Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves Stocks for Tots in Mooresville Tuesday night before every fan wanting his autograph is satisfied.
Earnhardt Jr. did come to the event, which raises money for the Stop Child Abuse Now network and other charities that help abused children. He signed for just over 200 fans in about an hour and a quarter before leaving for another commitment.
The problem is that about 350 wristbands were distributed for Earnhardt Jr.’s room. So not everybody who thought they’d be getting to meet Earnhardt Jr. actually did.
Some of them who didn’t told me I should write about how the sport’s most popular driver disappointed a lot of people. I thought the real point was that he came in the first place. Not every driver did.
I understand the frustrations. But Stocks for Tots organizers said clearly in pre-event publicity that not all drivers were committed to staying for the full scheduled two hours.
Certainly, a better job could have been done of matching the number of wristbands to the time alloted to sign. It’s bad if around 150 people went home feeling misled.
This is why some athletes don’t sign autographs at all. Earnhardt Jr. could have been there until 2 a.m. and people would have still been in line. Athletes know if they sign for 2,000 people and then leave, the 2,001st person will believe that he’s the biggest jerk in the world. So they don’t sign at all, and that’s wrong.
Again, it’s a bad deal that some people left unhappy. Stocks for Tots is a great event and it would be terrible if their disappointment leads to people not attending and supporting its great causes. Things could have been handled better.
But Earnhardt Jr. was there and that means he did more than he had to do.
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