Sioux Falls, South Dakota mayoral candidate Jolene Loetscher has added an unusual policy position to her platform. If she is elected, she promised this week, she will declare an official Stugotz Day in honor of Dan Le Batard Show co-host Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, as well as Papi Week, in recognition of Le Batard’s father, Gonzalo.
Loetscher is so committed to the cause that she produced and tweeted a video Thursday featuring Stugotz and Le Batard discussing the hypothetical holiday on their ESPN Radio show, with Long Island native Stugotz saying, “No city means more to me than Sioux Falls.”
https://twitter.com/letsgojosf/status/986952934335369227
https://twitter.com/letsgojosf/status/986955144955916289
As appealing as it may be to imagine a small-city mayoral candidate coming up with this idea on her own, the Stugotz Day concept has actually been around since last April, when a host on the Sioux Falls ESPN affiliate invited Stugotz onto his show and told him if he visited the South Dakotan city he would get a day in his honor, a key to the city and courtside seats a Sioux Falls Skyforce game.
Stugotz was fairly enthusiastic at the time, despite reservations about the bad golf weather, and agreed to travel to Sioux Falls in November.
But to the surprise of no one, Stugotz’s interest in Stugotz Day quickly waned, thanks to some combination of his distaste for flying and his concerns about the weather in South Dakota.
#poll Will Stugotz show up to Stugotz Day in Sioux Falls? -Garemy
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) April 19, 2017
The Stugotz Day idea had apparently gone the way of a thousand other Le Batard Show gimmicks that never came to be, until this week, when the Sioux Falls ESPN affiliate reported that Loetscher was making the holiday a priority for her campaign.
Sioux Falls Mayoral Candidate @joleneloetscher says she is 100% committed to and supports #StuGotzDay in Sioux Falls.
(Disclaimer: She loves Stugotz, but requests that Papi makes the trip also. @LeBatardShow #SheGetsTheShow) @JtESPN991 pic.twitter.com/whjssIkgeS
— ESPN 102.3/AM1000 Sioux Falls Sports Leader (@ESPNSiouxFalls) April 17, 2018
Loetscher seems awfully serious about this, and for that we’ve got to give her credit… even if Stugotz Day is a transparent publicity stunt that’s probably distracting from whatever issues actually face Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Loetscher will face Paul TenHaken in a runoff election on May 1. If she wins and become mayor, we’ll find out whether she’s the type of candidate to follow through on her promises. Then we’ll find out, as if we don’t already know, whether Stugotz is the type of radio host to follow through on his.
