Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Fire MacT Rally Flops.




"What Rally?" That was the headline on the front page of my edition of the Edmonton Sun. Here is the full story. CLICK HERE


It appears to me like the rally flopped. The organizer Adam Risling, 19, tried to get people to come and show support for MacT to be fired. Good in theory. The grand total of people that actually showed up was seven. The reporters (Sun, Journal, TSN, Sportsnet and HNIC) out numbered the protesters. How embarrassing. I'm sure that was not the amount of people they had expected as the paper says that they had almost 10,000 people signed up to come down.
.
But a lot of people that voice their opinions are not really Oiler fans. I see it at work everyday. The Oilers suck in the 3rd, they should only play in the 1st and 2nd. What? They may not even be NHL fans at all. I mean really. Look at that picture on the front page (if you can). One guy has a jersey on. That's it. No one is wearing anything with the Oilers name or logo. No shirts, no hats, no anything. And that in itself is sad. I'm not saying that they are not fans, but wear something. I thought that the fire MacT band wagon was bigger and better than that.

I personally think that doing something like that is a waste of time. Hell, me writing about it is a waste of time. Katz doesn't care what seven people think. He probably wouldn't care what 10,000 regular people think either. (unless they are season ticket holders that is.)

Have no fear Oiler fans. I'm sure that MacT will step down anyways. Relax and enjoy the last three games. Isn't that why we even give a crap about this team in the first place? For the joy of watching? It is for me.

7 comments:

  1. You had made reference to the fact that I was going to attend this rally in an earlier piece. Now Smokin Ray you and I have been boys since we spent 8 months together in the Reman Centre. So I won't ever criticize you as per the Celly Code.

    I do think however that it's good that these guys planned a rally and I wanted to lend my support - as if that means anything in this work-a-day world. I feel terrible for those dudes having so few people show up - being embarrassed in front of a bunch of MSM reporters and being laughed at sucks.

    Everyone has the right to express themselves in any way they see fit. These guys envoked the OilersNation on their facebook page and I wanted to lend my support in any way. If someone had a save MacT rally and called themselves "citizens of the OilersNation" I would also lend my support to that as well.

    The key is to facilitate debate and conversation.

    Is it hypocritical to say you are attending a rally on Facebook and then not show up? Maybe a bit. To be honest I just laughed and hit accept when I got the invitation and didn't give it much thought. Seeing the poor turn out to the event though these guys put in all that hard work I feel a bit vulnerable as I am sure some of the other 9,995 people who said they too would attend does too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @ Wanye: I understand the cause that these people are fighting for. I get it. I understand it. In a small way I want to see it happen as well. But is staging a rally to be heard a good idea right now? I just find it confusing that they want to stage it then with 4 games left is crazy. Why not at the all star break? At this point of the season, the Oilers organization has heard the fans/critics. They may not understand it(Oiler Vision), but they heard it. Don't worry, there will be a time for a change. Soon.

    As far as your connection with this event, I saw your name on the attendee list and therefore did not want to make it sound like I was directing this at you. I wasn't. (Hence why I said "no offense".) I respect your work and your website and from a business side of things I would be doing the same as you. The exact same thing. It only makes sense to plug/promote your website. In fact, I kind of expected a FMNF sign/shirt on the front page of the paper. After all, the FMNF was a creation of yours and it was a damn good idea.

    In fact that was my biggest beef with seeing the paper today. Why no swag? Where's the Oilers logo? I really felt bad for those guys. I still do. Just be patient. It will all work out in your favor.

    This is what I wrote on the Beers and Jeers #55 that mentioned Wanye Gretz:
    " On a side note: Wanye Gretz of OilersNation fame is one of those people that are attending (no offense to him). Please tell me it's for research?" I should have wrote "people that maybe attending" I apologize for the misrepresentation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's the same people, just a different bandwagon. These are the same idiots that randomly appeared on Whyte Ave without any idea who actually played on the team. All they did was hop off the Oilers bandwagon onto the Oilers suck bandwagon - more convenient for some "fans" than others.

    I don't think I even feel bad for them. They have a right to express their cause. It's like they say, I don't have to agree with you but I'd defend to the death your right to express your idea.

    I think if they really wanted to do something about it they could have mailed Katz or the Edmonton Journal and what not. This is not a revolution.

    Even if 50 000 people showed up it's not like they could march on Kingsway Avenue and forcibly wrest the power from the hands of Katz and Lowe. Rally schmally. If they were gonna fire MacT it would've happened already.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I gotta agree with Ray. The rally was a stupid idea and a waste of time. Why wait till the end of the year when you had a perfectly good chance to do it all year?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Smokin Ray. I don't think that it was a bad idea to have a rally. Just bad timming.

    Great reads tho. I like controversy and discussion. FLAMES SUCK!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ray: I certainly think that there would be better times to have a rally than with 4 games left. But I also think had a hundred people shown up these guys would have had the thrill of a lifetime.

    I certainly don't think it would have had any effect but a good rally always brings out the best in people. Particularly in the springtime when a young man's fancy turns to rallying.

    ReplyDelete

Keep it nice, keep it civil. GOILERS!


Two Guys & Hockey Talk NHL News (CLICK PIC FOR LINK)

The Faithful Followers

Oilers Jambalaya is in no way, shape or form associated with the Edmonton Oilers or the Bakersfield Condors. This is a fans blog for fans. We happen to love those teams, so we write about them.