Should I Care About Bandwagon Fans?

[LeafsNation75]

As long as you are a dedicated fan who cares about other people and what they think.

 

[James Duthie]

When you become the best, you'll gain more fans. These kids in Toronto rocking Penguins and Hawks gear will soon wear Leafs gear, just facts. Gaining a bigger crowd is way better then a couple diehards.

 

[LeafsNation75]

When you become the best, you'll gain more fans. These kids in Toronto rocking Penguins and Hawks gear will soon wear Leafs gear, just facts.

Prior to the Penguins getting Crosby and the Blackhawks getting Toews and Kane, I don't remember a lot of people in Toronto being fans of them or getting their teams jerseys.

 

[GarbageGoal]

As someone who lives in New England and only likes the Bruins it's not an issue, because Boston sports fans immediately disavow the team if they've gone more than three years without winning a title.

 

[Kublakhan]

I like all fans but those cooperate jerks and "stars" that buy up half the tickets and don't even know what an offsides is..

 

[saskganesh]

It's not a problem. Don't worry about it.

Sport brings people together. Don't use it as a wedge in order to be a miserable person. Unless that makes you happy --- in which case, I advise therapy.

 

[Rorschach]

You're only a bandwagon fan if you leave. If you stay, then you're a precious new fan. That's how it is in LA.

I become a fan because of Gretzky. I know decades of pain. But I was here for two Cups in three years and two of the most special runs in playoff history.

 

[BlueBaron]

Bandwagon fans are part of the excitement of becoming competitive!

I was a Preds fan for a long time and couldn't talk with many "hockey fans" about the team much until recently, because after a comment about Suter or Weber or Rinne, they really had no interest or knowledge to converse further. I've talked about Nashville more in the last few months with guys than I have for years combined!!

On the flip side,... I immediately became a Panthers fan when I saw them play a flawless defensive game late in the regular season as they were heading for the playoffs. With captain Skrudland, Beezer in net and guys like Mellanby and Barnes hustling and lunchbucket checking excellence from Fitzgerald, Lowry and Lindsay making me think of ol' Bruiins teams from my youth,... I jumped ON THE BANDWAGON and cheered for the Panthers throughout that epic Stanley Cup playoff run. I dumped the team from my viewing list a couple of years later, and only the addition of Jagr has made me watch them at all since.

Tramp!

You can be a fan of a team without following them closely. I'm guessing that a lot of the people you are talking about are/were Leaf fans but didn't have anything to be excited about for the last decade+ so didn't follow the team closely.

The average Leaf fan in Toronto has a very superficial knowledge of hockey. They know the Leafs and the World juniors. In Toronto the Leafs are kind of how religion used to be, you say the right things whether you believe or not.

The number of times I have had conversations at work or in bars with self styled Leaf fans who knew nothing about our roster beyond the top 6/top 4 and had no notion of any prospect not drafted in the first round are too just too numerous to count. There are degrees of fandom and HF regulars are hard core, not typical.

I have made a fortune off casual fans who are sure we will make the playoffs even though we had no chance in hell or were openly rebuilding. I've never lived in another NHL city and I know we are extreme but pretty much everyone claims to be a Leaf fan unless they are from out of town or raised a Hab fan.

 

[Hoser]

Oh, for Pete's sake: why would any living, breathing adult care who else calls themselves a life-long Leafs fan?

Is there a prize for being the bestest, loyalest, longest-living of the True Elite?

It's a spectator sport where they sell admission tickets, hot dogs and team paraphernalia! It's not like you won a gold medal in the 1936 Olympics in the Leafs-watching event!

Should you care who calls themselves a life-long Leafs fan?

Sure. Go ahead.

It just depends how much credit they try to claim. Everyone is welcome to be a fan. Just don't claim to have been there longer than you have been. Don't brag about achievements you didn't witness.

Credit for what?

Watching a hockey game?

"Diehard" fans are just bigger suckers than any other fan, and being a "diehard" is nothing to be proud of. When the team "sucks" being a "diehard" means begrudgingly paying a lot of money to watch a very disinteresting entertainment product, lining the pockets of millionaires playing a boys' game and billionaire owners who've sold you on the idea that you owe them any loyalty.

Should one "care" about bandwagoneers? No, categorically.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I'll never understand why people care so much about what other people do. Does it really affect you if someone is a "bandwagon fan"? Like, do you suddenly no longer enjoy watching hockey because the guy next to you just started following your team now?

Jesus, people put more devotion into their favorite teams than they do their marriages/relationships. "I'm going to divorce my wife of 10 years because it's not working out, but no way in hell will I ever switch hockey teams!"

 

[biotk]

When I was young I was a Penguins fan starting in 1984 when I was 6. They sucked. They sucked bad. But I was dedicated - watched the games when they stunk. Wore the jersey even though other kids made fun of me for it. The Penguins were the closest NHL team, but they were still a distance away. Everyone liked other teams. Then the Penguins became a good hockey club. As the Penguins excelled towards their first Cup in 1991 and their second in 1992 and then their dominate 1992/93 season where they came up short, more and more of my classmates became devoted Penguins fans. This made me a little bitter. They hadn't earned this enjoyment. They hadn't suffered through the painful losses like I had. It wasn't fair. Then I realized something that I have carried with me for the rest of life: who cares?

 

[Never]

To me, it's not about jumping on the bandwagon, it's staying on it.

 

[Insomniac99]

Vegas has the WORST bandwagon fans. Absolutely nobody liked them last year.

 

[hagelin1381]

The only fans that annoy me are the uneducated ones who aren't able to take off the homer glasses and see things for what they are.. A lot of those fans are bandwagons I guess, but more people liking hockey isn't usually a bad thing, as long as they stay when the going gets tough

 

[Red Dread]

The only fans that annoy me are the uneducated ones who aren't able to take off the homer glasses and see things for what they are.. A lot of those fans are bandwagons I guess, but more people liking hockey isn't usually a bad thing, as long as they stay when the going gets tough

I feel the same.

I got crap during the playoffs from someone who didn't know the playoffs were of a best of 7 format and someone else who didn't know the coach of her team for the previous 5ish years.

Was frustrating, but the latter seemed passionate, so hoping that stays.

 

[ClydeLee]

I think this is more an example of so called classic "fairweather" fans over bandwagon fans. A new rise of fans because the team is good is a solid normal addition but the people who just show up for the good spurts, ignore them completely when they're bad but say they were always fans are a different level of annoying.

 

[mouser]

Not sure this is the right sub-forum but many bandwagon fans support teams based on their history so I guess it works.

Despite my username I've been a Leafs fan my entire life. Only a couple of years ago it would have been hilarious to think that we had bandwagon fans. Only true fans watched the Leafs when Kessel/Phaneuf were stinking the joint and Horacek was ensuring nothing was done about it. My problem is that I'm now noticing that there are many more people, mostly Raptors converts, who are claiming to be lifelong Leafs fans who have always supported them.

Maybe I shouldn't care as much as I do, but as someone who stuck through the worst of times I have a certain level of disdain for those who now that the Leafs have a positive future, say they have supported the team for as long as they remember. Am I just going crazy and this shouldn't matter to me, or have fans of lifelong teams with recent success (ie. LA, Chicago) felt the same sort of thing?

If your own self image relies on you seeing yourself as a superior fan to those bandwagon fans then I'd say the problem lies more with you then them.

 

[Bumpus]

Bandwagon?!?

Who cares how? More NHL fans = good for the game!


Hell, at some point (unless you were raised from a baby/toddler to love the game - I wasn't) ... At some point in the past, we were all bandwagoners at some point.

That's how we grow.

 

[412 Others]

in my experiences this means 1 of 2 things.

1. it's a coping mechanism. typically applied when a rival team of yours is doing too much winning. for the weak minded folk...

2. it's something pretentious people, who take fandom way too seriously, get worked up about.

 

[Random Oracle]

You should get extremely worked up about people not supporting your team the right way.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

It's only annoying when they start talking like experts. Other than that, they are good to scream and celebrate with when your team wins. The truth is that no one cares how long you've been following your team. At the end of day, you just gotta enjoy the win and everything that comes with it. It's better than losing.

 

[patnyrnyg]

Not sure this is the right sub-forum but many bandwagon fans support teams based on their history so I guess it works.

Despite my username I've been a Leafs fan my entire life. Only a couple of years ago it would have been hilarious to think that we had bandwagon fans. Only true fans watched the Leafs when Kessel/Phaneuf were stinking the joint and Horacek was ensuring nothing was done about it. My problem is that I'm now noticing that there are many more people, mostly Raptors converts, who are claiming to be lifelong Leafs fans who have always supported them.

Maybe I shouldn't care as much as I do, but as someone who stuck through the worst of times I have a certain level of disdain for those who now that the Leafs have a positive future, say they have supported the team for as long as they remember. Am I just going crazy and this shouldn't matter to me, or have fans of lifelong teams with recent success (ie. LA, Chicago) felt the same sort of thing?

What criteria do you use to distinguish bandwagon fan from non-bandwagon fan? If you see someone in Leafs gear, and you do not know them, do you just assume they are bandwagon?

 

[Quack Shot]

Winning is how you grow the game in your area. I don't mind bandwagon fans if they stick around and learn about the team. Here in SoCal I just hate the fans that act like they've been watching the Kings for years but have no idea on any of their history before 2012 and only watch during the playoffs. These are the ones that flip flop between Lakers and Clippers too. The people like Snoop Dog I hate. Pick a damn team Snoop. But seriously if you pick up a team cuz they just won, who cares, but stick with them instead of going to the next team year after year.

 

[patnyrnyg]

I think this is more an example of so called classic "fairweather" fans over bandwagon fans. A new rise of fans because the team is good is a solid normal addition but the people who just show up for the good spurts, ignore them completely when they're bad but say they were always fans are a different level of annoying.

I get the concept, but think about it. Watching sports is supposed to be enjoyable. How much joy to you get watching your team lose night after night. I'll watch the Rangers and Giants even if they are 0-81 or 0-15 respectively. As for the Mets? When they start to become hopelessly out of it, or when it seems like most nights will require a miracle for them to win a single game, I start to lose interest. I will still watch games, will still attend a few games, but I do not care if I miss games either. Will change the channel mid-game. Something I never do with the Rangers or Giants.

 

[Addison Rae]

meh, the term bandwagon isn't used properly these days. a prototypical bandwagon fan changes their team on a regular basis. someone that cheers for their hometown team when they're good and doesn't when they're bad isn't what i consider a bandwagon fan.

i like when my friends give a **** about hockey, it gives us an opportunity to do more things together and that's not something im going to complain about.