University of Tulsa - Kendallabrum (Tulsa, OK)

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he Curse of Skelly Like a valley, the green artificial turf of Skelly Stadium stretches out beneath 40,000 empty seats. The games have finished, the crowds have long since dis- persed, and the stadium sleeps in si- lence. While standing down in that valley, if one's ear and imagination are alert, one can hear the echoes of Professional Franchises Past e the remnant sounds of their athletic battles rising like the strangled cries from a cursed pharoah's tomb. For many years, back when the turf was greener, the Tulsa Roughnecks frolicked across the plastic pasture. Their fans were spirited and fiercely loyal, and their team was among the proudest in the North American Soccer League. But alas, money ran short, and pay- rolls were increasingly difficult to meet. The sale of the Roughnecks to Tulsa Cable Television only delayed the im- minent demise of professional soccer in Tulsa. Vultures eyeing the weakening Roughnecks were already landing on the top rows when, in February of I984, the Tathums, Bill and Bill Jr., brought springtime football to Skelly Stadium. The United States Football League would be a big hit, they were convinced, in Oklahoma where football is king, Be- fore long, the gathering birds were drooling over the possibility of not one, but two pro teams dropping on the fad- ing turf. lt rained on the Outlaws. and crowds dwindled as early victories were washed away by a season-ending 10-game los- ing streak. When it was over, Bill Jr. disbanded his Tulsa organization, gath- ered up what players he had left, and told Oklahoma he was taking his team and leaving, shaking his angry fist at Skelly Stadium as he went. The final blow felling the Rough- necks followed soon after when the team could not gain admittance into an indoor winter league for the 1984-'85 season. The operation folded, and the Skelly scavengers swooped down for the feast. Soccer players of all ages still popu- late Green Country's parks, and foot- ball is still king in Oklahoma, but the prospects of any professional teams re- turning to Tulsa may be buried for a long time under the artificial turf of Skelly Stadium. -- Joe Robertson lulsi ll

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Photos by Charlot Ras-Allard Below and right: 1984 marked the end oi' profes- sional soccer and football in Tulsa. Bottom left: The rebirth of the outdoor concert landed the Beach Boys in Skelly Stadium after a Rough- necks soccer game. Bottom center: Many profes- sional tcnnis players compete in the annual Bank of Oklahoma tennis tournament at Shadow Mountain. Bottom right: Former TU student .Iu- lie Sunday captured the title of Miss Oklahoma during the summer pageant at thc Mabee Center of Oral Roberts University.

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