No Thanks, I'm Already a Member
This ruse on the Nation has also hit the newspapers. Naturally they don't mention they are "thanking you" by making you pay $10 a year for the privilege of being "counted."
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(MLB ad in today's Boston Herald) |
Make a False Impression
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(MLB.com Photo) |
The Red Sox are now selling World Series rings to player wannabees. You will no longer be able to tell players from fans and the value of players' WS rings just dropped 90%. If you are a man who wears rings, and still wear your high school keepsake, this latest effort to drive MLB revenue is for you.
Update: Yankee Fans Are Joining Red Sox Nation "By the Thousands"
Boston Dirt Dogs Exclusive: Apparently there has been such an exodus from Yankee Country after the 2004 ALCS, that MLB has now set up a special online form for Yankee fans who would like to convert and become "official" members of RSN as well. If you are a Yankee fan and would like to convert immediately, please register for your official card, ID number, and forehead tattoo here.
My Grandfather Just Turned Over in His Grave
Shame on the Boston Red Sox
You're Not My Daddy!
"I am a Red Sox fan. I will not be numbered
like a slave to Selig." -- Doug, The Soxaholix
"Red Sox fans who are basking in the glory of the World Series championship now have the chance to be Founding Members (of Red Sox Nation) by registering for official Red Sox Nation membership (for $9.95... per year)."
How dare MLB grab onto the nickname for Red Sox fans coined a long, long time ago (by Dan Shaughnessy) and charge you $10 a year for the privilege. This is a cheap San Diego Padres marketing stunt with a Red Sox logo slapped on it. Major League Baseball does not own Red Sox Nation. It's not theirs to sell. Period. Call it an MLB discount card (like the free loyalty marketing card you have for CVS or Stop & Shop) and sell it if you need to, but leave Red Sox Nation out of it.
If you are reading this now, if you ever went to a Red Sox game with your dad, bought a Sox t-shirt, subscribe to NESN, listened to a game on the radio with your grandfather, etc., you are already a proud, "official" member of "Red Sox Nation."
But MLB tells you: "Years from now, you still might be telling future generations of Red Sox diehards how you saw the team win the last eight games of the 2004 Major League Baseball season and then became one of the first to make it official with Nation membership... the front of the card features your own RSN citizenship ID number." I cannot wait to tell my father, who was bringing neighborhood kids to Fenway since 1972, who doesn't have a computer, that he has never been an official member of Red Sox Nation because he hasn't coughed up $10 to get his "ID number."
Remember how we got this godawful idea to sell the name of the proud fanbase put on hold a month ago? You thought they might scrap it due to the embarrassment? How they told you it was to determine the (cough) "size of the fan base outside New England?" "The citizenship cards are a way of gauging how many fans there are beyond the Sox hotbed of New England, team spokesman Charles Steinberg said." Well now they've come back a month later after many brainstorming sessions, and the result is they jacked the price of membership from $5 to $10 a year, and threw in a few more perks of membership. And once all the sales are tallied, that will be the official count of Red Sox Nation. If you don't buy a card and get your ID number, well, I guess you are a phony fan on the outside looking in, no matter how long your family has given their heart, soul, and wallet to this team.
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