The crowd arrived early Saturday night, ready to storm the new Intrust Arena with enthusiasm for their own Wichita Thunder as they set out to wipe Tulsa off the weather map.
The shiny new arena sports huge screens, bright lights and notable venders including an Irish Pub stand and more tasty morsels than the avid food junkie can sink a tooth into. Only a few red padded seats remained after over 13,000 fans aging from 3 months to 93 years poured into the arena, filling it nearly to capacity and waited in anticipation for the competition to commence. Donning Thunder jersey’s old and new, with Guinness’ and pretzels in hand, fans were eager to roar when the Thunder made their entrance. It all set the stage for a remarkable fight (better make that several fights) and a superior show for all!
The Squid showed his face from the start, featuring an exciting video introduction on the Big Screen, welcoming the Thunder onto the ice, while preparing the crowd to fire up for an extraordinary contest between these rivals. Before the game got underway, the players began their first scuffle, a carry-over from 24 hours earlier, where in Tulsa this same match-up ended in a huge Thunder win! No doubt, some obvious unfinished business was in need of settlement. For the Squid, these brawls translate to enticing video clips, edging on the feisty crowd and giving us a chance to show off our creative genius each time the Thunder rolls out another fist or slams another opponent’s helmet onto the frozen tundra. Are we encouraging physical endangerment to human kind here? You bet your sweet funnel cakes, we are! Hey, we’re not even sure if these guys are human in the first place. What man withstands obsessive nose gashing and head bashing abuse to lift himself up off the ground and go back for more? Thank you Sir, may I have another?
The Squid had his hands in all kinds of great video throughout the night, from the intro up until the very end. This arena is alive with stimulation down to every last detail, including a video ribbon which encompasses the entire perimeter of the stands, where Squid Ink producers had the privilege to create some fantastic plugs for Thunder and Intrust Arena sponsors as well as some amazing close-up shots of each player as they were introduced onto the rink. We showed up on the big screen during icing penalties, in between periods and each time the Thunder scored.
Unfortunately for most, a bittersweet ending would wrap up the night, with only one video clip revealed to celebrate a goal scored for our mighty Thunder. Not enough to beat Tulsa this time around. Overall though, Wichita put up a snarling fight, entertaining and full of heart was this Thunder team in their snazzy new home. If you missed it, I encourage you to come out and support the Thunder (and us) this week or every week if the mood strikes you. They’ll be plenty of excitement to make it worth your while and win or lose, I can promise you this. This Squid certainly knows how to play the game! Come to the next Thunder game to see more great Squid work just like this.
