When you walk out of the tunnel and onto the floor of the OG&E Coliseum in Oklahoma City, your first reaction is: Woah! This is a seriously nice venue.
It’s bright and shiny and still has that new venue smell. A definite upgrade over The Big House that it replaced.
I was there for the Wellston girls’ first-round game in the Class A state tournament last week.
I’d gotten reports that it’s a good venue with terrific lighting, so I arrived early for Wellston’s game and took the opportunity to walk around the court and eyeball the seating.
The seats looked comfortable and easy to get to, and the lights were as bright as advertised.
So far, so good. The Big House was a legendary venue, but the time had come to replace it.
Officially known as the Jim Norick Arena, it was built in 1965 for $2.4 million and was a classic in its time. Elvis sang there and it’s where Oklahoma bull rider Freckles Brown rode Tornado in the 1967 National Finals Rodeo.
It had hosted the high school state basketball tournaments since the 1960s and gave many high schoolers the chance to play in the same building their grandparents had.
That was a special connection and was a reason the small school basketball state tournament has been one of my two all-time favorite events to cover. The other is the small school state fast-pitch tournament, which is held at the Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.
Both events remind you why rural Oklahoma is such a great place to live.
Local communities lock up the town and head to the city when their teams make state. The folks wear their school colors, put on face paint, decorate their cars and go cheer on the local kids, many of whom they’ve known since birth.
That was the case on Wednesday. There couldn’t have been more than a handful of people left in Wellston Wednesday morning. That’s because the bulk of them were wearing orange and black and watching their Lady Tigers play at state for the first time since 1989. They cheered loud and long.
My only concern about the OG&E Coliseum had been: would it have same ambiance and tradition as The Big House, or would we lose that connection that had been built over the last six decades?
Not to worry. Once the game started, the venue didn’t matter. It was the state tournament and it was a Wellston crowd cheering for their girls.
“As a parent sitting in the stands for the first time at the Coliseum, the energy was incredible,” said Bridgette Townsend, mother of Wellston player Savanah Gaylord. “The big lights, the fast pace of the game, and the atmosphere made it feel like a huge moment.
“The Wellston fans brought so much energy that you could feel the momentum building with every play. Seeing our girls make history for Wellston was an unforgettable moment.” She said she sat about five rows up, where she had a comfortable seat and a good view.
“Leg room is a little tight, but that’s expected,” she said. “Sitting lower would actually be tougher because you’re level with the court and things like the scorer’s table and railings can get in the way.
“I had the opportunity to get a view from the top level. That was a pretty astonishing view and I would have loved to have seen our fans from that view.”
The Coliseum is a couple of thousand seats smaller than The Big House, but it is every bit as loud. The Wellston fans made it sound like a capacity crowd.
And those lights. This matters only to photographers, but the Coliseum has the best lighting for photos I have ever seen. Better than Paycom and better than The Big House, which was good.
Instead of having lights over the court, which would create shadows on the players’ faces, the Coliseum lights are like a halo. It’s bright and even lighting everywhere on the court. So I give the Coliseum two thumbs up as a good place to watch a game and an even better place to continue the traditions of The Big House.