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In fairness, this past Sunday at 2:00pm in Tulsa was a miserable time to attend a game: snowing, with a temperature hovering just above zero. But it highlights a problem for DECADES with attendance at both TU basketball and football games: inadequate parking. Tulsa should have YEARS AGO bought up all the little 900-square-foot houses east of Harvard Ave. and north of 11th Street and built a nice, big parking garage. But they didn't, and now that real estate has gone up in value exponentially. Maybe someday they will get serious about athletics and build a parking garage somewhere near the Reynolds Center and Skelly Stadium, but until they do (and in the meantime force fans to walk several blocks back & forth in all kinds of weather), they can expect their attendance figures to continue to fall victim to big screen TV's and comfy couches.

Thanks for the video @nodak651 Never saw that one. Appreciated it! My first experience with ORU basketball was watching a game in high school on a little black and white television on our kitchen. It had to be one of the post season games. I think it was NBC. I can still see the words "Expect a Miracle" on the floor and wondered why a preacher had a basketball team. I never knew about ORU until later that year when I watched one of the specials OR produced. The program was on a Sunday evening as I was sitting with my dad on the couch at home. I was in 10th grade.

Saban just announced his retirement quit at Alabama. I knew he was terrified of Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC, but this is still surprising. Guess he wanted to go out (almost) on top.

Not sure if this has ever been posted - my apologies if it has. I found this video on the history of the Mabee Center, and I think some of you may find it interesting. Very in-depth, well researched video, with press clippings and such. Anyone who hasn't seen this will probably learn something.

It wouldn’t surprise me either way if the Eagles win both games, lose both games or split. Unless certain things change immediately like rebounding and hustle the rest of the season will be mediocre at best. Hopefully Springman gave the players a wake up call and he is making some adjustments.

It is actually Grand Forks, not Bismark.

Cut me a break....It's been a very tough week for TheEagleman...........

I just hope @theeagleman5 has given up on this team the same way he did before the Denver game!

I remember that Caleb Green was used to being double teamed in the post be everyone. KU thought they could play him straight up. His face lit up and he was beaming… and promptly scored two straight baskets if I remember correctly. Bill Self called a quick timeout and when we came down on offense the next time, two KU defenders were on Caleb… for the rest of the game. That’s why Marchello Vealy was open all night.

There was NO DOUBT that the run was coming. It was inevitable!! Every KU possession down the stretch felt like it was the beginning of the end. Except the end never came. Every time Kansas scored, ORU answered. At about the 4 second mark in the second half I finally felt like I could finally breathe again!! The Eagles hung on for the win!!

Everyone on the bus had seats for the game in the farthest back rows in the corner of "The Phogg", and ORUTerry is not exaggerating: when you stood up, you had to be careful not to bang your head on the iron beams supporting the roof. Great perspective, though, of the Allen Fieldhouse faithful from that height; the place was electric! I recall ORUTerry and I pacing behind the back row down the stretch, ducking that beam and waiting for the inevitable KU run (or Big 12 ref whistles) that never materialized. Greatest sporting event I've ever attended, easily...

Bill Haisten's article in today's World talks about TU's AAC slump. Here's an excerpt that discusses fan attendance (and refers to ORU): Misery for Hurricane: a stunning 1-22 slump It wasn't that long ago that the University of Tulsa annually would contend for a conference title and frequently would be on the NCAA Tournament bracket. There are fond memories of Tubby Smith's Sweet Sixteen runs and Bill Self's drive to the Elite Eight. This sort of current slump would have been unimaginable during those glory years, but it's a bitter-cold reality: With an American Athletic Conference loss to Tulane, the University of Tulsa basketball program is 1-22 in its last 23 games played against league opponents. ... …The lack of University of Tulsa basketball attendance is a nearly 20-year-old story and, frankly, I'm tired of writing about it. The essence of that narrative is that the beautiful Reynolds Center used to be packed, or close to it, during the first several seasons after construction was completed in 1998. Oral Roberts University somehow managed to draw big crowds back to the Mabee Center, so it's possible that TU officials eventually will do the same. Sunday's attendance was announced as having been 2,904, but the actual attendance was about 1,000…

I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this photo before, but I thought it appropriate to post again. If you talk to me for very long you’ll find that I tell the same stories over and over again, too!

TheEaglemans' first experience with ORU basketball was at the old HRC in November, 1971...I was in Tulsa for the prospective students weekend and they had a Blue-White Scrimmage including then freshman 7-0 David Vaughan.....i was immediately hooked and filled out the ORU application the following week when i got home....the rest is history....

I was on the bus. So was Luke Spencer-Gardner’s mother if I remember correctly. I kept taking pictures of the scoreboard to record our lead - thinking it would go away. Never did. My seat was on the top row in the corner. When I stood up, my head touched the ceiling.

I brought along the Sports Illustrated I had received that morning listing Kansas as their pick for #1 in the nation!! One of the most memorable aspects of that game was how Marchello Vealy went off on Kansas that night. Not only was that the only game in which he performed at such a level, he ended up not completing his four years at ORU. (Later that season I brought that SI to a game and had the entire team sign the cover!!)

Tough weekend for TheEagleman.....first my beloved Golden Eagles go down in flames at home to St. Thomas...then the football Eagles fail to show in Tampa Bay for a playoff game to finish off the end of a disasterous Dec/Jan of the 2023 NFL season.......oh well....we will get em next season.....maybe.....lots of changes coming for sure....at this point TheEagleman has no answers for ORU or the Eagles.....plus we got our first measurable snow in two years last night.....guess the only way to dull the pain is..........no worries, friend....TheEagleman will survive.....God is Good all the time!!

Sounds like you're getting yourself in the mood for the Eagles game tonight. Preemptive strike?

How does Dallas go 8-0 at home in the regular season and the best home record in football. Then play at home in the playoffs and fall behind 27-0 in the second quarter. That is just unexplainable: how you go from the best home team to looking like the worst home team in one game. No words. They just have looked so different in the playoffs than the regular season since the 90s team. It just happens over and over.

Regarding coach's warning for being on the court last night, it reminded me of Ron Hunter back in the day. He was about three paces onto the court ALL THE TIME during games. I don't remember him getting warned about it, but if he did I don't think it changed his behavior much. During one of the Mid-Con Conference tournaments held at the UMAC in the early 2000s me, ORU Terry and some others were seated on the floor right along the baseline next to the IUPUI bench. Hunter, as usual, coached the game from several steps onto the court. We chattered at him endlessly to get off the court. The more we cajoled, the further out he got. A pretty humorous memory of a guy who has gone on to have a pretty good career as a head coach.

I look at the hustle stats and ORU had: 0 blocks, 1 steal, and 4 forced turnovers. That is not going to win any games. The Eagles versus South Dakota had: 4 blocks, 8 steals, and 18 forced turnovers. That is winning basketball. ORU has to win those hustle stats because they do not have the horses to out rebound teams or control the paint. I think that as the season goes on we will say sometimes ORU looks really good and sometimes they are missing in action. It just seems to be the pattern. They have to play with that fire and intensity every night and not just sometimes.

Thoughts For The Day: Any team that gives up 80+ points at home in regulation deserves to lose. Even losing teams have leading scorers and rebounders. No performer worth their salt should take pride in headlining the "D Stage" at Rocklahoma. At some point, a continous lay-up line by the opposing team must be met with a good, hard foul. Or five. Since the knee injury, New D.J. has morphed into Old D.J. This is not a compliment. Drake Stoops was nearly as impressive as St. Thomas' point guard as he was in OU's receiving corps. After almost 30 years, Frank Spencer is still a tool. When I saw him before the opening tip, I peed my pants a little. Could've been my prostate, but I don't think so. The 40-year-old bass player bursting everyone's eardrums with his solo version of "Seven Nation Army" is an affront to all that is decent in the world. Chris Squire is rolling over in his grave. (Google him). Despite it all, my guests tonight said they still had a great time. But then, they are very polite people.

Our section raised quite a ruckus at the official, Frank Spencer, that whistled Coach Springmann for being out on the court. Although I never saw him signal, we thought he was issuing a technical foul and we let him have it!! However, apparently it was just a warning, and all of our angst was for naught! Frank probably wondered what all the fuss was about, and kind of hid himself behind the basket stanchion while we continued to boo!! We may have missed the call on that one, but he deserved the treatment for about a dozen other calls he made tonight, so it wasn't wasted effort!!

North Dakota's win at UMKC and Denver's home win against SDSU provides more ammunition of how BAD the loss in Kansas City was - and how GOOD the win in Denver was two days later. This post aged well in three weeks time. No more undefeated Summit League teams.

ORU Ladies win 6th in a row.....now 12-4(3-0)...Jones with 37 and Cooper 17......this team is on fire!!

So impressed with what Coach Musick has done so far with the women's program, especially after cleaning house following last season. They play hard and fast, and finish STRONG in the fourth quarter. That's back-to-back wins over the vaunted Lady Coyotes dating back to the stunning tournament semifinal victory in Sioux Falls, and to read some of the stuff on Twitter last night after the game, you would think the sky was falling in Vermillion from this latest loss. Their head coach was doing some soul-searching in her post-game comments: "Our coaching staff is going to have to reevaluate what we've done over the last 17 games...you have a couple of big conference home losses that really hurt and now you're going back to the, not back to the drawing board, but back to just reevaluating at a high level like ‘Are we doing the right thing?'." LOL - nothing like beating a rival in such a frustrating way that you have them contemplating their very existence! Congrats to HCKM and the ladies - great start to the conference season!

And to think that we beat them on their court for the first time since 2011-12! This is progress. And Jones with 37? Unreal.

I went to see it today. (They're finishing up the installation.) It really is an amazing collection. I encourage everyone to go see it if you are in town. I believe it's only there until March 31.