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| Tulsa Jail inmates gather for city's biggest Super Bowl watch party |
| By tulsaworld.com - BILL HAISTEN |
| Published: 02/06/2012 |
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Tulsa, OK -- During Sunday's Super Bowl, fine food and high-definition television were on the menu at scores of watch parties throughout Tulsa. For those included in the city's largest collection of Super Bowl viewers, however, the meal was plain - a chicken-fried steak, rice and a biscuit - and the television screens were small and mounted overhead. At the Tulsa Jail, Sunday's head count was an even 1,500. An estimated 1,300 inmates were allowed to watch the Super Bowl. For viewing by inmates, there are 46 televisions scattered throughout the facility. This did not qualify as a Super Bowl party, but it certainly was an event. "It's usually quiet in here, but this is the Super Bowl," said 33-year-old inmate Nicholas Galan, who in December pleaded guilty to grand larceny and was sentenced to a six-year prison term. "I'm a New York Giants' fan since I was a little kid. "If you'll notice, the Giant fans are sitting on this side and the Patriot guys are on that side." While in the commons area of the J1 pod (which houses 94 inmates), Sgt. Shannon Clark of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office said, "The only time that you'll see these guys being this attentive toward anything on TV, it would be in the event of a natural disaster. "Even with a president's speech or the finals of 'American Idol,' you never see this many people in this room at one time." In the J1 pod, about 60 inmates intently watched the game. New York Giants fans seemed to outnumber New England Patriots fans by a ratio of three to one. To commemorate the special-occasion feel of the evening, a man loading a vending machine reported, some inmates had access to a treat - barbecue potato chips. As Kelly Clarkson sang the national anthem at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, one J1 inmate - Pierre Washington - stood with his hand over his heart. Some inmates pointed at him and laughed. "I was acknowledging the anthem out of respect," explained the 20-year-old Washington, who says he attended Union High School. "I'm about to play some dominoes now, but I'll watch the second half of the game. That's when the game gets hard." Read More. |
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