Project Mayhem Task #2: Support "Hire a General Manager" Billboards

 

The above image is a billboard located at four locations around Cincinnati, asking that the Bengals finally hire a real General Manger.  18 seasons of Mike Brown making football decisions have led the Bengals to a record of 98-183, the worst winning percentage of all professional sports teams over that stretch.  Einstein's famous quote "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” should be framed and put above the door to Mike Brown's office. 

To make sure these billboards can stay up for the rest of the season and into the once again Bengal-free post-season, we need some help from our fellow Comrades.  We are asking for you to donate $18 using the Paypal link on the left of the page - or $1 for each year of Mike Brown's ownership of the team.  However, if you are in a financial position to donate more than $18, by all means go for it.  We don't want to hold you back.   We need all the donations possible to keep these billboards up.  Just think how much of your money Mike Brown has buried in a tin can in his backyard (he doesn't trust those new fancy "banks") and contribute to a cause that is working to take back our team.  Unfortunately, the fathers of the writers of WDR did not start an NFL team so we need your help to keep these billboards up.

Remember, Project Mayhem has two goals:

1. Disrupt the natural order of Mike Brown's Bengals
2. Reduce Mike Brown's profit

The purpose of these billboards is to bring local and national attention to the underlying cause of the Bengals almost 2 decades worth of historic losing: a lack of football minds making football decisions.  WDR is calling on the entire Bengals organization to do whatever is in their power to get Mike Brown to hire a GM. 

We are not delusional.  We don't think that these billboards alone will cause Mike Brown to change.  But unless the Bengals make some big changes, you can expect a lot more losing.  So Bengals fans have a few choices: 1) blindly follow the team and just be happy our humble city has an NFL franchise; 2) get so fed up with the Bengals that you either quit following the NFL, become a passive fan or adopt a new team, or 3) join with WhoDeyRevolution and your fellow comrades to demand change.

The locations of the billboard are on West 3rd Street and Clay Bridge Rd.  (Downtown), Wooster Pike at Red Bank Road (Fairfax), Beechmont Ave at 8 Mile Road (Anderson Township) and Glenway Ave at Muddy Creek Road (Western Hills).

We will get an actual shot up of the billboards as soon as possible.  In the meantime, we really need your support by donating $18 (or more) to our cause using the Paypal link on the left side of the page.

And remember, the first rule of Project Mayhem is to tell EVERYONE about Project Mayhem. 

UPDATE:  As of 9:00am today (11/13), Bengals fans have donated a total of $3,140.11.  To fund the billboards for the rest of the season and into the postseason, we need to raise an additional $1,359.89.  If only 75 more people donate $18, the billboards will be up for another 2 months telling Mike Brown and the Bengals what the fans really think.  Please donate using the Paypal link on the left.

PRESS UPDATE: Cincinnati media have been all over this story.  Check out the story on ESPN NEWS,  WCPO (Channel 9) and the online story on WCPO.com at WLWT Channel 5 and at 700WLW.com.  Here are the interviews about the billboard with Paul Daugherty of 700WLW, with Mo Egger of 1530HOMER (start at 19:30) and with Lance McAlister of 1530HOMER (start at 8:30). 

Local blogs run by Lance McAlister picked us up here and here, and we were discussed on the blogs of Mo Egger , C. Trent, Ken Broo and the Enquirer's Mark Curnette as well.  We were also well represented on the leading sports blogs in the country, including Deadspin, ProFootballTalk, ESPN, Hot Clicks with Jimmy Trainia over at SI.com, National Football Post,  AOL Fanhouse, Hugging Harold Reynolds, FanIQ, Yahoo! and Big Lead.   Also, check out this interview with James Beale of the Philly City Paper.

More national media: the New York Times, the LA Times, 640-WTMJ in Milwaukee, the Columbus Dispatch, and SI's Dan Patrick talked about the billboards with Paul Daugherty on his radio show and in his blog.  Also check out Philly uber-blog 700 Level. The billboards were also discussed on ESPN News and by TheDirty.com. 

BILLBOARD'S EFFECT:  For those who say these billboards will have no effect, watch this story on the billboards by John London of Channel 5 (NBC).  Without these billboards, would the media be asking players about a Bengals GM? Reaching out to Mike Brown for comment?  Check out C. Trent's take here.  Because of these billboards and the hundreds of fans who have contributed to the site to keep them up, the focus is back on the real reason the Bengals are 1-8: a lack of football minds making football decisions.  And make sure you read this post by LeRoy Jenkins on why this year is different than past years.

Comments

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I can see one major flaw in this plan. Can Mike Brown and his family read? I would assume so, but judging his intellect by the last 18 years, you never know.

[Who Che]

If we donate more, can we hire a midget to kick Mike Brown in the balls?

[brad]

are these electronic billboards or paper? i need some clarification on the wooster at red bank sign since i pass through the area often.

great job guys keep it up. lets hope this has some effect before project mayhem task #15,734 is "pipe bomb in the owners box"

[Flash]

Love the idea...but can we amend to:

"Hire a COMPETENT General Manager...and some actual scouts."

I know it's wordy but what good does it do if they just tag Katie as the "new" GM...or worse yet, hire Savage after he's fired from the Browns?

[Brosef Stalin]

brad: you will see the billboard as you are driving south into the city, right as you get on columbia parkway. It is paper.

[Ghost of Boomer]

These are paper billboards. They will be a beautiful sight to see.

[Suckville]

How about rather than "Dear Bengals" it reads "Dear Mike Brown" because let's be honest, he is sadly the only one making decisions in this organization and should be called out billboard-style!

[lenin them score]

18 bucks just hit the bank.

[Who Che]

Make sure you honk when you drive by, and hold the honk just a little bit longer then what feels like a comfortable honk.

[Remember Rembert]

Great work fellas...keep fighting the good fight and we'll keep supporting it.

It is up to all of us to spread the word about the Revolution...tell (link, word of mouth) everyone you know that is a Bengals fan. Mike's "head up the ol' ass" business model affects us all!

[Who Che]

Suckville- Believe you me, that was the intent... Let's just say Mikey's grip extends beyond PBS. That no talent a$$ clown.

[John Galt]

This is a fantastic idea. I wanted to do something similar to the WEBN billboards. The ones that say "Where Dey?" and then have all the radio info. I just wanted to paint over the rest of it, so all it said was "Where Dey" I proposed the idea to Wildman during a call in, but he said he couldn't condone any vandalism to station property but would laugh if it happened. But this idea is so much better. All hail the Revolution!

[Vinnie Bag-o-knownuts]

While I agree with your message and I love the creativity of your banner, I also am sure that it has been pointed out that Mike Brown does not run the Bengals as a football team first but as a business enterprise, a family trust and then a football team. And he is very good at the first two. In the NFL business, he is the beneficiary of revenue sharing rather than a sole proprietorship of P&L. I believe Mike wants to win, but does not need to win to accomplish his goals. I also wonder if a GM worth his salt would even consider the position based on Mikes history of not reliquishing control of the team.

[BMN]

MBS posters recall when a plane flew above the stadium in the early 2000s protesting Brown's ownership. It helped raise awareness about the issue. I fully endorse and support this billboard and ensure that I will help contribute to the cause.

[Southern Illinois Douchebag]

I wholeheartedly support this idea and have donated $20. Viva!

[Rich]

$18.00 on its way.
How's about bumper stickers?

[Greg]

Here's an idea that would get some news -
"A WHERE DEY Fan March" that starts maybe across the bridge and finish at PBS. Everyone wear black and a put bag on their head. And do it on Superbowl Sunday Morning. Get the radio and tv stations involved.

[captainb8]

Think we could get Kroger (or Bigg's) to be the official sponsor of Project Mayhem Task #3 by passing out (or at least provide) grocery bags to fans in attendance at a future home game? They would be sans eye holes, but maybe that would be a good thing.

[Chris]

"I believe Mike wants to win, but does not need to win to accomplish his goals."

What's the old saying? "You play to win the game."

[John Samoya]

Ahh - I have been waiting for this opportunity to join a team of change. I think Project Mayhem's number 1 priority should be boycotting the purchase of all food, drink, and Bengal paraphernalia at all games for the rest of the season. This revolution should continue until a reputable GM is hired, maybe even until a GM is hired and the Bengals reach the playoffs. I have recently been thinking of ways to encourage change and we all know change will not occur unless it hits the pocket book. I know it will be painful to watch a game without a drink or a dog but just compare that to another 18 yrs of losses. Unless some significant loss of revenue and profit occurs, nothing will change.

Rough conservative estimate 50,000 people per game. 50% of people join the revolution - so we are down to 25,000 people. $25 to $50/game per person. That is a hit to the top line of $625k to $1.25MM per game. I would estimate that is a hit to the bottom line of $375k to $750k per game (assume 60%). That is $3.75MM to $7.5MM a year based on 10 home games.

[NoLongerInOhio]

How about not letting the Browns go home after the KC game? I mean if we have a big enough protest outside wouldn't Mike be scared to leave PBS? The cops will not do much about it, they're as pissed as the rest of us. The best thing you can do is not renew. Don't renew.

[Sean]

Like many of you guys, this is exactly what I've been waiting for. I moved to Cincinnati a few years ago and bought season tickets since the PSLs were cheap. Since then, I've been sucked in and spit out by Paul Brown's poor excuse for a football team. I've watched fans around me at Paul Brown be satisfied with an terribly-run organization because that is what they're used to. I've spent plenty of money on Bengals crap and I stopped this year to end my personal contributions to Mike Brown's bank account. I needed somewhere to go with the money normally dedicated to Who Dey, this is it!

This is the time, I say we do billboards, bumper stickers, house signs, whatever it takes. Regardless of what political party you subscribe to you can't deny that Obama's grassroots change message worked. I say we steal some of those philosophies and do the damn thing!

[mentalmidget]

What a wonderful idea!! I'm all for it! Do you really want to bring local AND national attention to the cause?? This is no joke,,,,,, What about a class action lawsuit to have "Cincinnati" removed from the Cincinnati Bengals?? That team/ownership is an embarrassment to the wonderul city of Cincinnati and it's citizens!!
I am a citizen of the city of Cincinnati and I can no longer stand the thought of that "franchise" being associated with the city in which we live!!!
As a fan of the NFL, particularly the Bengals, since 1971, I can no longer follow "my" team! I will NOT watch or follow any NFL games this year because I have to listen to the pundits tell the truth about the Bengals. THEY SUCK!!! They've basically sucked since 1991. This "franchise" is like a drug addict. A drug addict, most likely, was a good person for years until they get hooked on drugs and they become something else or someone else,,,a loser. You know the drug addict doesn't have to be a loser if they would just give up drugs.
This "franchise" was basically a good "franchise" for 23 years. For the last 18 years, they've been a loser because Mikey-boy has been that drug! Enough is enough!!!

Do you want local and national attention?? A CLASS ACTION lawsuit to have "Cincinnati" removed from the Bengals would do it!!!!

Opinions???

[DG]

Love the Where Dey March idea

[J Douglas]

The Billboard must read:

Dear Bengals,

Hire a General Manager (that is not family).

Love,
Your Fans

[Chris]

I live in Charlotte, but I had my sister take a picture of the sign on Beechmont. Will post it tomorrow morning. Great work. My money is hitting PayPal now.

[Stay Down]

Love the new ideas. It was suggested to me that a group get together and take a half to full page ad out in the USA Today that is a letter to the NFL, the Bengals and Mike Brown from all of the fans. Let me know what you think. I need to be a part of WDR seeing as I am the guy that wanted to organize the walkout.

[Big Mike]

Remember Detroit's "Millen Man March" in 2005? That didn't do a single thing for the Lions. What it finally took was Bill Ford questioning his father in public about why Matt Millen was still employed.

One thing that can be done is to petition the league that teams in the NFL meet certain minimum standards of personnel: a certain minimum number of scouts, a particular management structure, and a system of checks and balances within the organization. That would enable not only the Bengals but teams run by nutcases like the Raiders and Cardinals (I presume this year is an abberation) to join the 21st Century.

Maybe Mike Brown is still the ultimate authority, but by forcing any NFL team to have a certain minimum number of individual scouts, a GM not only identified but is someone separate from Ownership within the organization, and a certain minimum standard for facilities would either force Mike Brown to either upgrade or sell to meet the requirements.

"Heckuva job there, Brownie!"

[Bungles]

It is silly that I have to say this, but I firmly believe the Bengals should hire a GM and probably replace 90% of front office staff. The real puzzling question is…why wouldn’t he hire one? Let’s try to crawl inside his head…

The Case for MB NOT hiring a GM (from MB's point of view):

Team Management Reasons:

Won't Make a Difference - MB has been around the NFL and its owners and GM's his entire life. MB feels he understands the game of football and its parts and pieces better than any GM possibly could given his tenure. If we assume this confidence in his own ability he must believe that a GM would have made similar personnel decisions (or worse) given the information presented to him at the time. Which brings us to our next point...

Waste of Money - Given that MB feels that he is the equal to or better than any GM he could hire a GM would be a waste of money. Money they are currently spending on players, scouts, or fan amenities. Fans might think they like the idea of having a GM, but they won't like paying for him when he delivers virtually no value.

Too Many Chiefs - There are already enough opinions on what should be done on this team. There are plenty of scouts, coaches (coordinators, position coaches, etc.), personnel directors that have input into how things are being run. This adds another layer of bureaucracy in the organization and another set of opinions. MB feels he already has enough expertise within the org. when it comes to making decisions.

Owner vs. GM Conflict - The Bengals were formed because of an Owner vs. GM/coach conflict. There is a built in tension between the Owner and GM if the owner is active with the club. MB knows that this tension would develop and doesn't want to hire GM and create more tension in an org. that is already on edge due to lack of performance.

Personal Reasons:

Giving Up Control - This would be the first time that a non-Brown would be running the Bengals. Assuming this GM would be given the latitude afforded most NFL GM's this would mean relinquishing a majority of the day-to-day and strategic control of the team. If you owned a family business that employed half your family and contained all of their inheritance, say a pizza parlor, would you feel comfortable giving up most of the control to someone when you consider yourself a master chef and great business manager?

Outsider on the Inside - Because the nepotism runs wild within MB's Bengals there are very few outsiders that get a view into the day-to-day operations. A GM would have full access to interact and judge the competency of all personnel. If there are known deficiencies within the organization a GM may push to fire an aunt, uncle, sister. MB can keep that unexposed and limit the amount of familial disruption.

MB Failed as GM - By giving up control of the team MB would go down in history as one of the worst GM’s in the history of sports. With each year he has an opportunity to improve this record and his legacy.

Everyone Else Was Right - By giving up control of the team MB admits that he was wrong all along. All of his critics would get to say that he was wrong for not hiring a GM throughout the lost decade (90's) to save the sinking ship. MB doesn't think this is case. In fact, given the points above a GM may have made things worse.

There you have it... In a ridiculously long post. Let's forget all the personal reasons for not hiring a GM for a second. I fully believe that MB has talked himself into thinking that a GM would make things WORSE not better. In his mind the team would lose more games by more points and the organization would have less money if they HAD a GM.

[Bob Saratoga]

Great idea, can you make yard signs and put them on the highway exits next to the 'we buy ugly houses' and 'apprentice needed' signs?

[Harold Poon]

Great interview with Daughtery... Did everyone get a chance to watch it? I couldn't help but laugh my ass off at two grown men calling each other "Comrade" on broadcast television. It was hilariously awkward.

Great idea on the billboards. I guess the Who Dey Revolution army was too young to remember the WEBN billboard days in the mid-1990's. You need some fresh material.

[Who Che]

Poon- The idea of our billboard movement stemmed from the 1990's campaign... We all remember the 51 days of Wildman Walker:

http://whodeyrevolution.typepad.com/whodeyrevolution/2008/10/wildman-walker.html

[Chris]

Here's a photo my sister took of the billboard near Beechmont & Eight Mile (http://i.tsn.com/i/photos/20081112/102090.jpg). Great stuff.

[Harold Poon]

Che,
God Bless Wildman... What I'm saying is if Wildman didn't change how MFB operates, how are these WHR billboards going to make him change? Comrades, we need to think outside the box...

Poon

[Lint]

How about...There is no box.

Other than the one between my wife's legs. And that box, my friends, is where I do some of my best thinking. Am I right here or what?

[Eddie Falznutz]

UPDATE:

Chad was asked in an interview today about whether there should be a general manager hired. Chad's response:

"Next question..."
"Is he tryin' to get me in trouble here? I mean..."

[Lloyd Christmas]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3698508

ESPN/ESPN The Magazine has picked it up. Viva!

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Bungles is right on why Mikey Boy thinks he does not need a GM. Is is OUR job to demand that for our continued loyalty, he needs a GM. WhoDeyRevolution will convince Mike Brown (and his family) that the ONLY way for him to continue to profit is to let a FOOTBALL person make FOOTBALL decision. Seems smart enough.

Next time my car breaks down, I promise, I will not take it to Chipotle and ask the salsa guy them to check out my brakes. I may love Chipotle and think they do a FINE job of making burritos, but that does not mean they can fix brakes.

Mike Brown can make money but he can not run a winning football organization.

[JRod]

This is seriously the greatest idea of fan organization and protest that I have ever seen.

I'm a Browns fan, so I can't in good conscience contribute to something that could potentially make the Bengals better, but I did highlight you on my blog to show some support as a long suffering fan of NFL football in Ohio.

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2008/11/whodeyrevolution-bengals-fans-buy-billboards-in-cincinnati-hate-mike-brown/

Good luck raising the money and with the revolution. I'm thinking it's about time the Browns started something similar, and I hope this is a trend that continues in sports. Why shouldn't fans hold ownership accountable?

[Who Che]

JRod... I NEVER thought I would say this to a Brown's fan... But you are a fine American... Well, as fine as an American can be from Cleveland... But thanks for the shoutout.

[staitpinkie.com]

Love the billboards! Wish we could get Mike Brown out of there. I linked your story to my site to help get you some more support.

[chris]

i added your cause to my philly site

www.bleedeaglesgreen.com

[dbsm]

Just donated $18, from up north Cleveland area, we don't have a pro team either. Cinci deserves better! Maybe someday Ohio won't be the Bermuda Triangle of pro sports. The anti-authority angle is nice to see coming from SW Ohio as well. Good luck!

[Lloyd Christmas]

I submitted this to news aggregator website Fark.com. If it gets green-lit that is a LOT more hits that we need to get to reach the financial goals and to get this word out.

Viva!

[Bring back the squirrel]

Billboards are great, as well as all the other ideas. The Where Dey March needs to happen, and would get plenty of attention.

[Ho Chi Maier]

keep up the good work

18 donated.

Viva!!!

[Bengals Fan living in Vegas]

This is the greatest idea anybody has had about anything ever. Good work sir.

[EC]

So I like the idea of a GM, but I agree with others that it should come with the following guidelines:

1. Must KNOW football and development of talent, with knowledge of developing system and hiring personnel to fit within system), which brings us to ...

2. In charge of all football-related personnel moves (has final say, NOT Mike Brown), this pertains to all drafts, free agents, roster moves, etc.

3. Must expand scouting department.

4. Must not be related to Mike Brown in any capacity (not even a friend of a friend). Let's face it, he could just promote Katie to GM and say he "hired" a GM.

I think then, we could possibly hope that the Bengals will improve in time. I don't think just a GM will fix this, but it's a start. If he does, maybe we can work on a new project to increase scouting, removing the Brown family altogether and getting rid of Bratkowski.

[Rex]

Be careful what you wish for. For every Bill Polian there is a Matt Millen (both would still be a step up from Brown, though)!

[TigerJ@w]

I was listening to your link with Doc and listened to a guy who worked for Aramark Sports Entertainment that provides concession services for Paul Brown Stadium. The caller stated; Mike Brown gets his concession money up front due to the contract that was written and it goes by a percentage of what the Aramark company thinks they will make for the year.

Now, is this true? The only way to find out is to contact the company themselves. So, someone who owns this site needs to find out how the concession profits are given to Mike Brown. I don't think this is true due to they will have to try and project profit. I am sure some businesses do this, but I have volunteered for Aramark at NASCAR events and the contract does say you get a percentage, but a a percentage of the intake for the whole weekend. I believe this is how the process works.

Well, the owner of this site should try to get some real answers or get the media to assist. This is the only way you will be able to know how to really hit Mike Brown's profits and pockets from concession sales. Here is their link....

http://www.aramarksports.com/contact_us.php