The LNC at tipoff against Texas

[OUHoops]

Not the sharpest photo in the world but gives you an idea of the crowd:

 

[TulsaSooner]

A thing of beauty seeing the fans roll out

 

[Krugerfan52]

I believe Capel said after the game that it was the biggest crowd since he's been at Oklahoma. Funny. Who would have ever predicted that to happen during THIS season.

 

[Boomer]

Here's a pic I took during warm-ups:

 

[Cleavon Little]

Wish that could happen more often.

 

[SoonerBabyy]

there i am!

 

[Big Old Booger]

With free admission, I would imagine most of the people at that game were not the typical OU basketball crowd. I would also bet if OU could have done something to stay in that game, that crowd would have been louder than the typical OU basketball crowd.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

With free admission, I would imagine most of the people at that game were not the typical OU basketball crowd. I would also bet if OU could have done something to stay in that game, that crowd would have been louder than the typical OU basketball crowd.

This

 

[AdaSooner]

With free admission, I would imagine most of the people at that game were not the typical OU basketball crowd. I would also bet if OU could have done something to stay in that game, that crowd would have been louder than the typical OU basketball crowd.

I disagree to some extent. Free or not, fans who would brave the cold, nasty weather and road conditions to show up for that game are definitely not casual observers.

I'm sure the free t-shirts helped. I've found over the years that people will do most anything for a t-shirt. lol But I tend to believe that offering the game free to put butts in seats, speaks more to the cost of attending an OU basketball game these days.

It's not just buying enough tickets to take the wife and/or family along. The tab could also include dinner, the cost of fuel, souvenirs for the kids and snacks while you're waiting for the game to start. Check out the price of a bottle of water at the LNC's concessions (one of my personal pet peeves) and you'll know what I mean. The expense increases even more for fans from out of town.

My point is simply that OU needs to do more to reduce the over all cost of attending games, especially in tough economic times like those we are experiencing now. I'm not thinking about myself. My wife and I can well afford to drive to Norman for dinner and attend games later. But for people who aren't as fortunate, like some of those who may have been in attendance at the UT game, a night out on the town to watch OU play, takes too much of a bite out of a tight budget.

Just saying that I think there is more to the great crowd in those photos than free tickets.

 

[thebigabd]

Did the pokes get that kind of attendance during their free admission game?

 

[MsProudSooner]

I disagree to some extent. Free or not, fans who would brave the cold, nasty weather and road conditions to show up for that game are definitely not casual observers.

I'm sure the free t-shirts helped. I've found over the years that people will do most anything for a t-shirt. lol But I tend to believe that offering the game free to put butts in seats, speaks more to the cost of attending an OU basketball game these days.

It's not just buying enough tickets to take the wife and/or family along. The tab could also include dinner, the cost of fuel, souvenirs for the kids and snacks while you're waiting for the game to start. Check out the price of a bottle of water at the LNC's concessions (one of my personal pet peeves) and you'll know what I mean. The expense increases even more for fans from out of town.

My point is simply that OU needs to do more to reduce the over all cost of attending games, especially in tough economic times like those we are experiencing now. I'm not thinking about myself. My wife and I can well afford to drive to Norman for dinner and attend games later. But for people who aren't as fortunate, like some of those who may have been in attendance at the UT game, a night out on the town to watch OU play, takes too much of a bite out of a tight budget.

Just saying that I think there is more to the great crowd in those photos than free tickets.

+1

And I also agree that if we could have made it more competitive, the crowd would have been amazing. When we played the home NIT game several years ago, the arena wasn't full, but it was an entirely diffent mix of fans and the crowd was great.

 

[ben]

Did the pokes get that kind of attendance during their free admission game?

OSU's a football school now.

 

[Big Old Booger]

I disagree to some extent. Free or not, fans who would brave the cold, nasty weather and road conditions to show up for that game are definitely not casual observers.

I'm sure the free t-shirts helped. I've found over the years that people will do most anything for a t-shirt. lol But I tend to believe that offering the game free to put butts in seats, speaks more to the cost of attending an OU basketball game these days.

It's not just buying enough tickets to take the wife and/or family along. The tab could also include dinner, the cost of fuel, souvenirs for the kids and snacks while you're waiting for the game to start. Check out the price of a bottle of water at the LNC's concessions (one of my personal pet peeves) and you'll know what I mean. The expense increases even more for fans from out of town.

My point is simply that OU needs to do more to reduce the over all cost of attending games, especially in tough economic times like those we are experiencing now. I'm not thinking about myself. My wife and I can well afford to drive to Norman for dinner and attend games later. But for people who aren't as fortunate, like some of those who may have been in attendance at the UT game, a night out on the town to watch OU play, takes too much of a bite out of a tight budget.

Just saying that I think there is more to the great crowd in those photos than free tickets.

I don't disagree with you, in fact I agree with you.

My point was that the crowd wasn't the normal crowd and therefore would have probably been louder than a normal crowd. I would guess most of those fans had never been to an OU basketball game because of the expense, so they don't know they are supposed to sit on their hands like the normal bulk of the fans. They also probably didn't care if the person behind them couldn't see...

Even from the TV the crowd seemed like it was waiting to erupt, but never had a reason.

 

[AdaSooner]

I would guess most of those fans had never been to an OU basketball game because of the expense, so they don't know they are supposed to sit on their hands like the normal bulk of the fans. They also probably didn't care if the person behind them couldn't see...

:ez-roll:

Excellent point. Anyone who has been to a men's game at the LNC can relate to what you're saying. The "sophistication" of some fans is fascinating. It's like they're afraid someone will notice if they stand and cheer. A few will even glare at the person who does as if they are intruding on their space. It's a funny thing to see.

Too bad the UT crowd didn't have more to cheer about.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

I don't disagree with you, in fact I agree with you.

My point was that the crowd wasn't the normal crowd and therefore would have probably been louder than a normal crowd. I would guess most of those fans had never been to an OU basketball game because of the expense, so they don't know they are supposed to sit on their hands like the normal bulk of the fans. They also probably didn't care if the person behind them couldn't see...

Even from the TV the crowd seemed like it was waiting to erupt, but never had a reason.

It was a pretty wild scene, until we got down about 23-8...then reality set in.