It's time to crank up the AC/DC It's time to crank up the AC/DC
By John Rohde
Published: September 4, 2008
Hope ya'll like AC/DC.
Their song “Thunderstruck” is sure to blare every 45 seconds or so inside the Ford Center in future NBA seasons.
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“Thunderstruck” has got a simple beat anyone from age 3 to 103 can clap along to, much like “Oklahoma!”
Our state song now has backup vocals.
From Rodgers & Hammerstein to AC/DC.
Who says our state is not diverse?
One of the worst-kept secrets finally went public Wednesday afternoon with confirmation that Thunder indeed is the nickname of our NBA franchise.
A handful of inadvertent Thunder references were spotted on the Internet for several weeks and again earlier on Wednesday.
A text message arrived on my cell phone at 4:50:58 p.m. and the formal unveiling came roughly 15 minutes later inside a packed atrium at Leadership Square downtown.
The team's color scheme essentially is a rainbow, consisting of sunset yellow, the same blue found on our state flag, dark blue and a color referred to as Thunder red, a politically correct OU-OSU mixture that is “Not too red and not too orange,” according to ownership chairman Clay Bennett.
A more creative nickname would have given fans a bigger charge than Thunder, but there was no absolutely correct choice.
No nickname would have been unequivocally accepted by all.
With the nickname finally known, our teamwork begins now, which is why we should all embrace Thunder.
Besides, the nickname is just window dressing.
Our new name actually was in place the instant the franchise left Seattle.
Our team name is “Oklahoma City.” That's the name that matters most, followed closely by the players' names.
These are the names we will hold the tightest.
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And AC/DC "Thunderstruck" is horribly overplayed, but so are lots of other songs done too much at ballgames. How many kickoffs have you seen to the Stones' "Start Me Up"? The main point is something we'll all have to adjust to, and that is the NBA is by far the worst in pro sports for noise pollution. Music, canned sound effects, obnoxious pre-recorded cheers, all at ear-splitting volume make the experience headache-inducing and far, far less enjoyable. Do they really think watching a basketball game is so boring that we have to have constant barrage of racket? The worst? Orlando (and several other teams) have a recording of what sounds like 5,000 robots from hell, this giant metalic booming bass voice going "Defense, defense" while 20 or 30 fans join in. Anyone who thinks this is better than fans chanting "Defense" has no soul. And anyone who thinks Oklahomans are incapable of lifting the environment of an arena and encouraging a team by themselves has never set foot in GIA, Lloyd Noble, or any of 100 other college and high school gyms in this state.
Want to REALLY have an environment that will blow away the rest of the NBA? Want to give the Thunder a REAL homecourt advantage? Get rid of all this crapola, unplug the deejays and computerized canned racket, have an actual BAND and let the fans set the atmosphere, not a computer. Already the OKC Hornets games had a more college atmosphere than most NBA games, and it was a great advantage for the team. Now this is OUR team, for keeps, and we'll be all the more enthusiastic. We don't NEED canned noise, we're Noise City and will bring our own, thanks!
Ray, you are more than welcome to cheer for another team, then.
And "Barons" is not only an absolutely horrible, stupid sounding name for a team, it's been done. There was a "Barons" in the NHL.
The colors look great. The name is fine, not the best or the worst. I can't wait for games to start so these insipid comments can slow down (we'll always have one state in the northwest of the US that will never stop with the insipid comments, but I'm reaching the point of just saying who cares...I had a lot of sympathy for anyone losing their team, as a Houston Oilers fan, but the classless jerks polluting this site daily are killing any sympathy anyone could have felt for them)
Thunder wasn't my first choice, or my second. It sounds too "little league ish" and generic. Although, so does several other NBA names, so I doubt we'll be the "laughing stock." It's in the same league as bobcats anyway. AC/DC is played out already, I'm really surprised they didn't try to play into Garth Brooks, Thunder Rolls. Barons sucks way worse also. I'm tired of people pushing that name! Baron is a fat, snobby, rich white guy. But in the end, it will grow on everyone and I'm just glad it's over with and the team is here for good.
AC/DC should be happy about the name, as their song will be played about a million times now before or during games. Do we have to pay AC/DC a lump sum for unlimited usage of the song, or do we jukebox it and pay per play usage of the song. Surely we aren't free to use the song limitlessly without honoring the people who wrote and performed it.
Ray, how is buying a team and moving to your hometown make you a laughingstock? Your color scheme is lame and been done by tons of teams before. I hope you move out of Oklahoma, go to New Jersery or some other miserable place where you can complain all day.
I like the colors. And they're sure better than teal, purple and gold. This is just one of what will probably be several logos, and it looks a lot better in person than in a photo. Bottom line: we've got a team.
Jill, www.okcthunderfans.com - Sep 4, 2008 at 3:55 am
This bites so hard!! Clay you made us a laughing stock!! I mean come on for crying out loud!!! Stupid name! stupid colors and way stupid logo!!! I hate it!! Black and gold would have been so much better the nam barons so much more in tune with everything, you blew it big time Clay so big its hard to put into words. If your management style is this lame on a public stage your croonies so inept at giving you advice I feel sorry for the team the city and the NBA in general. You blew it Clay, big time.
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