Longtime season ticket holders Mike Randall of Massillon and Tony Schafer of Sandusky will meet with Browns owner Randy Lerner Tuesday morning.
Randall and Schafer, aka "Dawg Pound Mike" and "Mobile Dawg," are planning a protest at the Nov. 16 Monday night home game against Baltimore. The pair hope to keep fans from their seats until after kickoff to show their displeasure with the state of the franchise.
Randall and Schafer will likely try to persuade Lerner to address the fans publicly, even though Lerner shuns the cameras. They also may make suggestions on how to improve the fans' experience at Cleveland Browns Stadium and improve fan relations wtih the team.
Randall is in the sports marketing business, Schafer a general contractor.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Please pass this along to Mr. Lerner:
So…I was stupid enough to spend $20 on a ticket I bought from two Sundays ago for the GB game. It was a ticket in Section 343. I was in town from Atlanta and was more excited to sit with my cousin and uncle than I was to actually watch the Browns inevitably lose.
My cousin and uncle had seats in 532…about 5 rows from the top. Shockingly, there were no seats open next to them. I'd guess that about 30% of the seats in the upper level were open, a number I expected to be much higher considering the lack of talent in the front office, coaching staff, and on the roster.
I told my cousin I'd just go sit a little further down in the section. I walked straight down the stairs, and as I was headed down to the lower part of 532, an usher who looked just like Ochocinco, asked me for my stub. Now, I knew my stub wasn't for this section, it was actually a much better seat, in a lower section. I figured the guy wouldn't care, after all…in this particular section, I'd say about 75% of the lower seats were open. He looked at my stub, told me my seat was down lower in the 300s, as if I didn't know this, and that I should just head down there. I didn't take the time to explain to him my situation. I decided to head one section over.
I walked one section over to 531. This time, no one asked to check my ticket stub. I sat down in the middle of the row. When I sat down, not a single person was in my row. Two Packers fans stumbled in and sat down a few seats to my left. A couple Browns fans sat in the row behind me. We talked about the game, the unbelievable lack of talent on the Browns roster, etc. In those two rows, there were a total of 5 people seated, including myself.
Head in hands, I watched the first quarter. No one else had showed up. If there were 100 seats in this particular section…I'd say 75 were empty at the end of Q1.
Midway through the second quarter, in classic Browns form, it was clear that this game was over and the Browns had no chance to win. I started to think about when I'd make my exit, as I had to drive down to Cincy after the game for a pit stop on my way to ATL.
With about 3 minutes left in the second quarter, the usher who should dress as Ochocinco when he's out trick or treating on Saturday, came walking over to me and asked me for my ticket. I thought he was kidding. Here I am sitting by myself, quietly watching the Browns crap all over their fans again, and this guy is asking me for my ticket.
I politely told him I wasn't sure where my stub was at the time. He pulled out his little CB and called for security. I was in absolute shock. The fans behind me were laughing at the situation. I found my stub, gave it to him and he asked me to follow him. The usher with the authority trip then passed me off to a plump, goateed "security guard" who informed me immediately that he was going to "let me off with a warning".
I asked him what the problem was and his reply was "how do you think the owner of that seat feels?" that you're sitting in it. My reply was "he obviously could not care less since the fan hasn't showed up along with the other 20 to 30K that chose to do something better with this beautiful Sunday".
He made some notation on the back of my ticket and told me to stay out of the section and head to my assigned seat.
At this point, I decided to leave the game. In all of my years of attending sporting events, concerts, etc, never have I been treated so unreasonably, so disrespectfully by anyone employed by the team/venue.
I, like most of the tortured souls in this forum, have been a die-hard Browns fan through it all. I started a Browns Backers Bar in San Francisco, CA a few years ago. In spite of the inept ownership, coaching, and absolute lack of talent…I love the team.
I'm not sure I'll ever go to another game at CB stadium. I promise you I won't go to another game until this team is marginally competitive.
A customer service experience like that just confirmed that this is the most poorly managed professional sports organization in business today
Hey, I know you. I told you, stay in your assigned seat. Now I'm going to have to ask you to sit through the Raiders/Browns game as punishment for your crimes. In the upper deck. In December.
You all need to learn, when I say jump, you say how high. Nobody better mess with my authority. And stop calling me Paul Blart. I don't even know what you're talking about.
The heck with these 2 guys. I've been a season ticket holder since 1985. I'm the guy that started the woof-woof cheer, that caused us to be called the dawgpound. The Browns asked meto make sure the batteries ONLY hit the other team. I'm the guy that caught Hanford Dixon, when he named us the DAWGPOUND! These guys weren't even there, in those days. Talk to me, Randy! I'll fix it!
What looks worse: meeting with fans or firing a coach? I don't care that the one dude is in sports marketing – is he the guy trying to get you to sign up for your free team credit card and you get a towel with the logo on it?
The Browns know what the situation is with the fans. Unfortunately the fans haven't realized that just because they have a ticket, they're not guaranteed anything but a seat in the stadium.
Welcome to reality folks… it sucks.
Bryan: your ticket entitles you to the seat you paid for. You didn't pay for that seat that you moved down to.
Unreasonable? Disrespected? Get a life. And a clue. That's life and those are the rules. Grow up.
sean-really now,who cares about blatant grandstanding ?
besides,truth be told and known,'Vince' (last name starts with an "I")started it all,even before big dog.
Not sure what Lerner intends to accomplish by meeting with two fans, but hopefully they can convey the general concensus that Browns fans cannot stand Mangini and he HAS to go. He cannot be entrusted with a draft which could determine the fate of this franchise for the next decade. If he had shown even the first shred of leadership or ability to begin putting together a plan, a product…..but NO, he has regressed this team in every conceivable way. Players don't want to play for him, the media doesn't want to communicate with him, free agents will not want to sign here….just NO, NO, NO. Mangini has got to GO.
Randy, we will forgive you for this impulsive hiring, but please, don't prolong the inevitable until it's too late for your franchise.
look…ive shucked out my season ticket money for years now. we suck. but ill still go. we cant stay this bad forever..my big problem and i know this sounds bad..if i have to pay 7 bucks for a beer, can i at least get a plastic cup?..paper cups are sooooo lame…..how about a dollar dog day?
Kenneth, you're just the kind of mindless tool that enables the Browns to continue putting crap on the field. "We can't stay this bad forever," you say? Really? They've done it for a full decade now, and can you tell me there's light at the end of this tunnel? Seriously, how much money have you wasted, filling the pockets of egomaniacs like Braylon Edwards who couldn't care less about you or winning?
The days of Sipe and Kosar are long gone, my friend. Wake up and smell the stench. If you're paying for season tickets, and several beers @ $7 per…plus food and parking, well, then either this economy ain't as bad as they're sayin', or you, my friend, don't know how to manage or spend money wisely. You're being played for a fool. We all are.
Sorry, forget the mindless tool crack. These Browns are just so maddening, it's frustrating to see anyone wasting their time or money on them. Spend as you like, friend, it's your dough.
Elizabeth.
"Bryan: your ticket entitles you to the seat you paid for. You didn't pay for that seat that you moved down to.
Unreasonable? Disrespected? Get a life. And a clue. That's life and those are the rules. Grow up.
"
How old are you? Have you been to 6th grade yet? Perhaps you could do everyone a favor and enroll in remedial reading comprehension.
Bryan did NOT move down to his seat. That is the entire gist of his missive. He had nice tickets in a lower section, but preferred to sit up in the crappy nosebleed section near the top of the bowl to be near his uncle and cousin.
And he was treated poorly. Treated poorly by a poor excuse for an usher who is employed by a poor excuse for a professional football organization.
What's not to understand?
It's time for that BROWN-OUT Nov. 16! Don't let the media, coaches or team make us feel disloyalty. We demand a competitive team and we're getting worse every game! Fans NEED to sit-out the kick-off to also make a statement to the Brown organization – enough is enough!