketball.

 

[seniorsooner]

if you guys think nba games aren't fun to goto than you just don't know as far as im concerned. You get to watch the best ballers on the planet plus you get to booze. That works for me.

You can booze at OU games quite easily. I've done it many times.

 

[JBaker]

This is not an indictment of OU basketball really. They weren't showing up the way they should've during the Griffin years.

The student section was jam-packed just about every single game during the 08-09 season.

 

[campbest]

The student section was jam-packed just about every single game during the 08-09 season.

The turnouts were great that year, anybody saying otherwise is flat out lying. That's it.

 

[waynepayne]

You can booze at OU games quite easily. I've done it many times.

Capri Sun juice box. Yeah right those are for the kids...

:woot

 

[DenverSooner]

I just get really sick of the "well back when I was in school it was this way" posts. Listen, it's not 1990 anymore...if I went to school back then I would probably skip class to go watch an OU game. Now I can go to class and watch it on my laptop while I pretend to listen to an instructor. Do the same thing now in grad school, only way I keep up with what's going on in CBB. Nothing is ever as good as it seemed back in the day, its like the guy who played basketball in high school...over the past 20 years his HS team went from 12-12 to 20-4 while he went from the first man off the bench to an All-District player.

Television packages have changed everything. Stop holding people to your standards. You can barely see the students on TV, it's not that big of a deal.

Sporting event attendance is down across college basketball...people need to deal with it. Students will show up when the Administration, coaching staff and players put a quality product on the floor.

Curious to know, how much was a student ticket back in the 1980's?

First, if I recall correctly they were $30 in the late 80s and early 90s. I could be off by a few bucks but they were extremely affordable. If you purchased early (and I am positive about this) you got a priority ticket. That meant you could sit in the upper or lower section. Once priority tickets were sold you could only get an upper level student ticket. You really didn't have to go early if you wanted a seat in the upper level unless it was a huge game (KU, Missouri, arguably OSU but that was not that big of a game in the late 80s as the other two). Drinks and hot dogs were also affordable. I did not get them at every game but it was not due to cost (that much).

Second, the games were on TV in 1988 (and probably other years). OU broadcast the games in Norman on the cable network. I know this for a fact because I watched some of them. 1989 was the first year I went to every game at the LNC. From 99 through 2004, I attended every game unless I was on vacation. (I missed a couple skiing)

 

[DenverSooner]

For those that want to look at higher numbers in 2008/09 compared to the late 80s, I am pretty sure the LNC was expanded/renovated a couple of times to accomodate more seats. For example, I am almost positive the band used to be where seats are now (it was behind the basket on the visitors side in the lower level). I don't know if that accounts for the difference but I can assure you there were strong crowds from 1987 through 1990.

If OU had a top 10 team, I think there would be strong crowds today. I would speculate (but I don't know because I did not go to home games) that there were good crowds in the early 2000s and when Blake was a sophomore. People like things that are new and winners.

 

[Soonerman]

P.S. - In my opinion a good start would be removing the wall that separates the lower bowl of the student section from the upper bowl. Even if this rumor of a major renovation isn't true, removing the wall is an extremely minor renovation that would help out a lot, at least w/ regards to the student section.

Hell yes. The split between the student section is awkward and stupid. The designer of the LNC failed in so many ways, but that's one of them. :facepalm

 

[Chiefdaddy]

A few thoughts:

It's 2011. The LNC opened in 1975 and needs to be replaced. If we want to be a serious contender in basketball, we need a new facility. Top recruits and kids today want great facilities. I do like the practice courts and that part of the LNC. Maybe they can keep that. A new facility along with "maybe" a new coach would give this program what it needs. A shot in the arm.

I'm a huge basketball fan but NBA games and OU games are night and day. I get bored at OU games and the product on the floor is not the only reason. The MC is terrible. He drives me crazy. Along with other things. They will never sell booze inside but why not have some sort of tent or other events outside to bring in fans and let them have fun and get loosened up before going in the arena. Tailgating, basketball style.

The season tickets need to be limited and reserved for basketball fans only. No football tie ins. All of the remaining tickets should be general admission. I don't care if they sell to kids groups, etc. At least we have people in the seats and people that want to come to a game.

Just my two cents.

 

[DenverSooner]

Does OU let people tailgate at the LNC for football? Couldn't you just show up early and tailgate in the parking lot?

 

[Section31]

Does OU let people tailgate at the LNC for football? Couldn't you just show up early and tailgate in the parking lot?

Our weather is not always ideal for that...but to answer your question, yes, tailgating goes on in the LNC parking lot for FB games...

 

[DenverSooner]

I lived in Oklahoma for 13 years. I am familar with the weather.

One of the best things about the LNC is the parking lot. Texas, OSU, KU, and CU do not have large parking lots adjacent to the stadium. (Texas has a bunch of parking garages within walking distance but it is nothing like the LNC). Perhaps you have hit on something. A new tradition of socializing prior to basketball games.