Posted by kRAZY iVAN on January 26, 2011 at 17:29:33:
In Reply to: WBBM Bears Radio & "You're Fired Packer-Backer" posted by Tie One On on January 25, 2011 at 14:20:31:
jONIAK GETS A FREE CAR?!
: Packers-Backers necktie gets car salesman fired
: 12:59 PM, January 25, 2011
: John Stone might be the most famous Green Bay Packers fan in Chicago.
: The Roseland resident was fired Monday from his job as a car salesman at an Oak Lawn Chevrolet dealership for wearing a Packers tie to work, but he�s already been offered a job at another dealership and been interviewed live on a nationwide sports radio show.
: �I didn�t know all this publicity was going to come with this,� Stone said in an interview this morning. �But you know what? It lets me know who has my back.�
: Guy Cesario, the general manager of Chevrolet of Homewood, offered Stone a job this morning while Stone was being interviewed on WGN-Ch. 9.
: �I think it�s ridiculous, and I felt bad for the guy, because he doesn�t deserve not to have a job,� said Cesario, who said he sympathized with Stone because he grew up as a Cubs fan on the South Side. �Good salesmen are so hard to find�. To put somebody�s livelihood in jeopardy because of a tie is just idiotic.�
: Cesario said he and Stone plan to meet today or tomorrow. He said his dealership has already received calls from Wisconsin residents who want to buy a car from Stone.
: Stone also discussed his firing during a live interview this morning on �The Dan Patrick Show,� a nationally syndicated sports talk program.
: Stone said he wore the tie at Webb Chevrolet on Monday � one day after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC championship game at Soldier Field � because he�s been a Packers fan since Ahman Green became a star running back for the Packers in 2000. He also said he wore the tie in honor of his 91-year-old grandmother, a Packers fan who died this month.
: Stone said that when he showed up at work, general manager Jerry Roberts called him over to his office and told him he would be fired if he didn�t take off his tie. Stone said he thought Roberts was joking and went back to work.
: An hour later, Stone said, Roberts came to the showroom floor and again demanded he take off the tie. When he didn�t, he was fired, Stone said.
: Roberts said the tie was �salting the wounds� of Bears fans including himself and that it �makes it harder to sell cars in what�s already a competitive sales environment.�
: �We spend $20,000 a month on advertising with the Bears on WBBM during the season, and we have Bears players including Corey Wootten driving loaner vehicles, and here was a salesman openly undoing that work.�
: The deals with the Bears include Webb sponsoring the �Most Valuable Bear� award handed out after every game and a loaner vehicle for announcer Jeff Joniak, Roberts said.
: �I didn�t know you could get fired for wearing a tie,� Stone said. �I�m supposed to dress up. I�m a car salesman.�
: Asked by a WGN-Ch. 9 reporter if he�d fired Stone for wearing a Packer�s tie, Webb Chevrolet general manager Jerry Roberts said, �Correct.�
: Roberts said the dealership had previously done promotions involving the Chicago Bears. �I don�t feel that it was appropriate for him to go directly in contrast with an advertising campaign that we spent a lot of money on,� Roberts told WGN reporter Judie Garcia.
: But Stone said Roberts� reasons for firing him were never made clear to him, nor did he get a chance to explain the tie�s emotional significance. Roberts told WGN-Ch. 9 that he didn�t know that Stone�s grandmother was a Packers fan.
: Stone, who has two children, said this morning he�s simply trying to catch his breath.
: �I�m just going to leave my options open,� he said. �I�ve got a long week ahead of me, I think. I�m going to get my mind clear and figure out what to do now.�