Will a blackout work? - Mellinger

http://mellinger.kansascity.com/entr...ve-our-chiefs/

If you are a Chiefs fan, you undoubtedly know about the grassroots fan movement that calls itself Save Our Chiefs. I’ve written about them a few times, players have been asked about them, and it’s been all over the internets.

But what we know about their reach is still fairly vague.

As I type this, their Twitter account has 68,811 followers but nobody can really be sure what that means. The number used to be well over 100,000 but the people who run it self-reported a bunch of spambots. There’s also the thought that whatever the number of real-life human beings are following on Twitter, the number who passionately support the message is smaller. In other words, there are Chiefs fans who don’t wish Scott Pioli to be fired who follow Save Our Chiefs on Twitter just to keep up with things.

The other way that Save Our Chiefs has created waves is in paying for banners to be flown over Arrowhead Stadium before games. They have another one scheduled for rush hour traffic tomorrow morning. But all it takes is one person with about $600 to get a banner flown, so again, it’s hard to know how many people are behind the message.

The point of all this is that we’re about to have our best indication yet of how many people are on Save Our Chiefs’ side.

That’s because the message is going from Twitter and message boards to something more tangible for Sunday’s game, for which the group is pushing a “blackout” — you know, everybody wear black like it’s a funeral.

So far, people inside the team’s offices can diminish Save Our Chiefs’ reach as a small but vocal minority, and there’s really nothing tangible that people could point to in response.

It’s true that if you have ANY fans angry enough to fly critical banners over games or start a movement like this that attracts more than a tiny handful of supporters you’ve got a problem, but it’s also true that none of us — not me, not you, not the people who run Save Our Chiefs — can have a real strong feeling of how many people are with this.

That changes, in large part, on Sunday. Because thousands of the Chiefs’ most passionate fans will be there in person, and many more than that will be watching on TV and there will be nowhere to hide.

If Clark Hunt looks out at his stadium and sees the same mix of red jerseys as usual, he can more confidently feel like the angry letters he receives come from a vocal minority.

If he sees a big number of people actually wearing black and treating the stadium as a church funeral, then that will be the most powerful message yet about fan disapproval.

We’ll find out in three days.

Read more here: http://mellinger.kansascity.com/entr.../#storylink=cp

I think he's right. There's no way the black shirt wearers make a dent in the red. I'm very concerned. pr_capone can't even find people to pass out fliers. Who is going to go out of their way to wear black? A couple thousand people isn't going to cut it. All the banners, interviews, and social media followers in the word won't send a message Sunday. This is where SOC comes up short.

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

The blackout thing is kinda a waste of time.

It's hard to reach 70,000 strangers and to have them all wear black.

That's just my opinion.....love the idea and what it stands for, I just think it's a little bit over the heads of prcapone and co. to really have that blackout work and make a difference. Hopefully I'm wrong...but it wouldn't surprise me to turn on the TV Sunday and to see maybe a couple specks of black here and there.

I think you're right. It's unfortunate that the usefulness of SOC will be judged by how many black shirts are in the crowd.

[BourbonMan]

The problem with not going is this..A lot of people have already purchased their ticket way in advance ( Like STH'S)...If they say lets not go, then they are out of the full price of the ticket...If they say, okay i'll sell them, they still don't get full price of the ticket and will probably sell it for 1/3 of the price. Then their are the people saying, well if I can purchase these ticket for $20, I can take my whole family to a Chiefs game.

This will be the LAST game I am going to, I am a STH with 2 seats and have been for 7 years. I've sold my tickets for the last 3 home games already. Face value on these are $85..sold the colts for $30...sold the panthers for $50..and sold the denvers for $85.
So as I stated before..I will not be going, but my seats will not be empty..There in lies the problem.

[scho63]

I strongly suggest that everyone bring a box of Costco dark lawn bags and cover all the seats they can after the crowd settles in with them. They will help cover up the sea of red.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

The blackout thing is kinda a waste of time.

It's hard to reach 70,000 strangers and to have them all wear black.

That's just my opinion.....love the idea and what it stands for, I just think it's a little bit over the heads of prcapone and co. to really have that blackout work and make a difference. Hopefully I'm wrong...but it wouldn't surprise me to turn on the TV Sunday and to see maybe a couple specks of black here and there.

How many people are actually going to bother going to the game?

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by scho63

I strongly suggest that everyone bring a box of Costco dark lawn bags and cover all the seats they can after the crowd settles in with them. They will help cover up the sea of red.

Great idea although I suspect stadium security would want to have a word with you.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by Phobia

I think you're right. It's unfortunate that the usefulness of SOC will be judged by how many black shirts are in the crowd.

It's going to be seen as a step back, but SOC already has succeeded spectacularly by getting media attention with the banner.

Scott Free is right, though, that there's a ceiling to this. If people -- general fans, and most especially, ownership -- don't respond overwhelmingly negatively to a 1- or 2-win season, then no amount of outside pressure, no matter how creatively applied, will push them over the tipping point.

[KCDC]

What Mellinger does not take into account is that there are thousands of us life long Chiefs fans living outside of the area that have no way to show our protest. We don't go to games and can't wear black. We stop watching the games perhaps, or cancel NFL Ticket, but there are few ways to measure the loss of interest nationally (which hurts Hunt only indirectly).

[Stewie]

I think people that dress up in black are going to be overwhelmed by the number of people that show up as empty seats. The red and gold plastic will be the most noticeable feature at Arrowhead.

[Woodchuck]

I think it will definately make a difference and it will get a ton of media coverage. It will paint a very clear picture on a national scale that people will remember.

Will it help Pioli get fired?

I don't know. I hope so. What I do know is that it sends a strong message that the fans aren't going to take the bullshit anymore. This will send a real warning.

This is kind of off topic but, a few years ago at UGA, the fans were told to wear black to the Auburn game. The captains came out for the coin toss wearing the traditional red uniforms. Moments later, the team ran out in black uniforms for the first time and the stadium went nuts. The place was electric and we crushed Auburn. It's not the same but it was cool and had a positive effect. There was some red sprinkled in there but it was mostly balck. Here's what it looked like...

[notorious]

Do your best, and let it grow.


I don't know why we only picked one home game to do it. It should be every home game until Pioli is gone.

By doing that it can grow. People will see the black, and if they agree they will wear black at the next game.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by Woodsponge Chuckpants

This is kind of off topic but, a few years ago at UGA, the fans were told to wear black to the Auburn game. The captains came out for the coin toss wearing the traditional red uniforms. Moments later, the team ran out in black uniforms for the first time and the stadium went nuts. The place was electric and we crushed Auburn. It's not the same but it was cool and had a positive effect. Here's what it looked like...

no1curr

[Mr_Tomahawk]

Been saying this all the long.


Still think we should have pushed for fans wearing paper bags during the 1st qtr or something.

[KCUnited]

I doubt trash bags are going to fly (or maybe they will and that's why they won't) in the stadium. I'd get the Dollar Store ones if you try it, I covet my Costco bags too much to risk losing them at a ****ing Chiefs game.

[TRR]

Very concerned?? What a joke. Clark Hunt will do whatever the **** he wants to do. He could give a shit less if a bunch of idiots wear red, black, white or brown shirts to the game. Stop buying Chiefs shit and tix if you want to make a statement. All I see and all Hunt will see are dollar signs wearing black shirts instead of red.
Posted via Mobile Device

[wazu]

Everybody needs to post support for this event in their Facebook status today. It's the most powerful platform that most users of this site have.