Dirt dog continues to act like the Red Sox kidnapped his only son with this ID card thing. He's now saying to give $ to charity instead of accepting this never-actually-offered offer. (How many dirt dogs hats and T-shirts has he sold by now? And how much of that cash went to charity? Tell me if some did, because I really don't know.) Remember the person who wrote the quote that dirt dog used to show that since one fan doesn't like the idea, ALL fans must not like it? ("I'll never pay $5 to prove I'm a Red Sox fan") And remember how I pointed out that the first reply on SoSH to that was "I will, since I spend more than enough money on Red Sox gear to want it for the discounts."? Well, the first guy replied to that with:

"Yeah, I hear you. I've spent my fair share on the Red Sox as well. At first, it bothered me because I felt like people who had the card would think they were better fans just because they spent $5. But, the more I think about it, I don't really care what other fans think. I know where I'm at when it comes to the Sox. So if people want to pay $5 as a "short-cut" to fandom (and I'm not saying that's everyone, but some will definitely do this), then so be it. Of course, anyone could just buy a shirt and it could be the same "short-cut," so I guess I don't really have a point. Awesome. Uhhh... GO SOX!"

So I guess that person turned out to be a false martyr for the dirt dog "cause." It's great how he says he doesn't care what others think, and correctly points out that buying one of these cards is no different than buying a shirt, which also tells everyone you're a Red Sox fan. Only the shirt costs four times MORE than the card.

So why doesn't dirt dog tell everyone who buys a Red Sox T-shirt or hat to give THAT money to the Jimmy Fund? Or stand guard at souvenir stores and not let anyone who he doesn't consider a real fan walk out with Red Sox merchandise, if that's what he's worried about?

This card, which, by the way, none of us know the exact details about, is just another T-shirt. Only you carry it in your wallet, the Red Sox gather info from it(believe me, they're not going to harm you or your family in any way, or monitor your movements, or put a chip on your brain), and you get a discount on your next T-shirt.

Seriously, Red Sox T-shirts are worse than this card, if you want to look at it from a "Who's a real fan?" perspective. Because you can be a fake, front-running fan, and use a T-shirt to fool people into thinking you're a real fan a lot easier than you can a card, which you'd have to go around waving in people's faces.

I hate group mentality. I think most fans probably heard about this from dirtdogs, and so the first thing you hear about the idea is how stupid it is, so of course a lot of people's opinion is going to be skewed by that. I'm just glad the guy who DD used as an example actually ended up thinking more about it, and changing his opinion to the MINORITY side.

This reminds me of this moment in elementary school. The teacher asked a yes/no question. The correct answer was "yes." He went around the room, asking each student for their answer. So the first kid, who wasn't very smart, and who I felt bad for because he was mildly retarded, said "no." The second kid, a popular kid answering with much more confidence, said "yes." The third kid sided with the popular kid: "Yes." As did the fourth. I don't need to tell you that after everyone had answered, there was still just one "no" in the "no" column. So the fourteenth kid ended up getting the right answer, just for being a conformist, while that first kid had to take a stab at the answer, with no one else's opinion to fall back on. (It would've been sweet if the retarded kid had been the only one who got the right answer.

And a few years ago, when my friend Brian and I had a public access show, we were going around asking people, "Who would win in a fight, Glenn Danzig or Henry Rollins?" When we got to a group of children, who were probably the same age as I was in the previous story, the first said Danzig, and the second said Rollins. Since no one knew who these people are, the next person just sided with the last: "Rollins." "Rollins." "Rollins." "Rollins." "Rollins."

I guess I didn't really need to explain group mentality to all you adult people. But I'm just sayin', once one opinion starts gathering steam, it's hard to stop.

So if and when the Sox do come out with these cards, try to get the official story, and make up your mind based on the facts, and not someone else's opinion. If you want the card, get it. If you don't want it, don't get it. But don't tell people they're stupid if their choice differs from yours. Look, I'm usually the king of complaining about stuff that probably doesn't matter. And I'm not to worried about this thing. So, take that for what it is or isn't worth. I know, about 5 bucks, right?

Back to reality, the answer to the last Quiz was Police Academy 3. No one guessed, so no one wins the two-acre plot in Palm Coast, Florida. Reid Nichols over in the Quiz department has done some evaluating of the Quizzing process, and found that lack of interest in the Quizzes is due to lack of relevant content. He suggests more questions with a Red Sox theme.

Well, as you can see, I've overriden that bastard. Next Quiz question:

What was the Skipper's actual name on Gilligan's Island? (The character's name, not the actor's name.)