NBA
24 seconds with Jim Porto: ThunderStix bring the noise

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

About six years ago, simply clapping or booing for your team became old-fashioned. Fans needed more than a megaphone could deliver. Enter ThunderStix. You know, those tubed balloons that 45-year-old professionals can be spotted thwacking during NBA games. There are actually three companies that produce the noisy product, but the family-owned ThunderStix owns the American market, according to vice president Jim Porto. Based in Lake Villa, Ill., they've provided their toys for Microsoft board meetings, the Republican National Convention, and many sporting events.

Seattle Times: As a member of the media that has to sit in front of people when it's "ThunderStix" giveaway night at KeyArena, I just want to know where to send my bill for all the aspirin I've had to pop.

Jim Porto: (Laughs) If you had a pair in hand, you wouldn't have noticed they had them. It's like when people have pennies in a jar or whistles, you only notice when you're not making noise, too.

ST: I'm just kidding. Where did you come up with an idea like that, though?

JP: We saw them on tape. They use them in Korea, and we produce custom-shaped inflatable products and other plastics, so we thought, geez, we can do that easily. It fits right into what we do.

ST: Really. Where did you debut them?

JP: At an MLS soccer game and I believe minor-league baseball. But basketball immediately picked them up. It varies year to year, but almost all of the NBA teams use them.

ST: You're 57. Do you find it amusing when people your age are smacking those things together like a typical kid at the game?

JP: What happens is, when you get a pair of those in hand, people change. Fans start knocking these things together and (it has) this visceral effect. The (NHL) Hurricanes in North Carolina play special songs when the Zambonis clean the ice, and people dance with them. I enjoy that. It's hilarious.

ST: That is funny. But do you ever hear any complaints about them?
 
JP: I can't lie and say everybody likes them. But people say they hate ThunderStix because we're everywhere now, when what they really mean is they hate noise in general.

ST: OK, so I told you they're my peeve on deadline. What's yours?

JP: When American teams that use taxpayers' money to build arenas buy products from overseas. And the fact that I can't play music with them. We've had them at trade shows, and musicians will stop by to play songs that you can recognize.

ST: Sounds like some people are spending a little too much time with their ThunderStix.

JP: That could be.

— Jayda Evans

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company