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Wednesday, April 09, 2008

The Biz of Baseball: Brown: The Official “Red Sox Nation”? Stop the Bus, I Need Off

or as Maury says…“Welcome to the Dayton Peace Accords, Official Red Sox Nation style.”

I have to admit, when the news that the Red Sox were going to establish an official “Red Sox Nation” President, I thought it was fun. “Why not?” I asked. It shows that the Red Sox don’t take themselves too seriously, and at the same time, creates some fan comradery. You want to have Tim Russert moderate a debate on NESN among candidates for President of Red Sox Nation, so be it. Sounded campy and fun.

That was last year. Now, the reality is, the whole “Official Red Sox Nation” is not poking fun at being a Red Sox fan, it’s got all the trimmings of a political campaign. I expect that this new version of Red Sox Nation will be campaigning for ways to improve the slumping economy shortly.

Case in point, the press release sent out where “newly established President of Red Sox Nation Jerry Remy and Vice President of Red Sox Nation ‘Regular’ Rob Crawford announced the creation of a ‘Five Point Plan’ that will guide their administration in 2008. The ‘Five Point Plan’ includes the appointment of governors, a two-year census, elected youth representatives, new benefits for registered Citizens of Red Sox Nation, and a commitment to encourage fans with access to tickets to make ticket donations to deserving individuals.”

When you get to the point where a “Five Point Plan” comes out of an “administration”, it’s no longer “cute”. Here, in all its seriousness, is what Remy and “Regular” Rob have outlined…

Repoz Posted: April 09, 2008 at 05:41 PM | 35 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: April 09, 2008 at 05:52 PM (#2736478)

Not even the Yankees have sunk to this level. The Red Sox are fast descending into Dan Snyder territory.

Not that there's anything wrong with it, as long as they keep piling up the rings. That's one aspect of marketing that Snyder hasn't quite mastered.

2. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:19 PM (#2736512)

Blech. I'd rather just be one of the 17 remaining A's fans, ugly stadium, tarps, players made of tinfoil and all. Better to be a fan of The Spent Poets than latch onto The Stone Temple Pilots.

3. Maury Brown Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:22 PM (#2736522)

Jeez, Kevin. You have no idea how badly I needed some levity today, and that posting delivered it in spades. Classic.

4. The importance of being Ernest Riles Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:24 PM (#2736524)

4 is almost enough to make me "unignore" Kevin. But not quite.

5. Srul Itza Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:25 PM (#2736525)

4 is almost enough to make me "unignore" Kevin. But not quite.

So if you have him on ignore, how do you know . . .

6. Flynn Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:25 PM (#2736526)

Point two (fan census/feedback) is actually not a bad idea. Point four (benefits/freebies) is just the usual promotional crap. And point five (giving tickets to people in the community) is also just fine.

But point one ('governors' for each state in new england) and point four (kid captains) are the most blood curdlingly awful stuff ever.

7. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:26 PM (#2736528)

Jeez, Kevin. You have no idea how badly I needed some levity today, and that posting delivered it in spades. Classic.

If it were anyone but kevin, I would say the levity was intentional.

8. Long John McCaine Mutiny on the Bounty (scott) Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:26 PM (#2736529)

i dunno, i kinda find the president of Red Sox Nation's ideas dorkily cute.

9. Flynn Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:33 PM (#2736536)

Blech. I'd rather just be one of the 17 remaining A's fans, ugly stadium, tarps, players made of tinfoil and all. Better to be a fan of The Spent Poets than latch onto The Stone Temple Pilots.

Oh come on, STP were never cool.

10. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:38 PM (#2736545)

Oh come on, STP were never cool.

True, true. What would be a better analogy? REM? U2? Metallica? Post David Lee Roth Van Halen?

11. DKDC Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:40 PM (#2736546)

Oh come on, STP were never cool.

Isn't that the point?

12. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:44 PM (#2736549)

Oh come on, STP were never cool.

Isn't that the point?

Well, yeah, but then I thought I was just being mean. I cry on the inside very easily.

13. Dr Love Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:48 PM (#2736557)

Kid Nation Captains

What, "Red Sox Youth" wasn't a good enough name?

14. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: April 09, 2008 at 06:50 PM (#2736559)

What, "Red Sox Youth" wasn't a good enough name?

Posts like these are why I keep wasting time here.

15. Pat Rapper's Delight Posted: April 09, 2008 at 07:11 PM (#2736584)

I expect that this new version of Red Sox Nation will be campaigning for ways to improve the slumping economy shortly.

I think the current economic troubles can be traced directly back to Red Sox fans buying less World Series stuff for Christmas 2007 than they did for Christmas 2004.

16. RB in NYC (Now with New Running Goal!) Posted: April 09, 2008 at 07:17 PM (#2736589)

What, "Red Sox Youth" wasn't a good enough name?

Wow. That is awesome. Kudos.

17. Pat Rapper's Delight Posted: April 09, 2008 at 07:19 PM (#2736591)

What, "Red Sox Youth" wasn't a good enough name?

I've been a Red Sox fan since 1978 and I still found this RDF. Well done.

18. Crispix Attacks Posted: April 09, 2008 at 07:36 PM (#2736614)

There's no stopping this thing. Bostonians, get ready to hear bar after bar filled with the inspiring strains of Das Trot-Nixon-Lied.

Die Gonfalon hoch! Die Reihen fest geschlossen!
Red Sox marschiert mit ruhig festem Schritt.
Kameraden, die Yankfront und Reaktion erschossen,
Marschieren im Geist in unseren Reihen mit.

19. Crispix Attacks Posted: April 09, 2008 at 07:42 PM (#2736620)

Dark days are approaching. A shadow falls over the motherland. Who, who has the strength of will and purity of purpose to fill the shoes of departing Reichspropagandaleiter Bob Lobel?

20. winnipegwhip Posted: April 09, 2008 at 08:01 PM (#2736636)

"Springtime for Theo and Bosox Land,
Winter for Toronto and the Bronx.
We're moving at a faster pace.
By September we'll clinch division race."

21. TerpNats Posted: April 09, 2008 at 09:37 PM (#2736764)

Hell is reserving a special place for Larry Lucchino, mastermind of this mess.

22. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: April 09, 2008 at 10:05 PM (#2736788)

When I saw Tom Werner attempting to clap along to "Sweet Caroline" as one of Neil Diamond's backup singers on the jumbotron yesterday, my first thought was of that old Sontag article on fascist kitsch.

And this is just that much worse. Now, it functions purely for purposes of making money, so it's really a late-stage capitalist kitsch more than anything. But either way, it's a horrible thing of horrible proportions.

23. Phil Coorey, You Won't Posted: April 09, 2008 at 10:07 PM (#2736792)

Red Sox Sonic Youth?

24. Boots Day Posted: April 09, 2008 at 10:19 PM (#2736835)

Don't blame me. I voted for Sonny Siebert.

25. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: April 09, 2008 at 10:46 PM (#2736938)

Red Sox Sonic Youth

or Kid Daydream Nation Captains

Maybe I should have accepted robinred's nomination, if only for the opportunity to follow through on my stated promise that my only action as president would have been to blow the whole damn "Nation" up.

26. Designated Sitter (GGC) Posted: April 09, 2008 at 11:32 PM (#2737137)

Bring back the Royal Rooters.

27. villageidiom Posted: April 10, 2008 at 12:17 AM (#2737331)

They're making me proud never to have joined the "official" Red Sox Nation.

Now, it functions purely for purposes of making money, so it's really a late-stage capitalist kitsch more than anything. But either way, it's a horrible thing of horrible proportions.

It's a voluntary direct-marketing relationship. It's like giving out your real e-mail address to any business.

And kudos on post 2, kevin.

28. Designated Sitter (GGC) Posted: April 10, 2008 at 12:25 AM (#2737354)

It's a voluntary direct-marketing relationship. It's like giving out your real e-mail address to any business.

I once registered to buy tix online from the Sox and I get spam from them all the time. No big deal, cuz I can always erase it. But I don't need an email to know that:

a. they won the WS
b. They re-signed Lowell
c. Pedroia was RoY and so on and so forth.

29. villageidiom Posted: April 10, 2008 at 01:18 AM (#2737470)

I once registered to buy tix online from the Sox and I get spam from them all the time. No big deal, cuz I can always erase it. But I don't need an email to know that:

a. they won the WS
b. They re-signed Lowell
c. Pedroia was RoY and so on and so forth.

I don't know who your internet provider is GGC, but with mine (Cox) you can have multiple e-mail accounts. Our household has three: my regular one, mrsidiom's, and one I set up specifically for stuff like that where I have to give an e-mail address but don't want to. It's nice having, effectively, a mechanism for sorting my mail between good stuff and junk.

30. Meatwad is on team keefe Posted: April 10, 2008 at 09:59 AM (#2737627)

isnt that exactly what bselig@bselig.com is for

31. Harold Posted: April 10, 2008 at 10:07 AM (#2737629)

I don't know who your internet provider is GGC, but with mine (Cox) you can have multiple e-mail accounts.

Gmail gives you unlimited email addresses. If your address is me@gmail.com, you can use me+anything@gmail.com, and it will reach you. So you can vary that 'anything' part each time you provide your address. And if you end up getting spam (or non-spam marketing messages) at one address, you can create a rule to send anything to that address to your spam folder.

Which doesn't necessarily address concerns like GGC's, since occasionally you get a useful e-mail from that channel, and you don't want it going to your spam folder. But if you're just getting unwanted messages, this is a way to avoid it.

32. Harold Posted: April 10, 2008 at 10:10 AM (#2737630)

And if you end up getting spam (or non-spam marketing messages) at one address, you can create a rule to send anything to that address to your spam folder.

And you can still create a rule to just tag it and remove it from your inbox. So say I buy something online from Circuit City; I don't want to see all the marketing emails from CC, so I can use a unique e-mail address and a rule to tag all those incoming messages as from Circuit City and archive them. So I won't see them; but if I ever need to find a confirmation for an order or something, I know how to find it.

Though I agree with the first point from GGC, which is that businesses shouldn't automatically opt you into mass marketing e-mails just because you transact with them. Hell, if they value their relationship with you, then they should allow you to manage your subscriptions, and assume you don't want to opt-in to everything.

33. Drexl Spivey Posted: April 10, 2008 at 10:27 AM (#2737635)

I was going to rip on the Red Sox Nation, until I realized that a Brewers Nation with Bob Uecker as the president/God would be amazing. I picture Brando in Apocalypse Now...

34. dave h Posted: April 11, 2008 at 03:00 AM (#2739204)

Unfortunately not all online forms accept plus addressing. It's really annoying when I give a plus address and it craps back at me. Since it's just a mindless form, there's not much to be done. However, I do enjoy the looks on salespeople's faces if I give them an address with a plus in it. I'm not even really sure if they use the symbol or spell it out.

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The Biz of Baseball: Brown: The Official “Red Sox Nation”? Stop the Bus, I Need Off

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