Interesting article about Kevin Durant, but the anti small-market bias is obvious.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/sports/basketball/23durant.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Let's see: numerous references to "pastures," references to cows, mention of the airport being "empty" during the middle of the day, a comment as to OKC being the "smallest" market in the NBA (I know we are down toward the bottom in terms of market size, but I thought we had SLC and possibly Memphis beat by a few thousand), and - most egregious of all - a photo of Kevin Durant walking to his car from the practice facility - which, based on the angle of the photo provided, was parked next to a grain silo in the middle of a wheat field.

Also love the reference to the current practice facility being a converted "ice rink," as if the team practices in some rundown skating facility.

I am not from Oklahoma, and have only lived here since 2002. I grew up in the upper Midwest, and went to to college in the Mid-Atlantic. Moved out here originally just to go to grad school at OU on a scholarship. I have no reason to have an OKC inferiority complex. I love this city, but it is not my original home. That said, it is a GREAT place to live. When grad school was complete, I CHOSE to stay here, instead of moving back east.

This "OKC is a farm town" garbage gets old. It would be nice if those who comment on Oklahoma City would take a trip here.

I think it was the conveniently-angled picture of Durant that ticked me off the most.

Interesting article about Kevin Durant, but the anti small-market bias is obvious.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/sports/basketball/23durant.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Let's see: numerous references to "pastures," references to cows, mention of the airport being "empty" during the middle of the day, a comment as to OKC being the "smallest" market in the NBA (I know we are down toward the bottom in terms of market size, but I thought we had SLC and possibly Memphis beat by a few thousand), and - most egregious of all - a photo of Kevin Durant walking to his car from the practice facility - which, based on the angle of the photo provided, was parked next to a grain silo in the middle of a wheat field.

The grain silo is actually an unmixed powdered concrete silo, and the field is full of grass, not wheat. However, it DOES make it appear the way you describe. I agree with you.


Also love the reference to the current practice facility being a converted "ice rink," as if the team practices in some rundown skating facility.

Yupp, he f-ed this one up. It was an indoor roller rink. Not an ice rink.


I am not from Oklahoma, and have only lived here since 2002. I grew up in the upper Midwest, and went to to college in the Mid-Atlantic. Moved out here originally just to go to grad school at OU on a scholarship. I have no reason to have an OKC inferiority complex. I love this city, but it is not my original home. That said, it is a GREAT place to live. When grad school was complete, I CHOSE to stay here, instead of moving back east.

I love it there, and I can't wait to move back someday.


This "OKC is a farm town" garbage gets old. It would be nice if those who comment on Oklahoma City would take a trip here.

I think it was the conveniently-angled picture of Durant that ticked me off the most.

That's what people from NYC do best... hunt down any farm-related image and smack it right next to an article about OKC. It does get old. They could have gotten a picture of Kevin leaving the airport. Or Kevin inside the practice facility. But no.

It's in keeping with the way elitist Americans are. Memphis is a smaller market, and they never got the "small-time" treatment. Same goes for Salt Lake. Oklahoma City hasn't been a farm town for 70 years. Agriculture does not predominate the economy. Heck, the BEA can debunk that one real quick.

I recall in 1999 when CNN was in Oklahoma City covering the Moore tornado. The field reporters described Moore as a rural farming community. It is actually a bedroom suburb. Elitist and provincial. Don't expect that to change anytime soon. It is actually going to get worse.

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-area-talk/19305-okc-nytimes.html

We are not the smallest NBA market:

Media Market:

Population:

We rank ahead of New Orleans and Salt Lake City

Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Ar eas)

TV Households:

We rank ahead of New Orleans and Memphis

DMA Rankings - US TV Households by Market (http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/US_HH_by_DMA.asp)

I think we need to go on there and 'educate' New Yorkers about OKC.

While OKC may NEVER match up to NY (I think ONLY Chicago can), but that does not mean OKC is bad or 'hick'. All of this talk about small and farm is simply elitist, to make themselves feel superiour. Yet, I hope every time NY is in OKC that the Thunder beat the hell out of them - to force NY media to paint the proper picture of OKC; that it is a medium sized yet rapidly growing and progressive South Central city complete with suburbs and all of that big city stuff too, including skyscrapers (had them since the 1930's).

I recall a NY article about OKC's chinatown (which was actually well written) but ringed me when the guy said OKC had a few highrises that you could hop over. Um, excuse me but OKC has a very dense and nice skyline and not every NY skyscraper are that much taller than OKC's.

That being said, we probably will NEVER change NY's attitude until they actually VISIT Oklahoma City and WE show them the progressive city WE ARE. I get so irritated when I arrive in OKC and some backward a$$ person tells me that I should have gone to Dallas because OKC is just OK. Luckily, the city is having less and less of those people who put the city down constantly comparing it to a metro almost 6 times larger.

Maybe we could learn from Milwaukee (who sits closer to an EVEN bigger metro in Chicago). Yet, it seems MKE holds their own, and even many CHI people stand up for MKE. I can start to see DFW people stand up for OKC a little bit but we really need to continue to fight for our city and educate people that OKC is not nor never has been, a backwater farm town.

and yes,

OKC is not the smallest NBA city.

OKC is larger city than Salt Lake and New Orleans, a larger metro than Salt Lake, Memphis, and New Orleans, and a larger media market than Memphis.

(Salt Lake gets to use the whole state of UT, NO gets to use MOST of LA; OKC only gets the OKC metro/central OK).

So, in a nutshell, Oklahoma City is NOT the smallest NBA city (but IS one of them).

I get so irritated when I arrive in OKC and some backward a$$ person tells me that I should have gone to Dallas because OKC is just OK. Luckily, the city is having less and less of those people who put the city down constantly comparing it to a metro almost 6 times larger.


I have a name for those types of people... Texas sellouts. They like to keep their face buried in Dallas' bosoms, especially.

Hot Rod:

I wouldn't be too concerned because:

We will settle this with Dallas on the court, can't wait for another Thunder win over the Mighty (Cash Cow Mark Cuban) Mavericks!