PITTSBURGH (93.7 the Fan) Eric Church is a very popular country music artist.
Eric Church is a gigantic North Carolina Tar Heels basketball fan.
Eric Church is also haughty, patronizing and thoroughly out of touch with the common man -- or at least his actions come off that way.
By now, you most likely know the story. Or at least the important parts. The 44-year-old North Carolina native who can really belt it (I actually like his stuff) is leaving a huge crowd in San Antonio high and dry this weekend because he wants to go watch the Final Four in New Orleans.
Yep.
That’s the whole story.
Earlier this week Church sent an email to his fans that Saturday’s concert --- which had sold the vast majority of the 18,000 seats in the venue --- won’t go on as scheduled as he will instead be in the crowd to take in the national semifinal between his beloved Tar Heels and Duke, in what very well could be Coach K’s final game.
The game is historic, no doubt.
The game is once-in-a-lifetime, no doubt.
Eric Church is a man who lacks integrity and honor, no doubt.
No makeup date was announced and even as Church issued full refunds to the person who made the original form of payment, those who bought their tickets from a second (or third) party might be totally screwed.
On top of all that, some surely built vacations around going to the show and had planned on traveling to San Antonio from places far and wide.
Good luck getting more vacation time back from your employer.
Good luck getting that prepaid hotel reservation recouped.
Most of all, if you planned to fly, good luck sitting on hold for like 217 minutes before finally talking to a human and then having the airlines tell you they aren’t giving you a dime back.
What a fricking mess.
What an insensitive and thoughtless fellow this Church is to do something like this --- and just four days before the show was supposed to go on.
All in the name of going and watching a basketball contest involving a school the Appalachian State graduate didn’t even attend.
Look, I get it. No one is making Eric Church go to San Antonio and sing the masses his songs. He has a right to do whatever he wants to do. That’s totally understood. I’m not trying to put the guy in jail or send him to the gallows.
But he should feel an obligation to do what’s right.
And what is right isn’t ducking out on the people who helped make you a superstar in Nashville and beyond.
In all of this, I think about someone --- and that’s the person Eric Church should have thought of before deciding to head to that basketball game.
Forget the high-roller, front-row dweller or person living the suite life up in the luxury box. They will most likely not be impacted much.
But what about the guy who took off a day of work and bought the tickets for he and his wife from the secondary market. Oh, and by the way, the guy lives in Reno or Rancho Cucamonga or Renton.
And now he’s out the cash.
And the babysitter he had lined up is also out the cash they had counted on as they were going to keep an eye on the kids all weekend.
Then there are also the hourly wage arena workers who had that day circled where they planned on working and making a buck or two; and now it is too late to hustle up and pick up a Saturday shift at another job.
Those people are out.
Eric Church acted on a whim and had no problem failing to understand that so many in a different financial situation than him will be impacted by it. Many who even helped him get to the financial situation he’s in where he can afford those fancy Final Four seats.
What an inconsiderate, selfish egoist.
No one should spend another dime on this guy.