Bandwagon has overturned

[football junkie]

Quick, everybody jump off the Steelers' bandwagon and jump on the Bears' bandwagon -- you've been a Bears fan since 85, right? You grew up loving Walter Payton and Mike Singletary. You were so let down when Buddy Ryan left for Philadelphia. And when Mike Ditka was fired you cried!

The Steelers, you never liked them! Not at 1-3, anyway.

[12th man seahawks fan]

:D

I can't belive we lost to this team last year.

[Pronounced 'Thees' man']

You wanna talk bandwagon, how about da Raiders?? So many 'fans' from every corner of the country love to wear Raiders gear because it symbolizes 'tough', 'mean', 'nasty', even 'evil'. Ever see those freaks in the Black Hole at the Colisseum? Evil. Skeletor costumes, the Grim Reaper, Darth Raider, bloodthirsty pirates....

When they were winning, those symbols were fearful and spelled doom for opposing teams. Now, they just look like a bunch of idiots acting tough but representing a horrendously weak team. I live in the East Bay Area, and I can tell you how often I see Raiders gear, bumper stickers and auto decals now compared to a few years ago. Very rarely, that's how often. Talk about bandwagons.

Same with the Niners, although their fans aren't as nasty. They used to be just as arrogant, though, when the team was winning. I suppose this goes on all over the country for all kinds of sports. It's just human nature to want to be associated with a winner, but wow! This Raider Nation stuff has fallen off the map! What happened to it? Oh, we still hear the occasional reference to it on the local sports news and, of course, the hype machine that is televised football when the broadcasters toss the phrase around like candy at halloween, but here in Raider/Niner country, all we mostly hear these days are crickets.

[Snake]

Well....there must be something to it, everybody is still talking about how much they hate them. Lol, otherwise, why would someone hijack a Steelers Bandwagon thread just to talk about the sorry state of the Raider Nation? Ebb and tide my friend, ebb and tide. As bad as they are are playing now, they will eventually be back to the top.

[12th man seahawks fan]

I am proud to say that I am not a bandwagon fan, only a Seattle Sports fan.
It was fun to watch everyone back in 2000, Seattle sports were decent at best, than in 2001, "Oh, I have been a Mariners fan all my life." Obviously not because we didn't sell out every game until we were winning. 2002 saw a huge rise in the sell of season tickets. 2003 dopped off some, 2004 dropped off greatly, 2005 and 2006, a "big crowd" is about 20,000. Far off from the glory days of 2001 where every day there would be 45,000 at the stadium.

Same thing happens with the Seahawks. Back in 2001, everyone was too busy going to the Mariners game to be excited about the Seahawks. When the Mariners started sucking, the Seahawks were just getting good, so we all went across the street to Seahawks Stadium (now Qwest Field.) Now I see all these people walking around with Largent and Moon jerseys on, and I wonder how many of these people were actually there when they played. The worst thing I think I have seen is a person walking around in one of our classic jerseys with the 12th man logo on it. We didn't have the 12th man back than, why claim that we did?

Basically what I am trying to say is there are plenty of fair weather fans everywhere. There may be reasons to this, because I see that fewer places are selling Mariners and Sonics stuff right now, mostly because few people would buy it. It is easy to root for a team when they are winning. But true fans root for their team even when they are losing, and there are a lot less of these nowadays. I have suffered through the Mariners and Sonics losing seasons recently, but it is going to be satisfying saying I was there when they were terrible, and now they are repaying me by winning championships.

Go Mariners, SuperSonics, Seahawks, and Huskies.

[brady_branch]

I'm proud to say that I'm NOT a bandwagon fan. I've been called that, fair-weather fan, flavor-of-the-month fan, and others many times, all because I'm a Patriots and Red Sox fan living in Baltimore. But the truth is that I lived in Massachusetts for a year when I was really starting to like sports, really starting to care about them. Anyway, back to the original topic.

My friend at school, I bet him that the Pats would beat the Steelers every time they played the last three years, and now he pretends he was never a Steelers fan, that he always liked the Eagles, Colts, and Ravens...

[Snake]

Lol, 12th man, you should ask those "always there" fans if they have any pieces of the King Dome. I am sure I don't remember the 12th man thing there back when Largent played. The first place I remember seeing the 12th man thing was at Texas A&M. I don't think people should be counted as bandwagoners just because they root for a team that is in another area. Now, if they have had 4 or 5 different favorite teams in the last 5 to 10 years, then I would think that. I have been a Raiders fan ever since I started watching football in the 70's. They were a winning team at the time, so maybe I started out as a Bandwagoner, lol. Even though not many people where I lived were Raiders fans. I have, however, stuck with them through all the dismal times as well, including the current crappy incarnation of them on the field this season :mad: But like you said, it makes it that much sweeter when they do rise up and win again.

[D.C.]

I have been a Raiders fan ever since I started watching football in the 70's. They were a winning team at the time, so maybe I started out as a Bandwagoner, lol.

If they weren't a local team your support and the wave of support they would have received at the time is logical and not necessary bandwagon jumping...People will generally follow teams that get alot of airplay (which not surprising are usually the better teams in the league). As you said a bandwagon fan is someone that changes teams with great regularity.

[12th man seahawks fan]

I get called bandwagoner because I am also a big Boston fan, as well as Seattle fan. I lived on the East Coast when I was young, and developed a strong dislike of the Yankees and New York Sports in general, so what better way to spite them than root for their biggest rivals?

I think you can have multiple teams, but under two stipulations; 1) You have a clear and defined favorite team. Mine is obviously Seattle, and whenever the Sox play here, I always root for Seattle. 2) You must stay with your teams, even if they are losing.

I also don't see anything wrong with rooting for underdogs or rooting for teams that are playing your rivals or division opponents, or having a favorite team in the playoffs, just as long as you don't claim to be their biggest fan because they are winning.

[football junkie]

I think you can have multiple teams, but under two stipulations; 1) You have a clear and defined favorite team. Mine is obviously Seattle, and whenever the Sox play here, I always root for Seattle.

I concur 12. For instance, applying this same idea to human attraction, like all gentlemen, I prefer blondes but if a raven-haired brunette or fiery redhead comes my way she's bound to garner a look.

[12th man seahawks fan]

What a great comparison.