Will a blackout work? - Mellinger

[Phobia]

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 ***** 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.

[Branden Albert's Huge Balls]

One thing that might help us, is a lot of people wear dark cold weather gear to Arrowhead in November.

We might have inadvertent support.

[BigRedChief]

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.

Well surely you knew this going in when it was decided to take the SOC in this direction.

[Guru]

Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning

One thing that might help us, is a lot of people wear dark cold weather gear to Arrowhead in November.

We might have inadvertent support.

55 degrees is hardly cold.

[wazu]

I honestly had strong reservations when I saw that this was the next big plan. But now that it is and seeing how much it's been promoted I'm excited for it. If it works it is HUGE! And it might. If it fails it's still no small thing. Not with how much media coverage it's gotten.

It's not easy leading a movement like this. Not everything you try works, and there is learning along the way, but I'm glad to see somebody pick up the banner and try.

And consider this - if it really flops and there is not much black, then that gives us an honest evaluation of how big a percentage of the fan base is really behind this. It may be sobering, but necessary. It doesn't mean we would give up, but it's a measuring stick that can be applied to all future hijinx that are tried.

[tk13]

The only thing that can go wrong is exactly what he says in the article... Clark sees it and thinks it's only a small portion of crazies who are upset and decides to give ***** 2 more years. Otherwise it's probably positive promotion.

But that's the risk you take when you go from almost a guerrilla warfare style of getting someone's attention to putting yourself out in the open and saying come at me. All the mystery is gone.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by tk13

The only thing that can go wrong is exactly what he says in the article... Clark sees it and thinks it's only a small portion of crazies who are upset and decides to give ***** 2 more years. Otherwise it's probably positive promotion.

But that's the risk you take when you go from almost a guerrilla warfare style of getting someone's attention to putting yourself out in the open and saying come at me. All the mystery is gone.

The fact that Clark is even aware this idea exists is something.

[HonestChieffan]

My paid for seat will be empty. I like Clark but it time to show he has a set and start the fire.

[redgoldexpress]

I would love to hand out fliers but on Sunday I am working from 5 in the morning to 7 at night. I will be recording the game to hopefully watch the stadium about a quarter black. I think that the best way of keeping the momentum going is from here on out keep putting on the pressure of the blackout, and keeping it going for the rest of the home games. Which each lose the numbers of fans wearing black shirts should grow every game.

[Chief Roundup]

It really depends on your definition of success. SOC is already a success IMO. Because of being mentioned in the local and national media. The Blackouts' success will depend on a few things. One is how many shirts were sold. Another is that it has already been mentioned and people are aware and want to see the outcome. Of course the outcome that most want to see is also the most debateable of success. If there is any patches or small areas like 15 to 20 people together it is a success.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by tk13

The only thing that can go wrong is exactly what he says in the article... Clark sees it and thinks it's only a small portion of crazies who are upset and decides to give ***** 2 more years. Otherwise it's probably positive promotion.

But that's the risk you take when you go from almost a guerrilla warfare style of getting someone's attention to putting yourself out in the open and saying come at me. All the mystery is gone.

Fair point. But by drawing a line in the sand and trying to do something really big, it has gotten a lot more media exposure. It's a gamble, but do we really have anything left to lose?

[Chief Roundup]

Originally Posted by Guru

55 degrees is hardly cold.

If it is a little breezy 55 will be chilly in the 300 sections.

[ILChief]

Well the bengals color is black, so any visiting fans should help the appearance

[Chief Roundup]

Originally Posted by tk13

The only thing that can go wrong is exactly what he says in the article... Clark sees it and thinks it's only a small portion of crazies who are upset and decides to give ***** 2 more years. Otherwise it's probably positive promotion.

But that's the risk you take when you go from almost a guerrilla warfare style of getting someone's attention to putting yourself out in the open and saying come at me. All the mystery is gone.

Surely no one is unrealistic enough to think this movement would get any owner to fire thier GM. All that can truly be accomplished is being just enough to finish ***** off.

[Chief3188]

People should chip in money to buy a large quantity of black shirts if that hasn't been done already and offer them out to free to anyone who will put it on right then and there and go into the stadium with it.

[Spott]

I think it would be a little humorous if the Chiefs decided to wear an alternate black jersey for the game so it wouldn't look like a protest with a bunch of fans wearing black in the stands.