Published: August 28, 2008 12:00 am            

Sooner Nation set for opener

It's just one more day until OU football season and all that comes with it

Norman residents know what home football games mean: fans, excitement and spirit everywhere.

And traffic.

University of Oklahoma junior Jordan Clayborne is dreading the traffic for the first home football game of the season Saturday. He has to arrive early for the 6 p.m. game because he's an OU cheerleader.

"Usually it takes forever 'cause of the traffic, and that's like 2 1/2 hours before the game, so it stinks," Clayborne said.

Residents not attending the game avoid the campus area, while those with tickets brave crawling lines of cars to get as close as possible to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Free parking may be trickier to find this year.

Streets surrounding campus that used to allow drivers to park on both sides now only allow parking on one side, Norman police Capt. Mike Praizner said in an e-mail.

The change, which will eliminate about 300-700 parking spaces around campus, is meant to improve motorist and pedestrian access and allow public safety vehicles to better navigate the roads around the OU campus, he said.

The restriction to one side of the street varies based on the width of the existing road, he said. The area affected by the parking changes is from Berry Road east to Oklahoma Avenue and Highway 9 north to Boyd Street.

All public street parking will be clearly identified by parking signs, Praizner said.

OU has tried to make up for the spots that were lost in the change by provided a new game-day parking lot near the duck pond, said Kris Glenn, spokesperson for OU's Parking and Transportation Services.

"The additional parking availability is in an effort to coordinate with the City of Norman in its mission to make streets safer on OU home football game days by alleviating traffic congestion," Glenn said.

The lot is south of the pond at the southeast corner of Lindsey Street and George Avenue, where Parkview Apartments used to be. The new lot will hold about 700 vehicles. The lot may be reached from either Jenkins Avenue (via Stinson Street) or Lindsey Street.

The lot is a grass surface, however, so parking will be available only in dry weather. Also, the lot is open to the public but isn't free. The cost is $10.

For $10, many campus parking facilities are open to the public on home game days, including the Elm Avenue parking garage.

Clayborne knows he has limited options when it comes to game-day parking: pay to park, walk really far or park at Lloyd Noble Center and walk or ride the shuttle to campus.

Since he has to attend every home game, he's picked his best option.

"You just gotta find someone's house to park at," he said. He parks at a friend's house on College Avenue.

Those with tickets for the game Saturday may have a bit harder time finding free parking spots, but those staying at home to watch the game will have to shell out more money, too.

The first game of the season, OU vs. Chattanooga, will be available only on pay-per-view.

Several cable television systems in Oklahoma and Texas and nationwide satellite TV services DirecTV and Dish Network will offer it at 6 p.m. on pay-per-view. Suggested retail price is $29.95, according to soonersports.com.

The game is being televised on pay-per-view because it wasn't selected for over-the-air broadcast or cable television coverage, the site said. Under conference TV rules, games not picked up for regular television distribution can only be televised live on pay-per-view.

This will be the third straight season in which an OU game is broadcast via pay-per-view, athletics communication director Kenny Mossman said in an e-mail. The Middle Tennessee State game was available only on pay-per-view in 2006 and the Utah State game was pay-per-view in 2007.

Sisters Funke and Lola Akin-Ajayi were surprised to find out the game was only on pay-per-view Thursday afternoon. The accounting graduate students were planning to watch the game at home, but since they don't have cable, they will have to find somewhere else to watch it.

"We'll find somewhere," Lola said. "I think everybody will just pay for some part and we'll watch it in a big group.

"But we're excited," she added. The inconveniences of parking and pay-per-view don't seem to be quelling anyone's appetite for Sooner football.

To help people get even more hungry for Oklahoma action, the Big Red Rally 2008 will 7 p.m. tonight. The annual celebration of Sooner spirit will be at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com

        

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