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.

[NJChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by Laz

There is a reason seats are the team colors.

To me that's why its silly for the yellow seats. Makes it very clear when people aren't sitting there.

As far as the blackout is concerned, I don't see it doing a ton. That being said I think SOC is still going to have momentum. It's never been about being the sledgehammer that knocks the door down. We just want to make it known that fans want said door knocked down. Making Clark realize the scale of fan anger was/is the true mission. Keeping it going is more about making him realize this wasn't a one time thing for fun.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by DTLB58

Yep. Whether you've already purchased your season ticket or not, the most powerful message is an empty seat.

The only problem with that is it implies fans support is weak. Crappy fan bases have their teams' games blacked out. We aren't one of those fan bases, so we are trying to find another way.

[God of Thunder]

I feel like all in all, it's been a huge waste of time/money. No matter what SOC does, it will no influence whether or not Clark fires Pioli.....

I guarantee you when Clark see's the stadium empty in the 3rd quarter, he knows fans aren't happy with how things are done.

[Bugeater]

I'm not sure there's any correlation between not finding people willing to pass out the flyers and the number of people willing to wear black. I think the reason he's having trouble finding volunteers is because no one who is going to the game is going to want to give up precious tailgating time to pass out flyers.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by God of Thunder

I feel like all in all, it's been a huge waste of time/money. No matter what SOC does, it will no influence whether or not Clark fires Pioli.....

I guarantee you when Clark see's the stadium empty in the 3rd quarter, he knows fans aren't happy with how things are done.

This has been happening for years. I don't know why people keep insisting that not showing up to games sends any kind of message. This sends a message to the front office that we're bandwagon fans and that we'll run back as soon as we start winning again.

That happened under Peterson. It won't happen for Pioli. People learned to tolerate miserable under Peterson, but with Pioli, it's personal because he's so damn arrogant about how right he is.

[NJChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by God of Thunder

I feel like all in all, it's been a huge waste of time/money. No matter what SOC does, it will no influence whether or not Clark fires Pioli.....

I guarantee you when Clark see's the stadium empty in the 3rd quarter, he knows fans aren't happy with how things are done.

Its an average of like $15 per person. Not sure how big a waste that is. Not to mention that it has taken our energy of anger into another outlet. If nothing else it has been a good therapy for some of us. That being said, I do think its had an impact.

At the very least it has helped push the KC media and they do also help wake the rest of the fan base up. Eventually that leads to an angrier fan base, and something Clark will care about since the past 5 years has shown that poor performance means an empty stadium.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by wazu

The only problem with that is it implies fans support is weak. Crappy fan bases have their teams' games blacked out. We aren't one of those fan bases, so we are trying to find another way.

Fan support is weak.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

This has been happening for years. I don't know why people keep insisting that not showing up to games sends any kind of message. This sends a message to the front office that we're bandwagon fans and that we'll run back as soon as we start winning again.

That happened under Peterson. It won't happen for Pioli. People learned to tolerate miserable under Peterson, but with Pioli, it's personal because he's so damn arrogant about how right he is.

which tells them they better change things

The fans have never actually stopped giving the Hunts their money. They might leave early but that doesn't mean shit. It just means they get to close/clean early. The Hunt already have your ticket and parking money.

The fans just can't stop tailgating.

If they ever did REALLY stop going the Hunts would notice immediately.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Laz

which tells them they better change things

The fans have never actually stopped giving the Hunts their money. They might leave early but that doesn't mean shit. It just means they get to close/clean early. The Hunt already have your ticket and parking money.

The fans just can't stop tailgating.

If they ever did REALLY stop going the Hunts would notice immediately.

I don't agree with this. Again, if the Chiefs start winning again, true fans will come back to the stadium. It's a sad reality. That's why I like the blackout idea. Think it sends a very different message, that we're not just dissatisfied because we're losing. We're dissatisfied because we're educated fans who know that this losing isn't just going to turn around unless some major changes are made up top.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

If it was a white out it would garner more support. Go Eachus! Boo Bowe!

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

If it was a white out it would garner more support. Go Eachus! Boo Bowe!

[bevischief]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

I'm not sure there's any correlation between not finding people willing to pass out the flyers and the number of people willing to wear black. I think the reason he's having trouble finding volunteers is because no one who is going to the game is going to want to give up precious tailgating time to pass out flyers.

Go tailgate during the first half then leave. That's what I would if I lived closer.

[Hammock Parties]

I'll be happy if we get a group of people on TV.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning

I'll be happy if we get a group of people on TV.

Jaycee Pearson said networks try avoiding and having to talk about things like the blackout.

[Deberg_1990]

So what is the ultimate goal of the movement and blackout? Is it to get Pioli fired? If that's the case, I'm not sure how much influence we as fans have over Clark? He's gonna do what he's gonna do...and that's what's best for him.

Not trying to shoot the movement down, I think its.a great thing...just being realistic.

Regardless, what Clark does at the end of the season will tell us all a lot about him and his commitment to winning. Personally if Pioli is still in charge after this year, ill stop being a fan for awhile. If Clark isn't committed to building a.winner, then why should we care anymore?
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