WDR in NYC: NFL Draft Recap

As you may have noticed, it's difficult to organize Project Mayhem Tasks in the offseason. So what better venue to get the momentum back than at the NFL Draft, we thought. The Draft, after all, is perhaps the one event more than any other in football that encapsulates so perfectly the shortcomings of the Bengals organization.

Here was the plan:

1. Get a large group of Bengals revolutionaries to attend the Draft live at Radio City (free tickets baby)

2. Have these fans wear jerseys of failed past draft picks (or something creative made themselves with a similar theme)

3. Sneak in signs saying "Draft a GM" (the 3 word simplification of our entire manifesto)

4. Leading up to our 6th pick, start a loud and un-ignorable (not a word) chant of "Draft a GM" to hopefully force the ESPN crew to acknowledge the cause

Good plan in theory. Hard plan to execute in practice. Turns out securing seating as a group in a place anywhere near the action is virtually impossible. Also, there are only so many folks who can make the draft in NYC. So la Revolucion could not manage to disrupt the draft itself, however, the guys who went still did manage to make a ruckus and gain sympathy for the cause - notably through a brief TV interview as they walked in and via a discussion with a local NYC sports blogger (sadly we cannot find links to these anywhere on the interwebs).

No WDR writers could participate in the task due to friends inconsiderately choosing to get married that weekend (jerks) so I'll turn it over to ringleader and honorary revolutionary Allan for his recap of the weekend. It's highly entertaining. WDR would like to give special thanks to all those who attended on our behalf - their enthusiasm and dedication reminded me yet again what a bad fan I am.

Take it away Allan!

9:45 PM Friday - it was a warm night when I caught a cab to Rockefeller Center and saw a mass of humanity stretching almost 2/3 of a block towards Radio City Music Hall. Hmm - this whole draft thing was bigger than we expected. So much for meeting other WDR comrades - given that some fools had been waiting since noon, I was lucky to get a wristband (at 12:40 AM!!!).

1:00 PM Saturday - I showed up early, baby. Managed to run into fellow WDRs Jon and Steve, and we assumed our place in line. Lions fans became our best friends. Much MUCH sympathy for the WDR cause. Beautiful.

On the way in, we three were interviewed by espn.com, and Steve delivered our manifesto in such a concise manner, it blew the guy with the mic away.

Excerpt:

Interviewer: "So do you consider Carson Palmer the best of the USC quarterbacks?"

Steve: "We'll never know unless he spends less time on his back!"

On the way in, we were also interviewed by a local blog, and we repeated our demands. Any publicity is good publicity.

Also, fellow WDRer Brian Hauck supplied us with pens and posters for the inside. He couldn't join us because he had to work. (Note: for next year, do not schedule weddings or work on Draft Saturday! Jeez, guys get yer priorities straight.)

3:15 PM - We're inside Radio City, without the aforementioned posters which were confiscated by security. Other people smuggled in poster rolled up in their pants or shirts, but the signs looked like crap. We need another idea for signage. Chaz, who we met inside, suggested T-shirts that spelled out "draft a GM." That would mean rallying 8 people - doable for sure.

Any true NFL fan needs to attend the NFL draft at least once in his/her life. There's a lot of corporate crap, but the Lombardi Trophy was on display and the atmosphere was electric. Seeing the podium and the NFL and ESPN desks was pretty cool too. I had goosebumps as we went up... and up... and up(!) to the seats that were assigned to us at the door. We're 10 rows from the ceiling. Crap.

So here come the picks, and we're warming up our vocal chords when disaster strikes at pick #5. Cleveland trades with the Jets and the J-e-s-t! (no, I did not misspell) draft Sanchez. So while the Bengals are on the clock, we have to wait a few minutes until all the Jet fans stop cheering their latest QB disaster. (seriously they haven't had anyone good since Richard Todd! And yes I know, but Boomer sucked as a Jet) F*CK the Jets and the Browns. Hate 'em both.

So we stand up and start yelling "Draft A GM!" For five minutes! Everyone is staring at us. We're getting good exposure. Gosh, yelling sure is strenuous, and it sure would have been nice to have more than three of us, but Chaz was doing his thing on the lower levels. We had to stop right before the Bengals announced their pick, b/c we're losing our voices. God bless Steve, b/c he kept going with any insult against Mike Brown you could think of.

So the Bengals pick: Andre Smith. He of the man boobs, the Sugar Bowl suspension, AND the combine meltdown. Anyone wanting to see a true meltdown should have been in the upper Mezzanine. I lost it. A Lions fan offered a paper bag for my head and I gladly accepted. What a disgrace, with Eugene Monroe still on the board. But Mikey Boy likes to be the Redeemer, doesn't he?

(WDR Note: we don't share quite the same opinion of drafting HippopotaSmith as Allan, but I understand the frustration of passing on Monroe - it amounts to a coin flip in my opinion)

Question: who, exactly, has Mikey actually redeemed? I'd say redemption and winning seasons are running neck in neck in the Brown family.

Steve can't take it anymore and goes to a bar - I can't blame him. So it's Jon, me and (did I mention) about 500 Steelers fans? Crap. They were actually nice, which was too bad b/c Jon had his brass knuckles ready.

A word about Jon - he had boatloads of draft literature printed out and a kickass custom "Draft A GM" t-shirt on that had Mikey's record as Bengals owner on the back. The shirt drew a comment from everyone, certainly more than the Peter Warrick jersey I had. Who's Peter Warrick, you say? EXACTLY why we need a GM, I say.

Thank you Raiders, who pick a WR who can't catch and immediately deflect ridicule away from the Bengals and onto themselves.

We hang out through the Bengals 2nd round pick, which crazily, was really good. How can you cry foul getting Rey Mauguala (I can't spell but he can tackle) - a beast LB who should have been picked midway thru round 1? Well - we needed a center, but even I was impressed. Chaz, where'd you go? We were supposed to meet up to yell some more. Organization, people. Gotta do better.

Jon and I headed out soon afterwards. What's that you say? What if the Bengals traded up for another round two pick? Wouldn't we worry about missing it? Sorry gang, the last time Mikey traded up was in 1995 and he got Ki-Gina Carter. Golly, Katie, and shucks. I guess we won't be trading up ever again.

(WDR Note: our crack research team says they last traded in whatever draft Chris Perry was - I think - and got an extra pick and Delta O'Neal out of it - but yes, the Bengals historically do zero maneuvering on draft day)

So, end of draft day one. Project Mayhem? A bit muted, but fellas, we now have research and a beta test for next year.

We need more attendees with better organization and a "Draft a GM" hook that won't get snapped up by security.

All in all - fun and a sense of accomplishment. Other fans were sympathetic to the Who Dey Revolution cause. Even Steelers fans read it! (and like it!) I know what you're thinking...I didn't think Steelers fans could read either.

That's all. Let's get to minicamp, sign some picks and keep poking that Mike Brown voodoo doll!

-Allan Chandler

Comments

[Capt. Steve-O]

Following up to Allan's recap, the WDR presence at the draft was a good start of things to come. Given the location obviously most people couldn't attend and the seating arrangement sucked, but we definately made our presence known. I couldn't find anything on the internet regarding our interviews with ESPN and the local NYC website, but we definately got the message across.

Hopefully next year we can have better coordination with everything. Viva la Revolucion.

[joe]

what presense a whopping 3 people

[Capt. Steve-O]

Joe,

small group make big noise

[Cucmbr]

This video shows some of us in a very brief moment. At the 4:45 mark. We had a longer rant, but it's not shown here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A44wQwqkYyQ

There was massive support for WDR from all the hard-core fans. A lot of sympathy from everyone there. Even Steeler fans. The word is spreading.

[Leo deTrotskyo]

I used to work for a company where I had to attend national conventions...in the SF Bay area. I always made sure to sit near the rep from Detroit, particularly at lunch. That way I knew I wouldn't catch shit from EVERYONE around me (just NEARLY everyone).

[Mike Rabiner]

We should have drafted Steve Mayne to return kicks.

[Who Dey Boston]

Haha even Fitzy thinks that Bengals fans are the smartest fans at the draft!

Shameless plug: www.townienews.com, the home of Paul 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald

[Capt. Steve-O]

for what its worth, on Fitzy's video the 3 guys yelling "draft a GM" were Allan, Jon, and myself.

[Joe]

You're right, I'm a Steelers fan, have been an avid WDR reader for over a year, and have the ability to read.