Jon Lione loves the Texas Longhorns and Saint Patrick's Day. He never expected to fall in love with
Tulsa.
“A couple of my friends I invited to come with me, they were like, “Tulsa, what's in Tulsa?” The New Jersey resident told FOX23.
When he's back in North Jersey he’ll tell them, “They were wrong. Actually, there's a lot of stuff going on (in Tulsa.)”
Californian Jim Sandstrom is also impressed.
“This Blue Dome District is neat , particularly on Saint Patrick's Day,” Sandstrom said.
The retiree is an NCAA Tournament expert.
“My friend and I, since 1995, we've been going to the First and Second round games. That's over 120 basketball games and 100 different teams.
”He told FOX23 why he spends so much time and money on college hoops.
“It's a passion for us to watch NCAA basketball and do it a different location every year.”
His impression of tulsa is a high one, high of 80s to be exact.
“Anytime you can wear shorts and tee shirts, it's good,” he said.
He can’t think of anything better than two days, eight teams, and six games of college basketball excitement.
“There's nothing like the tournament.”
And there's nothing better than the good impression Tulsa is making on first time visitors.
Visitors like the Burns family. One big group of Tulsa newbies.
“We just drove in today,” Jennifer Burns told FOX23.
“We” means Jennifer and her husband plus their nine kids.
They are all Jayhawk fans.
“We don't even play till tomorrow night and there's tons of KU people we've seen,” she said.
They caught the number one seed's free practice at the BOK Center Thursday afternoon.
“It's really a cool structure from the outside, lots of space,” she said about Tulsa’s arena.
Thursday's practice session will probably be the only time all the Burns get inside the BOK Center.
“No, not unless someone wants to donate 11 tickets to us,” Jennifer said.
The family explained why they made the trip to Tulsa even though they knew
“(We’re here to) soak up the atmosphere.”
They also got a chance to check out a sparkling city ready for its closeup.
“We're excited to do some more exploring, check out some of the restaurants, and find a great place to watch the game tomorrow.”
They never knew all that Tulsa has to offer is just down the road.
“It took us four hours to get here, and like I said, the zoo, the shopping, the aquarium; There's a lot to do here, so it's fun little trip,” she said.
