Latest on proposed Brown Out

By Don Delco
NoLogoNeeded.com Staff Writer

Anyone who had a chance to watch at least the start of yesterday's Monday Night Football game noticed Denver's Mile High Stadium was rocking before kickoff against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The next ESPN telecast of Monday Night Football will feature the Baltimore Ravens at the Cleveland Browns. We are now less than one week away from Dawg Pound Mike’s proposed “Brown Out.” He has received national attention for wanting Browns fans to not be in their seats at kickoff.

Dawg Pound Mike, or Mike Randall, has received a lot of press out of this. Good for him. 

A loyal reader of NoLogoNeeded.com, Julie Thompson, sent us an e-mail yesterday regarding Mr. Randall.

“(Dawg Pound Mike) suggested fans stay out of their seats until after opening kickoff, got exactly what he wanted no matter how next Monday plays out. Regardless of whether or not people actually stay away, he got the attention of the fans, the national media and most importantly, Randy Lerner. Clearly Lerner was very concerned about their plan as he gave them a 15 minute interview to "talk."

Regardless of what happens next Monday night, Dawg Pound Mike has already gotten his point across.”

Randall claimed on his Web site he has received thousands of e-mails telling him they are going to participate in the Brown Out.

Anthony Fossaceca of Real Fans Don't Miss Kickoff has led the charge in making sure fans arrive to Monday’s game on time.

"Thanks to some chatter on local sports talk and the one line of coverage in the Plain Dealer, our movement is growing and we’re starting to gain some ground on the fans who are planning to boycott the Browns in front of a national television audience," Fossaceca wrote on his site. "Your reaction has been overwhelming and it’s getting stronger every day. We’ve now jumped up to 400 friends on Facebook."

The Orange and Brown Report’s Barry McBride chimed in. He shared some of the e-mails he’s received against Randall’s proposal.

"I spent this weekend answering between 150-200 emails from fans who took the time to write in during the period that the story was featured on the OBR home page," McBride wrote. "Of that number, just a handful were in favor of the 'Brown Out,' and most of those seemed to focus on demands that don’t seem to be part of the somewhat nebulous agenda of protest organizers, such as demanding Randy Lerner sell the team.

"The message from these emails - which represent only a tiny fraction of what we’ve received or seen discussed on the OBR’s message boards - is that protest organizers have far to go before they can realistically claim that the majority of Browns fans support their approach. Polls, emails, and message board threads on the OBR all indicate that the majority of visitors to this site are opposed to the 'Brown Out.'"

Cleveland Frowns debated Randall on the radio last week and today Frowns addresses questions that have popped up after that appearance and his site's original post against the Brown Out.

At No Logo Needed, we truly hope Browns fans ignore Dawg Pound Mike's request and show up on time, be loud and be proud of the Cleveland Browns. For one night, on the national stage, show the pride Browns fans have for this team, the pride that kept the colors and history in town in 1995.

Whatever personal gains Dawg Pound Mike got from his 15 minutes, good for him, but it's time to return to ignoring him.