Laramie
09-04-2008, 12:19 PM
The Oklahoman:
Lessons from Thunderdome
By Berry Tramel
Staff Writer
In “Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome,” the third film in the Mel Gibson Mad Max trilogy, the Barter Town crowd awaits the gladiators by chanting, “Two men enter, one man leaves!”
Dr. Dealgood presents the fight with a stirring speech about warring, saying, “But we've learned, by the dust of them all... Bartertown learned. Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two men enter, one man leaves.”
Here's how Oklahoma City can win over the entire NBA with this Thunder stuff.
In our own Thunderdome, the Ford Center, the pre-game chant is constant. “Two men enter, one man leaves!”
OK. So it's a little corny. A little stretch. But if every fan joins in, I promise spines will tingle and visiting players will look around, wondering what in the heck they're in for.
Thunder, you see, has all kinds of possibilities, thanks in part to the passion OKC fans displayed when the Hornets hung out their shingle.
Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo, then a Spurs assistant, said sitting on the opposite bench at the Ford Center was no fun those two years. “It's going to be a lot more fun sitting on the correct bench,” Carlesimo said.
Thunder offers all kinds of possibilities for a frenzied fan base.
“What we wanted most was a name we felt good about,” said Thunder chairman Clay Bennett. “There's all kinds of good images for the in-game experience. Very powerful.”
* Music — led by AC/DC's “Thunderstruck,” which blared throughout Leadership Square for an hour Wednesday as we awaited the announcement. This nickname is a sound-effects dream.
* Mascot — and the Thunder should go with a buffalo. Great question: how do you illustrated thunder? Great answer: a buffalo. A herd of buffalo mimics thunder, and what's more Oklahoman than a buffalo?
* Uniforms — a harder sell, because you don't want to go overboard on buffaloes, else you'd just have named the team the Buffaloes. So maybe OKC, not Thunder, is the dominant uniform image. And there's nothing wrong with that.
And just remember, on opening night at the Thunderdome. Two men enter, one man leaves.
TINA TURNER: "We Don't Need Another Hero EXTENDED VERSION."
YouTube - TINA TURNER We Don't Need Another Hero EXTENDED VERSION (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TViZKt-AX6E)
It has potential!
Lessons from Thunderdome
By Berry Tramel
Staff Writer
In “Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome,” the third film in the Mel Gibson Mad Max trilogy, the Barter Town crowd awaits the gladiators by chanting, “Two men enter, one man leaves!”
Dr. Dealgood presents the fight with a stirring speech about warring, saying, “But we've learned, by the dust of them all... Bartertown learned. Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two men enter, one man leaves.”
Here's how Oklahoma City can win over the entire NBA with this Thunder stuff.
In our own Thunderdome, the Ford Center, the pre-game chant is constant. “Two men enter, one man leaves!”
OK. So it's a little corny. A little stretch. But if every fan joins in, I promise spines will tingle and visiting players will look around, wondering what in the heck they're in for.
Thunder, you see, has all kinds of possibilities, thanks in part to the passion OKC fans displayed when the Hornets hung out their shingle.
Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo, then a Spurs assistant, said sitting on the opposite bench at the Ford Center was no fun those two years. “It's going to be a lot more fun sitting on the correct bench,” Carlesimo said.
Thunder offers all kinds of possibilities for a frenzied fan base.
“What we wanted most was a name we felt good about,” said Thunder chairman Clay Bennett. “There's all kinds of good images for the in-game experience. Very powerful.”
* Music — led by AC/DC's “Thunderstruck,” which blared throughout Leadership Square for an hour Wednesday as we awaited the announcement. This nickname is a sound-effects dream.
* Mascot — and the Thunder should go with a buffalo. Great question: how do you illustrated thunder? Great answer: a buffalo. A herd of buffalo mimics thunder, and what's more Oklahoman than a buffalo?
* Uniforms — a harder sell, because you don't want to go overboard on buffaloes, else you'd just have named the team the Buffaloes. So maybe OKC, not Thunder, is the dominant uniform image. And there's nothing wrong with that.
And just remember, on opening night at the Thunderdome. Two men enter, one man leaves.
TINA TURNER: "We Don't Need Another Hero EXTENDED VERSION."
YouTube - TINA TURNER We Don't Need Another Hero EXTENDED VERSION (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TViZKt-AX6E)
It has potential!