WhoDeyRevolution

Start Your Own Revolution: One Man Rogue Project Mayhem Task Launched By Fan

Readers, we understand the frustration some of you share about the tailing off of Project Mayhem tasks these days.  We would like to execute a never-ending string of them but resources are very limited amongst the "staff" here.  However, please do not interpret the lack of PM Tasks as indication we are not planning to do anymore.  Quite the contrary, we encourage our readers to continue to share their ideas and energy with us (whodeyrevolution at gmail dot com), we do brainstorm ourselves, and hopefully we will hit upon a golden idea soon.  We are ALWAYS OPEN to ideas and thrilled to hear yours.

Needless to say we are even more thrilled when fans take matters in the own hands entirely and we can simply sit back in our easy chairs, point, and go "YES. THAT. AWESOME."  On that note, I direct you to Lance's blog, where I point and say to you "YES. THAT. AWESOME."

"I am a dedicated Cincinnati Bengals fan Lance and I have listened to you for a while and I have never called in but I like your show.  I want to announce to you, once the first game starts I will sit out side of Paul Brown Stadium until my voice is heard by Mike.  Mike does not care about anyone but himself and I am quite aware of this.  He has been that way since he took over in 1991.  I am 26 years old and the last time the Bengals even went to a Super Bowl I was a baby.  I love my Bengals dearly!!!  I served in the military and I had to put up with every single day getting taunted because I was a Bengals fan but I stood my ground.  Enough is enough.  I will sit out there the entire season if needs be.  If I am arrested, which I hope doesn't happen, I will go right back outside of the stadium and sit there until I am heard."

"Joshua" immediately distinguishes himself as a great revolutionary with this gesture, should he actually go through with it.  He is a one man Project Mayhem SWAT Team planning to wreak havoc and we support him wholeheartedly.  All Bengals fans should.

Gold Star Chili Asks Customers to Weigh In on Bengals Sponsorship

Chad Johnson has finally been shipped out for cents on the dollar of what the Bengals could have gotten a few years ago.  JJ is now a Texan.  Carson is "retired."  Who's excited for the 2011 Cincinnati Bengals?

Now Gold Star Chili seems to be questioning their sponsorship as the "Official Chili of the Cincinnati Bengals," which not only allows the company to sell the product at PBS but also leverage the team for extensive marketing campaigns and promotional materials. 

In the 5 question survey, which you can take here, Gold Star cites some pretty convincing evidence that would lead one to beleive that the company's major sponsorship of the Bengals is likely not going to pay many dividends this season, including:

"ESPN rated the Bengals as the most poorly managed of 122 professional sports teams;

The Wall Street Journal's front page article rating the agreement between Hamilton County and the Bengals as the worst in professional sports for the community;

The recent arrest of marquee name players like Benson, Jones, et al;

The refusal of franchise quarterback Carson Palmer to play for the Bengals;

The recent publicity on the need to increase taxes on Hamilton County residents due to Bengals stadium costs; and

The Bengals' requests for an additional $8 million expenditure of taxpayer money for a new scoreboard and over $300,000 for a new replay system."

You can see he whole survey after the jump, and PLEASE take the survey here to express your thoughts on how Gold Star's sponsorship of the Bengals hurts their brand image.  This might just be a play by Gold Star to leaverage lower concession fees or a better deal with the Bengals or it could be used as evidence to get the team out of the sponsorship, but this is a big opportunity to show Gold Star how you really feel about the Bengals and try and make your voice heard where it counts - Mike Brown's wallet.

Mike Brown Responds, Points to Mediocrity as Proof of Success, Makes No Admission of Guilt or Promise of a Winning Future

On January 13th we posted the letter that Matthew Grey wrote to the Bengals, returning his remaining Bengals merchandise and ending his allegience to the team until they made significant changes.

Mike Brown didn't take that long to send back a personalized letter where he defends the Bengals with another one of those patented fake stats they make up to try to frame themselves in a good light ("one of 14 teams that has won 2 division titles in the last 6 years") but instead only succeeds in confirming what we have known all along - the team has no plan for success in the future.  It's same old same old with Marvin and crew coming back and no changes.

What's more suprising is that someone actually found Matt's address (we included it in the first post and have deleted it now) and wrote to Matt TWICE to proclaim that because he wasn't American he didn't speak for Bengals fans, and that Matt "had no idea what Bengals faithful want."  That guy is a total dick.

But anyways, check out the letter from MB for yourself.  It just reaffirms what we all know, Mike Brown sounds like a good and humble man, but is comfortable raking in cash and not rocking the ship, and it is not going to change for a very long time.

 

 

Merchandise Sent Back to Bengals Across Atlantic Ocean

Dutifully fultilling Project Mayhem, #10 - Return to Sender, Matthew Gray sends us the below letter and above image of his letter to the Bengals renoucing his alligience to the Bengals until they make wholesale changes, along with the Bengals merchandise he returned.  Matt and his father actually flew to Cincinnati for a game this year, and to London for the NFL game there.  And no more!  Cheers Matt, keep up the fight.

Mr. Mike Brown
President
Cincinnati Bengals
One Paul Brown Stadium
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

 December 29^th 2010

 Dear Mr Brown,

May I wish you and your family a very Happy Holidays and all the best for 2011.

My name is Matthew Gray and I reside on the island of Jersey in the English Channel. My father is a native son of Ohio and as such I have supported the Bengals alongside him since my youth.

In 2010 we travelled to Cincinnati via London, choosing the Buffalo Bills game as we believed it was one we were likely to win, you can understand our disappointment that our primary reason for travelling to this section of the United States ended in such a displeasing manner. When one considers the travel expenses that were involved, the product we travelled to see was nothing short of shambolic. We did however enjoy our trip in spite of this visiting neighbouring Kentucky as well. It was such a shame that our primary reason for travel was in fact the one disappointment of our trip.

We also visited the NFL International Series event in London earlier this year, and no less than 5 people questioned/laughed and jeered at the team colors I was wearing, I was asked by multiple people why I still wore the jersey, and it was the first time in years that I felt that I was tired of standing up for us, that I excepted the truth, we are a terrible football team.

For all his detractors, Terrell Owens summed up how I, and a number of other fans feel about the team; 'I think there's underachieving from the top down," Owens said. "You start with the owner, you start with the coaches. And obviously we as players, we are a product of what the coaches are coaching us throughout the course of the week."' Mr Brown, this team can never be more than a flash in the pan football team unless some serious changes are made. The Bengals organization and the Bengals fans deserve a legacy that they can be proud of, not one that they have to defend despite no results.

Mr.Brown, the fans deserve better than the product that we are receiving. The fans payed for your stadium, they fill it every week, they buy your season tickets and they buy your merchandise. In some cases your fans even fly across the world to cheer on a team that isn't worth their time and money.

I am not after an apology or any form of compensation that you could offer. All I ask for is that you consider the people who fund what you do, and what you think they deserve.

I am hereby terminating any form of financial support to your organization for the time being, I will not be travelling to Cincinnati in 2011 as I fear the near future holds no solution. I will no longer purchase merchandise and am hereby returning my Bengals jersey.

As I said earlier I wish you all the best for next year, but I cannot support a franchise that continues to exploit me, if you can ensure that my investment of time and money into this franchise is something worth continuing, a response to this letter would be met with great interest by my family and I.

Yours Faithfully,

Matthew Kevin Gray

Return to Sender Letter of the Day

 This one comes from Shamil Patel, who actually wrote his letter to Mike Brown before we made this an official Project Mayhem Task.  Shamil's letter gives 10 impossible to dispute facts (and check that out, a citation!) of why he has had enough, and the goes into what it would take to win him back - hiring a General Manager.  The piece of merchandise he sent back to the Bengals is shown to the left (along with a little photoshop fun).

Shamil's letter is exactly what we are looking for - passionate yet well written and with clear demands for what it will take to win you back.  I encourage everyone to read Shamil's letter and then send off one of your own with your Bengals gear.

So Shamil, come on down for your free WDR t-shirt!

Project Mayhem Task #10 - Return to Sender

Last week we published Comrade JM's letter where he ended his alligience with the Bengals until the team made some fundamental changes, and sent the team back his two remaining pieces of Bengals merchandise.  We called it "The Nuclear Option,"  after an arcane legislative procedure in the US Senate where the simple will of the majority can override a filibuster. 

The response we got from that letter was overwhelming and it surprised even us. Fans are sick of tired of losing and want do make their voice and frustration heard.

After another disappointing season, the 16th losing season in 20 years under Mike Brown, fans are fed up.  And this year seems different.  As Jason Buck wrote last week: "The reason 2010 is different than 2002 is that we know now.  Back then, we didn't know whether a head coach could possibly change things around here.  We didn't know whether a head coach could slowly, over time, convince Mike Brown to make the proper philosophical changes to the organization.  Build a front office staff, build a indoor practice facility, hire a general manager who could establish a system for procuring players."

So now we are asking all fellow comrades to take JM's lead and return your merchandise, and loyalty, to the Bengals.  Send a Christmas package to the team outlining why you can no longer support the team until you see change.  Include your Bengals merchandise.  And then send is a picture or video of what you sent back and your letter.  We will pick a few of the best ones and re-post them here, and in exchange send you a FREE WDR shirt, from our friends at DonkeyTs.

Anyone who thinks the team is a great draft away from competing is totally delusional.  Carson and Marvin (and anyone else) are basically powerless to do anything when you have the Brown family making all the decisions.  It is not enough for fans to just not buy tickets. In the midst of a 10 game losing streak and on a blisteringly cold day, 57,000 still showed up yesterday to see the "Battle of Ohio."  We need more Bengals fans to stand up and tell the team they have had enough.   So send the Bengals a letter that describes why you can no longer support the team and include your remaining Bengals merchandise, and then tell us about it. 

To check out Project Mayhem Tasks #1-9, click here.

UPDATE: Bengals address is:

Cincinnati Bengals
One Paul Brown Stadium
Cincinnati, OH 45202

WDR Nominated in Three Catagories for "2010 Best of Cincinnati"

WhoDey Revolution is proud to have been nominated in three categories for "2010 Best of Cincinnati" by CityBeat.  WDR is competing in the "Best Blog," "Best Twitter Feed" (for @MikeyBoyBrown) and "Best Troublemaker." 

While we would love to win all three, @MikeyBoyBrown is no match for Chad Johnson's @OGOchoCinco.  Best blog would be great, but we at WDR strive to be more than a blog.  That's why we are going to put our full force behind trying to win "Best Troublemaker."

WDR is competing in the "Best Troublemaker" category with politicians (Jean Schmidt), radio personalities (Bill Cunningham) and community activists (Chris Smitherman).  But WDR is the only website that has brought the MAYHEM.

So please support the Revolution today by visiting the Citybeat site and picking WhoDey Revolution from the drop down menu under "Best Troublemaker." 

FREE BUD!

P-DOC, a longtime comrade, uses his Sunday column in today's Enquirer to tell the story of Bud Newhouse, the pilot who flew the planes for WDR at Bengals Training Camp.

It is clear that the Bengals did alert the FAA to Bud's presence in Georgetown. The FAA investigation did find that Bud violated a minor regulation that he claims he has not followed in decades. 

Bud is a 72 year old grandfather.  Whether or not the Bengals encouraged the FAA to investigate Bud is up for discussion.  But do you think the Bengals would have called the FAA if the banner said "We love the Bengals!"?

Doc's main argument is that the Bengals wouldn't have to worry about disgruntled fans (i.e. us) flying banners at their practice if they won games. Simple as that.    Invest in a real GM who understands football, hire some scouts and the monetary rewards to the Brown family will be immense. 

But instead, they focus on shutting down dissent. 

The most effective way we as Bengals fans can fight back is to stop supporting the Bengals with our hard earned money.  Continue your boycott.  Force all home games into a blackout.  Then, maybe, the dissent will grow so loud the team will have to change.

Project Mayhem Featured on ESPN.com

ESPN.com's featured story by Elizabeth Merrill on the 2 decades long Bengals futility finally provides some direct, nationwide attention on Project Mayhem Task #9: Plane Banners at Bengals Training Camp.

Check out the whole story here.

For those of you new to WhoDey Revolution, the links to the various Project Mayhem tasks we have accomplished are at right. Or you can read every "Project Mayhem" tagged post here.

To give the new readers a quick overview, yes, we are all Bengals fans.  But we are realistic, rational Bengals fans who understand that the Bengals management structure puts them at a competitive disadvantage to other successful teams in the league.  They have the smallest scouting department in the NFL, with one full time scout.  Check out their staff directory if you don't believe us.  Also notice how many Browns you see. Maybe great for a local mom and pop diner, but it doesn't work for an NFL franchise.

So as fans, we decided to do what we could to try and get fans to understand that until changes are made, the Bengals will keep losing.  We bought billboards around town asking for the team to hire a GM.  We had fans sneak 1,000 urinal cakes into Paul Brown Stadium with the Bengals record under Mike Brown written on them, along with the words "Get Pissed!"  And we flew banners over the Bengals training camp this offseason with the following messages:

1. "I can only see one scout from here!"

2. "$458,000,000 to build PBS = 0 Playoff Wins"

3. "101-187-1: HIRE A GM!"

4. "When is training camp for the front office?"

We are calling for a boycott on fans buying tickets and merchandise - which seems to be working.  The Bengals pre-season games should be blacked out, and all home games except for Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh (where opposing teams fans are buying up the seats) have plenty of seats available.

And we will not stop broadcasting our message until the Bengals make these common sense changes.

Mike Brown - Never Ceasing to Amaze

ESPN.com writer Elizabeth Merrill could not have been given a better “sound bite” from coach Marvin Lewis about our beloved owner and antagonist Mike Brown in her recent article depicting Bengals mediocrity and our continued struggle to promote change in Bengaldom.

The nugget I refer to is in response to Ms. Merrill's questioning of Coach Lewis about Mike Brown’s awareness of Project Mayehm Task # 9 that all you devoted fans and readers helped to pull off. Even in the face of outward and obvious continued criticism MB has but one thing on his mind:

"What plane?" Bengals coach Marvin Lewis says jokingly after the flyby. "I think [Brown] feels like it's a waste of natural resources. I mean, that's all he says about it. He says, 'Well, if they've got that kind of money, they ought to buy some tickets.'"

I mean really Mikey?  Really? (emphasis mine)