Pre-game ceremonies get crowd fired up for Thunder opener

 
BY MIKE BALDWIN | Modified: October 30, 2008 at 7:51 am | Published: October 29, 2008    Comment on this article Leave a comment

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p/> “It's great what they did for the fans,” Shonia said. “And it was all free. Our son shot basketball on Pop-A-Shot. We walked around and listened to the music. We really enjoyed it.”

Jeremy Kopf, a senior at Putnam City High School, was fortunate to be part of the historic event the night before his 18th birthday. Kopf's father, Mark, 49, went on line Tuesday. He was shocked that two $60 tickets in Section 108 were available.

“I just went on Ticketmaster,” Mark said. “We have eight-game mini-packs. We have tickets for Sunday's game. Because his birthday was tomorrow we decided we'd go to the game thinking we'd have to find two tickets. I was surprised there were two on the internet. This being the team's first game it's a special night.”

Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said the night reminded him of the night he was a player in the Orlando Magic's first game in 1989.

“It was a great environment to play in,” Skiles said. “This might be the most exciting environment during a regular season game that we play all year. And it's only our second game of the season. People here are grateful and excited to have an NBA franchise.

And they should be.”

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