Clipper Fan Darrell, not to be confused with the Hawks, Thunder, Kings, Celtics, and Trailblazers fans named Darrell, is planning to sleep outside the Staples Center starting October 1st in protest of the NBA lockout. His hope is that by sleeping outside for a while, the Staples Center will eventually re-open their doors and allow him to start paying the majority of what he makes on a weekly basis to come back inside and watch Blake Griffin dunk a few more thousand times this season.
He offered the proverbial “who’s with me” rallying cry a couple weeks back; however, there have since been no confirmed reports of anybody that actually is, yet. This isn’t slowing Darrell’s cause at all though, and his grassroots campaign to sleep out in the grass actually even started to gain some steam this week. By steam I mean Larry Brown Sports showed Darrell some love the other day when he offered the following.
This from LBS earlier this week:
“Clipper Darrell first mentioned the sleepover protest on his twitter account August 16th. “I WANT BASKETBALL BACK!! The LA Clippers finally get a superstar & now it’s an NBA lockout. I WILL SLEEP @STAPLES starting OCT.1 ..are u in?” Clipper Darrell wrote. He’s been running a countdown to the sleepover, mentioning it every few days. He’s even trying to recruit other people to join him. “All NBA fans arena & restaurant employees camera people & anybody else this affects on Oct 1 protest lockout sleep over Staples Center.”
Darrell says he won’t leave Staples Center until the lockout ends but I don’t buy it. What he doesn’t realize is that this is going to go on through at least the end of the year. No way he goes Ghandi on everyone and remains at Staples for months — it’s just not going to happen.”
Okay maybe LBS didn’t really show him some love on it, but Darrell should appreciate the fact that they spread word on his efforts at least. That’s how grassroots campaigns work after-all, somebody tells somebody, who tells somebody else, and next thing you know NBA fans all over the country are impersonating homeless people in thirty of the largest metro areas in the US. I suppose that could be one way to bring labor talks to a screeching halt, although there probably are others worth also exploring in the meantime.
Now to be honest, I would thouroughly enjoy checking in with the “Darrell is actually sleeping outside again” story on a bi-weekly basis throughout the NBA lockout at least if he really does do it. I would certainly find doing so mildly entertaining, and if he ended up staying out there for three months or so he could probably get himself an Almanac mention as a footnote in the Lockout chapter for the rest of eternity – or however much longer they keep making Almanacs. I’m with LBS though in that I also think “it’s just not going to happen” – unfortunately.
You hear that Clipper Fan Darrell? That’s two more people now baiting you? Two people who don’t think your sleeping bag can cash these checks you’re twitter account is writing. Consider it a challenge, sir.
And while you’re considering that, Darrell, if you in fact are the savvy business man your custom made Clippers suits would suggest, why don’t you go ahead and get an outdoor camping supply store to sponsor your sleep-out? They can put their names all over the tents, get like twenty of the biggest ones they offer, have them throw in some canteens, bonfire equipment, and those bowls you can heat up to eat soup out of, and then you might be able to get some fellow Clippers fans to come join you. I know those of us in cold cities like Cleveland stop camping when summer ends, but in LA anything is possible I suppose.
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Photo: SBNation
