Sports
Oklahoma City is home to several minor-league sports teams including the Oklahoma RedHawks, a AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers; the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of af2; the Oklahoma City Lightning, of the National Women's Football Association; and the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League.
The Ford Center is a multipurpose arena hosting concerts, NHL exhibition games, and the city's pro sports teams. Ford Center also hosts a few college basketball games for the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, and Oklahoma State University. Ford Center held the 2005 NCAA Men's Basketball First & Second Round and hosted the Men's and Women's Big 12 Conference Basketball Tournaments in 2007 and will be the site again in 2009.
In the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association temporarily relocated to the Ford Center of Oklahoma City, playing the majority of its home games during its stay for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. The team became the first professional franchise to play regular season games in the state of Oklahoma. Following the 2006 purchase of the Seattle SuperSonics and Seattle Storm by Oklahoma City businessman Clayton Bennett, the new ownership promised to leave Seattle unless an agreement could be reached for the construction of a new arena. Oklahoma City has been long speculated as a probable destination for the franchise if an agreement could not be reached. This suspicion was affirmed on July 19th, when Bennett called for a resumption of talks with Seattle political leaders to reach an agreement by October 31st, 2007, or the team would move to Oklahoma City.
Nearby to the Ford Center, AT&T Bricktown Ballpark is the home to the city's baseball team, the Oklahoma Redhawks. Bricktown Ballpark has hosted the Big 12 Baseball Tournament in 2005 and will be the site again in 2006 and 2007. Other notable sporting events in the city include the World Cup of Softball and the annual NCAA Women's College World Series played at the Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium as well as horse races at Remington Park and the many horse shows and equine events that take place at the state fairgrounds each year.
The OCU Stars play at the new Abe Lemons Arena at Oklahoma City University; OCU also has a top-rated rowing program.[citation needed] Of special note, OCU has announced its desire to possibly enter the NCAA during the 2007 athletic season.
Additionally, Oklahoma City is home to several now defunct sports teams:
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
