Bandwagon Fans

[e_wheazhy_]

I hate the concept of bandwagon fans and the hate they get.

If you're a fan of the sport then you should be seeking out the best the sport has to offer. Who cares what city or who the employer is, I want to see the best football possible so when the Rams were showcasing the best football I was a fan of theirs, when the Colts were I was a fan of theirs, the hell do I care about allegiance to some city I don't live in or have any ties to, I just want good sports.

Bandwagon is the silliest concept and makes little to no sense to hate on. I'm so sorry to the "hardcore" fan that I want to cheer on once in a generation players like Lebron, Crosby, Manning and Cabrera. Let me just ignore them and hate on them until hopefully, maybe (but probably not) one of them ends up on the team owned by a billionaire who wouldn't know me from the other nameless millions but who just happens to have his tax-funded stadium in the city I live in.

See to me that's being a fan of the game. I have no problem with someone watching cavs games now because they enjoy basketball and want to enjoy the best of the sport.

It's another thing altogether to root for the cavs or heat (as many did) as hard as some did in hopes they'd win a title just because lebron was there

[stooley]

Who cares what type of fan you are? No one type is better than the others. If you do what makes you happy then good for you.

[e_wheazhy_]

Who cares what type of fan you are? No one type is better than the others. If you do what makes you happy then good for you.

Meh, that's a matter of opinion (but in the grand scheme of things yeah, you're right). I think it's much more gratifying when your team finally wins and you know you've been through the ups and downs together.

Also I'm personally very against the idea of groupthink and "bandwagoning" so to speak is that very concept personified.

[Letter N]

Also I'm personally very against the idea of groupthink and "bandwagoning" so to speak is that very concept personified.

No it's not. Bandwagoning is seeking out the greatest entertainment.

Do you get mad at people for picking up Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones after season 1? Or getting pumped for the next Tarentino movie even though they just got into him? Sure it's nice when you've been through the ups and downs but it's also nice to just be part of the up, and sports are entertainment and in entertainment you want the highs, not the lows.

Also part of the greatness of your own city winning are the bandwagon fans, all those people who weren't there for the losing seasons but are now high fiving you on the street and showing off their jerseys after the big wins. "Jurassic Park" during the playoffs was amazing and I guarantee you less than half those people ever watched Mike James pull up for a 3 on a break.

[e_wheazhy_]

Also part of the greatness of your own city winning are the bandwagon fans, all those people who weren't there for the losing seasons but are now high fiving you on the street and showing off their jerseys after the big wins. "Jurassic Park" during the playoffs was amazing and I guarantee you less than half those people ever watched Mike James pull up for a 3 on a break.

I've watched enough of those for all of us

[tonious35]

You should stop the boycotting and start the "bandwagonning" since the Jays are making some noise this year. Haha...

This Jays team this year blew a 4 game series with Houston this weekend to keep up with Baltimore, only a finger is left on the bandwagon now. Infuriating Jays team!!!!

[ezz_bee]

The fan boycott is an interesting case, especially in the NBA.

1) Big markets are immune to a boycott from fans because they sell a ton of corporate packages.

2) Small market teams, the Bucks in particular, and the Pacers I think as well, have always wanted to put out competitive teams because if they felt like if they didn't people wouldn't come. The result was that both teams looked like "treadmill teams". Pacers were able to break through that for about 1.75 seasons, and now look a treadmill team again (although it's possible that it could change). Milwaukee despite, trying to be in playoff contention has fallen off the map that last couple of years. What's interesting, is that a group of "hardcore" Bucks fans, successfully raised $5000 USD to put the following billboard up in Milwaukee...


In this instance, the hardcore fans were advocating that the team be worse in order to be better in the long term.


I am a legit fan, heck I think I'm approaching my 5 year anniversary of posting on this site, but I would have been 100% happy if the Lowry to the Knicks trade had gone through. If Lowry had walked this offseason, I would have been pissed that the trade didn't go through. Since we resigned Lowry and are a lock for the playoffs this year I'm happy with the team as is (although, I'm still not sure how we break through to the conference finals or the NBA finals, but I'll leave that to Ujiri).

"hardcore" fans are a tiny fraction of the total market, so from a business perspective it makes a lot more sense to cater to the casual fan than the hardcore one.

Getting upset about how other people cheer for/consume a sport we like is a waste of energy. The league wouldn't exist without them.

Also, most of the annoying things they say, they say on purpose to those they know who are big fans of a different team. For instance, when Lebron went to Miami, my sister--whose never watched an entire basketball game in her life-- said to me, "Dude, your Raptors are in trouble. I'm cheering for the Miami Flames, because they got Lenard James, and he's like the best basketball player in the world, right?" Since she's my sister, it was more funny than annoying.

[Fully]

What are you expecting to accomplish by boycotting a bad team though? I know it's hard to believe given the results some times but pretty much all of these teams are already trying everything possible to be successful.

Every now and again you'll get the egregious cases like Sarver of the Suns selling off draft pick after draft pick during the 2000's to save coin (while he had a really good team at the time and was presumably making a lot of money) or a clown like Sterling who undermined his own team for decades with his behaviour, but for the most part all these guys are already trying their best to win.

It's not like being good is as simple as snapping your fingers and deciding that you're going to do it now. There always has to be losers; wins and success are finite in sports. You could have 30 teams doing everything they possibly can to win an NBA title and there's still going to be a bunch of them that finish with terrible records. Boycotting these teams would just takes away another resource from them while they need all the help they can get fighting an uphill battle.

[basstreblevol]

For instance, when Lebron went to Miami, my sister--whose never watched an entire basketball game in her life-- said to me, "Dude, your Raptors are in trouble. I'm cheering for the Miami Flames, because they got Lenard James, and he's like the best basketball player in the world, right?" Since she's my sister, it was more funny than annoying.

I've heard a few of those around the water cooler before but Lenard James to the Miami Flames has to be the best one!!

[psrs1]

http://nextimpulsesports.com/2014/08...ct-like-miami/

Pretty interesting article on Miami heat (and other "bandwagon" fans.

I agree that fans should totally boycott (not attend) games if their team sucks. That's the only way I see as fans that we can make ownership listen to us and finally spend money. Take a team like the leafs. They fail to make the playoffs year after year and still the stupid fans pay tons of money to get disappointed. But ownership (at least old ownership) takes for granted that the fans are emotionally invested in their teams and continue to see profits soar. They know they don't need to change the status quo, the idiots (us) will keep tuning in.

I believe we as fans deserve better. Thoughts?

One problem for SSH is PSLs. If give up seats need to pay again PSL fee and likely get worse seats than you had previously.

[psrs1]

I've been boycotting Blue Jays games for 20+ years now.

They are fading yet again this year.

[chch166]

I'm fine with Bandwagoners as long as they don't claim they've been fans for a long time. Like before they were alot of heat bandwagoners that denied they started watching when the Big Three came

[S.R.]

Casual fans of a sport are more interested in watching a local team win than lose. So what.

Also, for the number of times boycotting is proposed as a course of action vs. the number of times it actually becomes a course of action must be about 7 billion to one. You generally lose fans if a crappy team is mismanaged for too long, but that's the only way. Do enough of that in the current era, and you're more likely to lose your team than to "force" ownership to do anything constructive. What's the precedent for that?

[Employee]

I had no problem with the bandwagon jumpers last year. Especially for the casual basketball fan, you can't expect them to sit through the shit of the last few years and get excited about it.

I do have a problem with grown ass men claiming to be Heat fans (last year) like they always followed the team or something and don't even live in the states, never mind Miami. The people that just wanna cheer for the winning team are effin lame yo.

Personally I've always had an affinity for the underdog, so last year helps make up for a lot of bad years when I was trying to get excited about Roko Ukic or something.

[S.R.]

I had no problem with the bandwagon jumpers last year. Especially for the casual basketball fan, you can't expect them to sit through the shit of the last few years and get excited about it.

I do have a problem with grown ass men claiming to be Heat fans (last year) like they always followed the team or something and don't even live in the states, never mind Miami. The people that just wanna cheer for the winning team are effin lame yo.

Personally I've always had an affinity for the underdog, so last year helps make up for a lot of bad years when I was trying to get excited about Roko Ukic or something.

League Pass is my coping mechanism for the crap years. During the down years, I'd often watch a half of Spurs ball (or a similar team) after a Raps game just to enjoy some great basketball.

That's part of what made last season so great - Raps played a lot of well above average team basketball. Fun to watch.