For the past few seasons, the Warriors primary marketing slogan has been, A Great Time Out". Brimming with hope after Tuesday's trade, SFist decided to catch a game at the O-rena to find out for ourselves. This team now has new hope, and SFist was eager to see if there was a new buzz to go with it.

Since the Merc's Tim Kawakami couldn't make it, we figured we'd step in for Saturday's game against the Cavaliers.

Our audit considered 11 different categories: parking, Oraclelization, concessions, personnel, entertainment, the crowd, new players, visuals/lighting, the seats, music/sound, and the game itself. Each category was ranked from 1 to 10, with 10 being Pac Bell/SBC/ATT park and 1 being, well, Candlestick.

Parking -- We know that BART is great for the O-rena, so we decided to emulate the experience of schlumps driving in from places like Mill Valley and Half Moon Bay. Like an elbow to the mouthpiece, parking is $15. Once inside, we discovered that the lot is actually compartmentalized into many smaller lots, intertwined by a rigging of cable and cement barriers. Very confusing, especially at night. If you like to tailgate, wait for football season, because the parking lot was a library. Also, while there are two exits for the O-rena off the 880, they are off the 880, easily one of the most consistently strictured freeways in the Bay Area. Allow plenty of time for stop-and-go on your way to the game. After the game, we were on the freeway within five minutes of getting in the car. Overall rating: 8

Oraclelization -- Given Larry's much bally-hooed ego and questions surrounding the motives for Oracle's arena sponsorship deal, for the most part, the Oracle stuff wasn't too oppressive. Outside, there are two Oracle signs at each entrance to the arena; with its prominent iPod silhouette banners, Apple has a more visible brand presence outside the O-rena than Oracle does. Inside was similarly restrained, with one massive exception. Just before tip off, every video screen and flashing light in the building started burning our irises with Oracle red as part of a three-minute marketing piece. It was absolutely egregious. The flashing Oracle logos and bright red screenshots were jarring and visually painful. Somebody is going to have a seizure one these days from that action. Overall rating: 6

The Warriors are a hot ticket in town. SFist decided to check it out. Image from SFist Chris.