THUNDER NOTEBOOK News and notes from Oklahoma

Long journey to Oklahoma: Mahoning Valley’s 16-hour bus ride to Tulsa took a little longer to get started on Thursday night. Near the end of the Thunder’s practice, head coach Mike Hold (a former af2 wide receiver) was demonstrating a pass route. After catching the ball, he suffered a dislocated finger. A trainer couldn’t reset the digit, and he was taken to a hospital. Because of the damage, Hold had to go through emergency surgery. The team departed Thursday at 9 p.m. and arrived in Tulsa on Friday at noon (CST).

Plush confines: The Thunder played in just the second af2 contest inside the new $178 million BOK Center, which is located in downtown Tulsa. The new arena seats 18,000 fans, which saw the Thunder franchise play for the first time in Tulsa on Saturday night.

Sooner and Talon fans: Several Tulsa Talons fans appeared at Saturday’s game wearing University of Oklahoma jerseys. The Sooners, who are coached by Youngstown native Bob Stoops, had their

spring game on Saturday afternoon.

Contributing factor: Everyone on the Thunder’s roster was expected to contribute on Saturday night. All but one player was placed on the inactive list. Among those expected to play was Kenny Shane, an offensive lineman from Michigan State who made his debut. It was also a homecoming of sorts for lineman Wallace Sonnie, who played for Tulsa as recently as 2006.

Eric Bailey