Tulsa Talons

Not since the 1980 US vs. USSR Olympic game or the 2008 Stanley Cup finals between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, has there been this much excitement in one city. This time it's because of the Bank of Oklahoma or BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And the peasants rejoiced...

So what's all the hoopla about the BOK Center. Well, it's the flagship of the City of Tulsa's Vision 2025 proposal.

Vision 2025 was a proposition to increase Tulsa county's sales tax rate in order to fund capital improvements. On September 9, 2003 voters in Tulsa county approved a 13 year one cent increase in the sales tax rate.

The center is the brainchild of renowned architect Cesar Pelli, who is famous for designing the Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He also designed the World Financial Center complex in downtown Manhatten, NY.

Oh, that's pocket change...

Breaking ground on 31 August 2005, this 550,000 square foot stadium is costing Tulsa $178,000,000.00. And is it worth it?

The arena boasts 18,000 plus seats and luxury boxes called the ONEOK Premium Level. The ONEOK Premium Level consists of 34 private suites, 4 party suites, 20 loge boxes, and 682 club seats. The owners of our premium seating have a private VIP entrance, private elevators, and access to the ONEOK Club Lounge.

The BOK Center is also located diagonal from the Tulsa Convention Center and once completed with its renovations in 2009, will make the area an entertainment and business complex.

Music & Sports, is that all you think of?

Celine Dion, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, Jeff Dunham. How's that for a lineup? And these are just some of the scheduled events that are happening in October and November at the BOK Center.

Even the circus is coming to town. And don't forget about the sporting events coming to town.

Besides the BOK Center being the new home of Tulsa's Oilers and the 2007 Arena Cup Champion Talons, other teams will play there as well. The Houston Rockets will take on the Orlando Magic in October. And then, in December, Tulsa's Golden Hurricanes will play the OU Sooners in NCAA Basketball.

The Bottom Line...

For more information, you can log onto bokcenter.com or call 918-596-7177 or 1-800-678-7177. You can also email them at info@smgtulsa.com. 

And who knows. This could be the catalyst that brings a pro team to Tulsa.

An interception on the Tulsa Talon's first drive by Amarillo Duster's DB Terick Thomas, last night, might have been a foreshadowing of what was to come. The Dusters handed the Talons only their second loss of the 2008 af2, Arena Football, season.

The Talons loss comes the Saturday after they clinched a playoff berth with a 58-52 road win against Rio Grande Valley Dorados and on the heels of being honored with the top spot in the Coach's poll.

So where did Tulsa go wrong?

There you are, on top of the league, rolling over every opponent that comes along. Gaining accolades from coaches, reporters, fans and then all of a sudden you meet an opponent, that you should handle neatly, and your world caves in on you.

You not only lose but you lose big. It happens to the best of teams. Look at what happened to the University of Michigan when they took on Appalachian State in the Big House last season.

Still not convinced? What happened to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants after a perfect season. Could it be pressure? Overconfidence? The "New York Yankee syndrome"?

The breakdown...

The Talons QB, Derek Rasmussen, threw an interception on Tulsa's first possession and the Dusters capitalized on the turnover by scoring on a run by WR, Craig Fulton, Jr. Tulsa outscored Amarillo in the second quarter but not enough to take the lead.

At the half the Dusters lead 24-20. Amarillo then turned on their defense only allowing the Talons 13 points in the second half.

This was also the first division loss for Tulsa dropping them into a second place tie with WB/Scranton Pioneers. Both teams have an 11-2 overall record and are 5-1 in their respective conferences.

The Spokane Shock (12-1, 9-0) are now alone at the top overall as they beat the Central Valley Coyotes 56-54 last night.

Bring me home, Scotty...

The Talons get a bye next weekend and then they are home against the Arkansas Twisters (9-4, 4-3). The Twisters are in second place behind Tulsa in the Central Division and are coming off a 55-46 win against the Iowa Barnstormers. The Green Bay Blizzard are next on the schedule for Iowa on July 5th.

The hometown crowd should be a boost for the Talons. And if things go the way they've planned, this might be their last game at the Tulsa Convention Center. Next season, they will be co-occupants at Tulsa's new BOK Center. The 18,000 seat stadium will also house the Tulsa Oilers hockey team.

The Tulsa Talons continue to roll in the af2, Arena Football's Minor League. This time they outlasted the Rio Grande Valley Dorados, 58-52, even after a 49 point second half surge by the Dorados.

Tulsa’s win puts them at 11-1 for the season, tied for first place overall with the Spokane Shock. The Shock suffered their first loss this year on a last-second field goal by Scott Hode of the South Georgia Wildcats giving the Wildcat a 57-55 victory.

“Hopefully, this is a wake-up call for our guys,” Head Coach Adam Shackleford said. “Coach Stingley (South Georgia’s Head Coach) got us tonight, he did a good job. If we learn from it, that’s what we’ll take from it.”

Too little, too late to matter…

Tulsa opened the scoring on an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Allgood to Chris Maddox and then increased their lead to 14-0 on a fumble recovery at the 20-yard line. Rio Grande managed a field goal with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.

By the end of the half, the Talons were up 35-3 on three more touchdowns; a 2-yard run by Jamar Ransom, a 5-yard pass from Allgood to Jeff Hughley and second touchdown reception by Maddox.

Did Rio come to play or what…

The second half was a different story, though. Rio Grande mounted a third and fourth quarter surge, scoring 49 points to Tulsa’s 23. It started on a 57-yard kickoff return by Jermaine Carpenter. A 4-yard TD from Dorado’s QB Travis Cole to Travis McAlpine and another Cole to Anthony Chambers 15-yard connection made the score 41-27 at the end of the third quarter.

Rio’s Cole connected again with Carpenter on a 34-yard touchdown pass and a 15-yard TD run by Cole brought them within six. The Talons scored on a 20-yard TD pass from Derek Rasmussen to Hughley and were able to hold them off, winning 58-52 and keeping Tulsa at the top of the Central Division.

What’s on tap next, Captain…

Tulsa has four more regular season games before playoff time. Next Saturday, they are in Amarillo to take on the Dusters, who are coming off a 60-49 loss to the Lubbock Renegades. On July 12, the Talons take on the Arkansas Twisters at home (get your tickets now) and then play their last two games on the road against the OKC Yard Dawgz (July 19) and the Iowa Barnstormers (July 26).

For Rio Grande, it’s the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings next weekend in Louisiana and then their last three are at home against the Corpus Christi Sharks (July 12), the Austin Wranglers (July 19) and closing out their season against the Lubbock Renegades (July 26).

They are 10-1 overall this season and 5-0 in their division. They are the defending ArenaCup Champions. They won 16 straight games over the last two seasons before losing a few weeks ago to the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings. They are the Tulsa Talons of the Arena Football 2 League.

The Talons are also the current Central Division leader in the AF2. With players on offense like quarterback Justin Allgood and wide receiver Jeff Hughly, how can you not be near the top?

The truth of the matter...

Now I'm not going to try to fool you by making it sound like I know what I'm talking about. Personally, I've never been to a Talons game or for that matter, an arena football game. My forte is in hockey: especially 2008 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings hockey.

In fact, when I first heard of the Talons, I asked if they were the semi-pro basketball team in Tulsa. The answer was an emphatic, "NO! It's arena football!"

Now, I enjoy football. Let me rephrase that. I enjoy GOOD football. And from what I've read about the Talons, they are GOOD football. I mean, c'mon, 10-1 overall, 5-0 in their division and looking to roll through the rest of their season.

Every once in a while, when I have nothing to do (boy, that's rare these days) and I'm flipping through the 10,000 channels on my digital cable box, I will stop and catch part of an arena football game.

The games are few and far between. I finally got tired of missing the games, so I have them scheduled to be recorded on my DVR.

Some of the rules are different than the NFL rules, but the game is basically the same and it looks like fun. I just never realized that Tulsa had a team and not only that, they have a GOOD team (did I mention that already?).

So, for all you hockey, baseball, soccer or whatever-your-game-may-be fans, let's give you a little insight into the world of Arena Football 2 and the Tulsa Talons.

To the wayback machine, Sherman and Mr. Peabody...

Here's the condensed history of Arena Football 2 (aka. af2). af2 is the Arena Football League's minor league, which started playing in 2000. The rules are the same as for their parent league, and af2 plays its season from April to July with their ArenaCup Championship game sometime in August.

There are two conferences, the American (AC) and National (NC). In each conference, there are three divisions: East, Midwest and South in the AC, and Central, Southwest and West in the NC.

Each division contains five or six teams. The af2 teams are located anywhere from New York to California, Washington to Florida. The team from Tulsa is at the top of the Central Division, and they are second overall behind the Spokane Shock, who are 11-0.

Hey, where is this all leading to...?

Just like the NFL, they play once a week, for the most part, with their games either Friday or Saturday night. Each team gets a bye week during the season. This Saturday, Tulsa takes on the Rio Grande Valley Dorados at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. The Dorados are 4-7 overall and 2-4 in the Southwest division.

After that, the Talons schedule keeps them within their conference until they take on the Iowa Barnstormers to end the season. Of the teams remaining on their schedule, the Arkansas Twisters (July 12) seem to be their biggest challenge.

The Twisters are 7-4 overall, 4-3 in the Central division and in second place behind the Talons. The game is at the Tulsa Convention Center. Game time is 7 p.m. CDT (8 p.m. EDT).

I think I'll buy my tickets early, so that I don't miss out this time (I had to work late last Saturday night). Yes, I will have entered into that no-man's land known as the "commitment zone." Shhhhhhhh, don't mention that "C" word!

I'm your Captain, let me give you some advice...

C'mon, it's a Saturday night in Okieland. Every liquor store closes at 9 p.m. Movies, you can go see them anytime. Bars and clubs are too loud and expensive.

So, what better way to spend your Saturday night than cheering the Tulsa Talons on to victory. Tickets prices range from $50 all the way down to $10. From what I understand, there isn't a bad seat in the house.

Tickets are also easy to buy on-line at the Talons website or by calling the ticket office.

I'm game for this! I'm excited! I can't wait! Are you game?

In my last article, I asked a question: Now that hockey season is over, what are we to do to bide our time until the men on skates take to the ice once again?

Well, I have always loved movies, almost as much as hockey, so I have compiled a list of the five best hockey movies to ever come to the silver screen, complete with my unbiased opinion. Here is the list, starting with number five and working our way to the best hockey movie ever:

5. The Mighty Ducks (1992)

Emilio Estevez and a cast of kids. Personally, I haven't seen this movie in years and I had forgotten about it. The movie is about a lawyer (Estevez) who, after a drunk driving charge, has to coach a peewee hockey team. A predictable movie with an even more predictable ending but for those of us who played as a child, it brings back fond memories of days gone by.

4. Slap-Shot (1977)

Paul Newman, Strother Martin, and Michael Ontkean head this cast of hockey players. Reggie Dunlap (Newman) is the player/coach of the Charlestown Chiefs, a minor league hockey team that is about to be sold.

I went to see this when it first came out (I'm giving away my age) and when you are young and drunk on beer, it is a hysterical movie. Years later, I rented it from a local movie rental place for my son and me to watch. Oops, forgot that there was nudity and a whole bunch of foul language in it.

3. Youngblood (1986)

Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze. Dean Youngblood (Lowe) is an aspiring, young hockey player whose one real problem on the ice is fighting; he doesn't know how to fight. This is another predictable hockey/love story but the hockey scenes in it are good. Another one I saw when it came out on the big screen but I was a young drunk at the time. I was older...

2. Mystery, Alaska (1999)

Russell Crowe and Hank Azaria star in this one about the fictional town of Mystery, Alaska and their love for "The Saturday Game." Every Saturday, the town shuts down and goes to either watch or play hockey. An excellent movie for lovers of the game on ice.

Watch out for the language at some points in the movie. This is one of my favorite movies to watch during the offseason. The hockey scenes were filmed very well and the ending was a surprise to me. I highly recommend this one.

And the number one hockey movie of all time...(drum roll, please)...

1. Miracle (2004)

Kurt Russell and Noah Emmerich. The story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that finally defeated the Russians after 20 years of USSR supremacy. This is the quintessential hockey movie for anyone to watch even if, like me, you lived through it.

Herb Brooks (Russell) assembles and coaches a group of college kids to the gold medal in the XIII Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NY during a turbulent time in American history. People looked at this game as a way to defeat the Russians and put an end to the Cold War. Brooks even gets a telegram from a lady that says, "Beat those commie bastards." That is about as offensive the language gets.

Every time I watch this movie, it's like reliving the game all over again. I cry at the end, I cheer at every goal, and I feel for every player on that team. One thing to note, Buzz Schneider is played by his son Billy Schneider in the movie. If you haven't seen it, you really need to, for nothing other than to give you a good feeling of being an American again.

Th-Th-That's all, folks......

Well, there you have my list. Yours might be different. If I have not listed your favorite, then blame it on a bad memory and nothing else. I love movies, I love hockey, and I love movies about hockey no matter how sappy they get.

And now that the Detroit Red Wings (GO WINGS!) have won the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship, I am going to turn my attention to more local Okieland sporting events. Look for me writing for Tulsa's Talons (Arena 2 Football) and Driller's (baseball).

I will be back for the opening of the 2008-9 NHL season to watch my Wings defend and repeat as champions of the 2009 Stanley Cup and to those of you who have been reading my columns all along...

Have A Great Summer!