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There is only ONE Oklahoma
SOONERS
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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

A Broken Record

Before I start, I just wanted to link one of the most informative blogs to come along in a long time.. It is called Stock Car Science. While it is a new blog, just the first couple of entries are very, very informative. A must see!

In mid January, I bloged about how Elliott Sadler and his PR people have the bad habit of just a lot of talk and very little action. Even though I sited examples of this I did receive the usual share of hate mail from the Plaid Clad and the Blind 19. But still there has been no definitive date set for the biggest Sadler Fan Club Event of the year, despite promises from Sadler himself, his PR person (Brett Griffin), his fan club Webmaster and others.

Sure Griffin in January, narrowed the date of the Sadler Fan Club Barn Party down to two days in September, but even that does not really help SFC fans who have to make travel arrangements and even time of work. All the while, flights prices have risen significantly, and what little hotels in the area are being booked.

SFC fans have continually questioned the powers that be of just what the date is going to be for obvious reasons, and still are receiving the ‘canned’ SFC official response of “Getting the entertainment & drivers on the same date & time schedule is a work in progress” or “We should have details out regarding the event in September by February”.

SFC members have also already started questioning of when their fan packets should be mailed to them. Like clockwork the other canned response of “we are waiting for some special gifts to arrive”. Are these some of the same ‘special gifts’ that SFC members had to question just ‘what was the special gift’ last season?

Has anyone noticed the short lines at the shared 19-souvenir hauler these days? One reason just might be the fan interaction, or lack their of from their driver. Gone are the days of standing 5 or 6 deep waiting to purchase some sort of ‘Southern Gentleman’ goodies, now it seems to be just a walk up window.

This is the last paragraph from the original blog, and is still applicable today:

“Bottom line, announcing a ‘bigger and better’ event and still four months (now six months) later not even announcing an event date is not ‘showing it’. The specific details and “who’s who” of this event is not the priority for the everyday fan at this time. After all, history has shown that SFC fans have been disappointed before because they were forced to speculate on event dates, and even questioned the fan club about said dates, only to be later told that no event would be held. The sting of the 2004 ‘fan event’ still bites at many of the Sadler Fans who have continued to stay on the band wagon. But that wagon has more room on it every day.”

February has now come and gone (along with the other earlier announcement dates), and still SFC fans are left out in the cold.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought the 'special gift' in last years fan packet was expired Tylenol!

Anonymous said...

At least someone will point this crap out. I am a member of the Fan Club and have emailed Brett asking these same questions more than once. I work at a place where time off has to be submitted and bid on well in advance. I live just far enough away from Emporia that I don't want to use up a full week's of time off but close enough that I only need a half a day to get there. Just tell me if the party is on Wed or Thurs, can that be that hard?

Frustrated in South Carolina!

Snafam said...

Hey, buddy! I was working a shift yesterday at one of the stores on the Strip. Had a guy and his wife come in, who were caught in the "Between Hotel Checkout and Before Airline Check-in" twilight zone. He was wearing generic NASCAR gear, so I questioned him on his favorite driver. It seems that both he and his wife are Sadler fans, or at least she is, but he is not one any longer. He said he checks this blog daily for his chuckle! His wife is not quite as happy as her husband with your blogs, but she admits that what you write is true.

Anonymous said...

Please !

Just take a moment to understand that the priorities and values of the "Southern Gentleman" have changed. He has been busy sightseeing, travelling, decorating his mansion, falling in love and reevaluating goals, whatever they might be.

He no longer craves or appreciates the throngs of fans he attracted and can survive quite nicely without such adoring masses.

He has more than enough money.
If he stops racing tomorrow, he can pursue other interests and thrive.

Why on earth would he care about a lousy "Barn Party, or how many
t-shirts he sells ? Fan Club ? He don't need no stinkin' fan club !

Elliott Sadler just doesn't "get it" and he never will. He's not that kind of personality.

Regrettably....it's all about him and the devotion only goes one way....toward his narcissistic little head. He has nothing to give in return.

Too little...too late.

Time to pick another driver.

Maybe the new one in the m & m's car.....

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should give the clad a break not everyone is a blind beliver