Thunder 411

Love’s Loud City Lovebirds

May 20th, 2013

Thunder fans Matt and Jessica had seats in Love’s Loud City, but after a surprise visit from Thunder Guest Relations Project Coordinator Keli White, we think they were floating on cloud nine.

The video shows Keli informing Jessica that her seat was chosen as the winner of a drawing for a Rumble-signed basketball. Jessica quickly noticed that Rumble hadn’t just signed the ball, he also wrote a note. As she read the bison’s curiously neat handwriting, Matt got down on one knee and waited for her response.

Jessica checked “Yes” and the fans around them cheered.

Congratulations Matt and Jessica!

-Amy Hill

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Hunt

May 17th, 2013

Before Wednesday’s Game 5, ten Thunder fans who follow our team on social media gathered in a drizzly Love’s Thunder Alley for a scavenger hunt. Their mission: to cross off as many items on their list as possible in 15 minutes. The goal: to win a few great Thunder prizes, including lower-bowl tickets to that night’s game against Memphis.

Within a span of about 10 days, we happened to hit two milestones on social media, reaching 2 million fans on Facebook and 500,000 followers on Twitter. It seemed like a great excuse for a giveaway, but as the wheels turned in our minds, we decided to do something more elaborate than just an enter-to-win contest. When we hit 1 million Facebook fans, we had done a less elaborate scavenger hunt – so we thought we’d take the same idea, but have it all happen right in Love’s Thunder Alley.

We had planned and planned this event, but the one thing we didn’t really plan on was drizzle. If it had been sunny and wonderful, everything would have gone just as planned. If it had been an all-out downpour, we had a back-up plan to determine our winners. But Wednesday’s weather was just so-so. With ten eager fans ready to take on the challenge, though, we went ahead and set ‘em loose on Thunder Alley.

To give you an idea of what our scavenger hunters had to do, their list of tasks included things like getting a photo at one photo station (5 points), finding out what the halftime act was (answering “Red Panda” was worth 25 points), completing the Skills Challenge (20 points), starting at dance-off at the Skullcandy DJ booth (50 points) and getting their photo with someone named Mary Jo (finding our own manager of event presentation netted 75 points).

We tallied the points on our contestants’ rain-softened scoresheets and found that Hayley Bishop of Oklahoma City (@haywaitup on Twitter – we love that) was our winner with 305 points. Hayley had her choice of either the tickets or a Thunder team-autographed basketball, and she chose the ball.

Second place was a tie, and Bethany Jones of OKC and Shelby Nelson of Moore did a quick trivia quiz to determine who go the tickets. Bethany edged out the competition and, along with her best friend, ran excitedly into the arena to watch the game.

You can watch a video of the contest here (including some great dance moves and chanting). Despite the water falling from the sky, our finalists all had a great time taking on the challenge of Love’s Thunder Alley.

- Karina Henderson

Posted in Game Nights, Playoffs 2013, Promotions, Thunder Fans | No Comments »

Can’t Stop Her

May 15th, 2013

You might remember Tarah Warren. The last time she was at Chesapeake Energy Arena, she was going to start a round of chemotherapy the next day to fight her Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Our photographers had caught a picture of the sign she held up that night, but as she was going through chemo, we didn’t get a chance to meet her after she came to that March game.

Guess who’s in the house tonight – finished with chemo, and having walked just this weekend at her graduation ceremony where she received her Master’s in Social Work:

Tarah is here tonight with her husband Ben, and I couldn’t have been happier to see them here or more grateful to finally have a chance to meet her. And I know she’ll be giving it all she’s got tonight to cheer our team on.

- Karina Henderson

Posted in Chesapeake Energy Arena, Playoffs 2013, Thunder Fans | No Comments »

Chasing rainbows (and mud puddles)

May 13th, 2013

The Thunder Color Me Rad crew before ….

… and after.

When people ask me what the culture of our business office is like, I usually start out with some kind of explanation of how we work hard, but we also play hard.

It’s an old saying, but it definitely applies. When we’re working, we push each other and come together as a team. When we’re not working, we’re still challenging each other and supporting each other in so many ways.

Several folks from our office embarked Saturday morning to one of two locations: the Color Me Rad 5K at the State Fairgrounds, or the Dirty 30 race in Mulhall.

Before and after for the Dirty 30 team.

Both events involved physical challenges, mental focus and probably ruining a few T-shirts. Both also involved doing some good outside of getting a workout, as some proceeds from Color Me Rad and the Dirty 30 benefit various nonprofits.

We are all part of an NBA team, and certainly there’s an office culture here that encourages physical fitness. But that doesn’t mean we’re all athletes. A few people on our team walked the 5K. For some of us, this was our first 5K to run. We may not have finished in record time, but the encouragement of our co-workers made us believe we could finish. And we did.

This kind of “off-the-court” (so to speak) bonding and encouragement are a big part of our office environment, and it’s another way we all know that we’re truly in the Thunder family.

- Karina Henderson

Posted in The Office | No Comments »

Campbell’s Star-Spangled Sing-Along

May 10th, 2013

Campbell Walker Fields is a snappy dresser, WWE enthusiast and lover of facts. He is also a talented vocal performer. The 11-year-old shared his incredible gift before Game 2 against the Grizzlies on Tuesday, May 7. Watch as his powerful but simple performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” compels fans to sing along:

Campbell, who has been performing since the age of five, is fearless about singing to an arena full of strangers.

“Singing in front of that many people really isn’t that nerve-wracking for me.” Campbell said. “It’s kind of an adrenaline rush right when I start to sing.”

Campbell goes to school at Classen School of Advanced Studies and Performing Arts in Oklahoma City. He works hard to develop his talent with lessons in voice, tap, screen acting and piano, but finds it difficult to pin down his vocal style and influences.

He said, “It’s tough to pick one or two mentors because I don’t really know what genre I belong in. I listen to a lot of Broadway, and I love Jerry Lee Lewis and Tennessee Ernie Ford.”

Even without a genre of his own, his hard work is paying off. Campbell’s resume is packed with regional and local stage productions, TV commercials, films and special events. Most recently, he played the part of Artful Dodger in Oliver! at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. He is also in the film Home Run, which is currently playing in Bricktown, and this summer he will join the cast of FLY at the Dallas Theater Center.

After seeing him perform, it’s clear this kid’s future is bright. I’m officially getting in on the ground floor of his fan club.

-Amy Hill

Posted in Game Nights, Playoffs 2013 | No Comments »

#WeAreThunder: Parenthood

May 10th, 2013

Mother’s Day is Sunday. Now, before you grab your keys and run out to get a last-minute card, keep reading – it might give you an idea for something different mom would love.

We retweeted Erin’s post a couple of days ago and noticed that a few moms responded by saying they’d love to get Thunder tickets for Mother’s Day.

Not convinced? Take a look at some of our #WeAreThunder photos from Tuesday’s game. There were a lot of sons and daughters who watched the game with their moms (and some dads, too):

Whether you get mom some tickets for Wednesday’s game, or just spend the time to watch it with her, let us know what mom thinks. We love hearing about the bond within families who watch the Thunder together.

Now, go ahead and run to get that card.

- Karina Henderson

Posted in Playoffs 2013, Thunder Fans | No Comments »

Ups and Downs

May 9th, 2013

Joann Adair started working at the arena a year before the Thunder arrived in OKC and has been part of the Thunder family since the beginning. On most game nights you’ll find her in the elevator at Section 101, encouraging fans to keep the energy up and stay positive. One day while thinking about what it means to be a Thunder fan, as our fans tend to do, she got an idea and decided to decorate her elevator.

As you can see, to Joann being a Thunder fan means being proud member of our community, win or lose, by encouraging and supporting the players, coaches and fellow fans, from tipoff until the final buzzer and for every moment in between.

Thanks for your encouraging signs Joann! Keep up the good work.

-Amy Hill

Posted in Community, Game Nights, Thunder Fans | No Comments »

Behind the T-shirts

May 9th, 2013

playoffs 2013 035

We’ve shared some great stories (like this one, and this one) about the volunteers who put playoff T-shirts on the 18,203 seats at Chesapeake Energy Arena. But not too long before our staff and volunteers start breaking open the boxes full of gear to put out at the arena, Chris Johnson and his crew at USA Screen Printing are pushing themselves and their equipment just about to the limits to turn around this many T-shirts in what is frequently a very narrow window of time.

The morning before Game 2, Chris and his team opened up their shop for us to take a look into the full process. Blue and white shirts sat stacked on lines of carts. Eight presses spun in sync, laying down ink on the front and sleeve of each piece. Two dryers whooshed with hot air, helping to set the design before the shirts were boxed up.

It was a massive process that engaged every resource the shop had. Even at USA, one of the largest screen printers in the area, running at full throttle still means at least a 12-hour run to print the 20,000 shirts the Thunder orders for each game.

To give you some context for that window for printing shirts: Until our Round 1 series ended, there were only about 36 hours until the Thunder hosted Game 1 of the second-round series. But Chris and his crew delivered, with plenty of time for our team to put the shirts out on the seats the day before the game.

Take a look at this great video that shows a little more of the process, including a very cool time lapse of the T-shirts going out in the arena.

At least we have a little more than 36 hours between now and Game 5 …

- Karina Henderson

Posted in Chesapeake Energy Arena, Playoffs 2013, Thunder Stuff | 7 Comments »

Random acts of Thunder

May 8th, 2013

Our Blue Alliance captains and members have done an outstanding job spreading Thunder pride across our state. They truly have built a community, both within each chapter and among all the members, and we’re very proud of what they’ve done to reinforce the Thunder philosophy of “Team Is One.”

A great example came last night through a story we heard from Matthew Goeringer, the Clinton Blue Alliance captain, about one of his members’ act of generosity.

Through a work connection, Tasha Ball wound up with four tickets to last night’s Game 2 against Memphis. These weren’t just any tickets, though – these were floor seats, just off of center court.

Trying to find a few folks willing to join her in OKC that night, an excited Tasha called several friends throughout the day – including Matthew, who, having had a chance to sit in those seats once before, selflessly declined in order to give someone else the opportunity to experience a game from that vantage.

Tasha found one friend to come to the game with her, but didn’t have any takers on the remaining pair. Rather than trying to sell them, she decided to pass along the spirit of generosity that left her with the tickets in the first place.

On Tuesday night, the Kia Thunder Rewards Zone was buzzing, with it being both the Playoffs and a beautiful evening. More than 600 fans lined up for their chance to win the final 50 pairs of tickets for the game, hoping to see the Thunder in action live.

Tasha picked out a couple of people in line for the Rewards Zone and started talking to them. She asked if they had ever been to a game before; one had, but his friend had not. She waited until the numbers were called for the Rewards Zone winners and saw that the two friends had won a pair of tickets. Tasha went back to them and asked if they’d want to trade tickets with her and get an upgrade. After determining her offer was legitimate, the two gentlemen were thrilled when they realized exactly where the seats Tasha was offering were.

But she wasn’t done yet. Taking the two Love’s Loud City tickets she had traded her extra floor seats for, Tasha flagged down two people who hadn’t won tickets in the Rewards Zone, told them they were going to be able to go to the game and handed them the remaining pair.

As Matthew wrote, “Tasha made four strangers that she’ll never seen again, very happy.”

We are so very proud to see examples like this of our fans so willingly embracing the spirit of teamwork, community and family that our organization seeks to embody.

- Karina Henderson

Posted in Chesapeake Energy Arena, Game Nights, Playoffs 2013, Thunder Fans | 6 Comments »

Thousands strong

May 7th, 2013

After the Thunder announced that Russell Westbrook wouldn’t be able to return for the 2013 Playoffs, many of our fans wanted an opportunity to show their support for Russell during his recovery, as well as for our team during the remainder of the postseason. Among those who sought to show their love were members of our Blue Alliance, who found a way to demonstrate exactly how many people across our state are standing behind Russell and rooting for his full recovery.

What they came up with was a giant banner, set out in Love’s Thunder Alley before last week’s Game 5 against Houston, for any Thunder fan to sign. Countless fans wrote their best wishes on the banner, representing the thousands upon thousands who wanted to send their support to Russell.

You could say it’s a small symbol of the depth of our fans’ pride in our team, but the banner was actually quite large. Despite its size, there still wasn’t a spare square inch on the sign.

As we go forward through the Playoffs, we appreciate these awesome reminders of the passion our fans have for this team.

- Karina Henderson

Posted in Game Nights, Playoffs 2013, Thunder Fans | Comments Off