I’m happy to report that as of today The Shock is now on a 2 game winning streak…
Welcome back. As we experience life’s adventures its always fun to find a surprise. On Thursday night while I was in downtown Tulsa researching a story about The Summit Club, I decided to take in a WNBA game at the BOK Center. The Summit Club is located on the top three floors of the Bank of America building and its just a three block walk over to the Center. I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining the game was and thought a report would be appropriate. Even if you’re not a basketball fan or don’t follow women’s basketball you need to check this out and here’s a few reasons why:
First the building; the BOK Center is fan friendly. It’s beautiful on the outside and once you’re inside its just the right size so you don’t feel overwhelmed by the space. When I walked around I didn’t see a bad seat in the house. The fun started with the pre-game activities led by the Shock’s mascot called the “Volt!” A live wire in a fox suit, this mascot is a volt of energy who performs non stop acrobatics along with three sidekicks all dressed in black. Even though on this night the Shock lost to the Los Angeles Sparks there was no let up in the Volt’s antics.
This side trip to the game had been put together in a hurry and turned out to be the highlight of the day. When I found out that the Shock was playing the powerful Minnesota Lynx on Saturday night I knew I’d be back. The Lynx won the WNBA championship two years ago and with two Olympic team players on their roster they were in the finals last year too. I wanted to be there to see if the Shocks team would have the strength to overcome this challenge. The Shocks’ roster includes Elizabeth Cambage, the 6’8” first year player from Australia and the newly acquired 6’4” Courtney Paris whom many of you may remember playing for Oklahoma. You throw in Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins whose name is all over the college record books, Candice Wiggins, the star from Stanford and Regina Williams from Miami, Florida and I was hoping for a home court win.
I’ll move the clock forward and if you follow women’s basketball you know it didn’t happen but the Shock did give it a go. Looking ahead I see nothing but good things happening for the Tulsa Shock team and I will be back this season. A celebrity sighting report from the game found Notre Dame’s head coach Muffet McGraw in attendance giving away autographed photos from Notre Dame. Kids and adults lined up courtside to meet and have their picture taken with this coaching legend.
Oklahoma City Thunder stars Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb were also courtside and made themselves available to visit with fans. There was another soon to be super celebrity in Oklahoma at the game I want to mention and here’s this week’s scoop: According to her official bio the Lynx’s 5’10” Monica Wright is from Woodbridge, VA and played college ball at the University of Virginia. She was ACC Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year and also won national defensive player of the year. In addition Monica was the 2nd overall draft pick in 2010 and if you haven’t already heard she’s engaged to Oklahoma City Thunder player and past NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant.
Kevin was in China on a promotional tour for Nike but I did get a chance to speak with Monica briefly at the game. I understand that Kevin has recently purchased a huge dwelling in OKC to call home. I’m predicting that this new power couple will have a huge positive influence in Oklahoma in the coming years.
I’ll wrap up this basketball update with the schedule for the Shock’s remaining home games in July. On Friday night they will be playing the Connecticut Sun. Then on July 21st it’s the Atlanta Dream and Thursday July 25th it’s the Indiana Fever. The Shock are about a third of the way through their season and for such a short drive I can’t think of anything more fun. Tickets are cheap and the food in the BOK Center is worth saving your appetite for.
Up next week it’s the start of a four part series. Back in the early 1900s the rich and famous built some fabulous summer homes in Newport, RI and I’ll be taking you there with me for a tour. Then it’s on to the north shore of Long Island and a train trip to New York City. Till then I’ll see ya down the road……
P.S. I owe Jay McKissock and Overlees Woods an apology for calling the Primo grill that they sell an “Egg” which was a mistake. Check out the Primo- made in America, it’s a unique cooker that several of my friends own and love.
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