Oklahoma City's Big Night: Could It Be the Biggest Ever?

You probably couldn't think of a bigger night for the state of Oklahoma. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Los Angeles Lakers for Game Three of a first round NBA Playoff series.  It is the first time the city or state has ever hosted an NBA playoff game.

On top of that, the NFL draft will also kick off in New York tonight, but will carry a lot of Oklahoma ties.  Before the night is over, five players from Oklahoma could potentially hear their names called and become millionaires.

So you can ask the question, is this evening the biggest sporting day in Oklahoma's history?

I can't think of anything that comes remotely close to the publicity that tonight is bringing to Oklahoma City.  Barry Switzer resigning as the head coach of OU was pretty huge.  It brought a lot of media to the town.  A lot of people were shocked.

There was also a huge bedlam game in the early '80s that resulted in the winner going to the national championship when the teams were ranked No. 2 and No. 3.

Also, both of those events were just individual sporting events that were big-time news-worthy.

Tonight there will be two giant events going on simultaneously.

The biggest is obviously the Thunder playing their first playoff game at home.  The lucky individuals that are fortunate enough to attend the playoff game are going to be a part of something pretty cool.

Five years ago nobody would have ever thought Oklahoma City would even have a team.  Everyone would have laughed at the idea.  Now, fast forward five years, and we're hosting a playoff game with a dang good team.  Think that will get the folks inside amped up?

Phil Jackson actually said he doesn't think the arena will be any louder than it was during their last regular season meeting.  I hope he's kidding.

The Thunder dominated almost the entire game and the crowd fell asleep pretty early.  If he is playing mind games again, I'm extremely confused by his tactics.

Even without the historic game, the NFL draft will also be huge for Oklahoma.  The fact that this many players will be drafted so high is amazing.  Not only that, but Sam Bradford will most likely be drafted as the top overall pick, which, and I could be wrong, will be a first for a quarterback playing in Oklahoma.

Plus, there could be three players from the state in the Top Five alone.  Big deal?  A little.

It's going to be a huge night in the state.  The worst part will be trying to decide which one to watch on TV.