Tuesday, May 03, 2005

All-Star Write In SS Neifi Perez

I've been driving the Nifty Neifi Bandwagon from the start unlike other CBA soldiers so this campaign came out of the blue, Bleed Cubbie Blue & The Cub Reporter that is. I am including Rob Glowacki’s post in its entirety. Let's do it, Cub fans. Make Neifi an All-Star!

nifty neifi

A Call To Arms: All-Star Neifi
by Rob Glowacki

“There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds to show you what’s possible.”
— Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) actually quoting Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) in “Field of Dreams”

I think we as Cubs fans are in the midst of such an extraordinary moment of time. A moment none of us expected, a moment in which we can embrace and unite to do something so extraordinary that our children’s children’s children will one day speak of us glowingly.

I am, of course, talking about writing-in Neifi Perez as shortstop on the National League All-Star team.

The Cub Reporter, in partnership with Bleed Cubbie Blue, would like every single Cub fan out there to write-in Neifi Perez as the starting shortstop of the National League. Apathy is not an option here folks. This is a call to arms, a call to all Cubs fans to rise and be heard, to flex our collective muscle and rock the baseball world.

Some of you may think that this is one of the greatest reversals of direction since Moises Alou was last picked off of second base, as we here at TCR have been (how to put this delicately), a bit critical of Neifi at times. Well to that we say a) lighten up and b) sponsorship of the "Write-in Neifi" campaign in no way shields Neifi Perez from future scorn. We all need a bit of levity in our lives and this is one such opportunity.

Some simple guidelines to follow when entering your ballot:

1) If you want to save time, skip over the AL Ballot.
2) Do not choose a SS by accident from the NL list, leave it blank. Sorry, Nomar!
3) Voting for other Cubbies is strongly encouraged.
4) In the write-in section of the online ballot, ‘Neifi’ for First Name, ‘Perez’ for Last Name, ‘Chicago Cubs’ from the Select Club drop-down list, SS from the Select Position drop-down list. Do not enter Neifi at second and shortstop as you risk getting your ballot rejected.
5) The online ballot auto-fills your picks based on your last picks, which should make it go by real fast. I entered 25 votes in about 10-15 minutes.
6) Do it from work, home, friends computers, public libraries, etc. Spread the word, carry signs into Wrigley (and if you do, get a picture and we’ll put it up on the site), force family members, co-workers, whatever it takes.

There you have it, go vote and once you do, drop a note in the comments or send an email as I’ll keep a counter on the site somewhere. So far I voted 49 times (screwed up once), plus what appeared to be another 100 votes from others when I mentioned this on Friday, added to whatever Al got over at Bleed Cubbie Blue. There are at least 2,000 visitors here a day which would get us to 50,000 votes right there. And yes we expect everyone one of you to vote. Then we expect you all to vote again when you go to the ballpark and tell everyone within hearing distance to do the same. Then do it again from either home or work depending on where you first cast your ballot and then continue to spread the word until there’s no one willing to talk to you anymore. And for those who think it’s impossible and a waste of time, Steve Garvey and Rico Carty were both write-in starters in the 70's and I think with the advent of the Internet, a write-in campaign is even more feasible nowadays.

To (sort of) quote Arlo Guthrie:

"You know, if one person, just one person goes to mlb.com and writes in Neifi Perez for shortstop, they may think he's really sick...if three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people clickin' in, voting for Neifi, and clickin' out? They may think it's an organization. And can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day clickin' in, voting for Neifi, and clickin' out? Friends they may thinks it's a movement. And that's what it is, the Neifi Perez All-Star Massacree Movement, and all you got to do to join head on over to mlb.com."

It takes a village to get a shortstop elected. Just do it. For the children.

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