Is NE/Boston the new bandwagon?

Question

I am an admitted hometown fan. I root for anything Ohio and my loyalty is to northeast Ohio. Ohioans have as much passion for the people they hate as the people they love. I was brought up hating the Yankees, Notre Dame, and the Cowboys. I think mostley because so many other people liked these teams rather than their home team (bandwagoner's). So is Boston becoming that. The bandwagon team for baseball, football, and it seems since the big off season maybe even basketball!? What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

Boston fans also have as much passion for the people they hate as the people they love in every sport. Ex: Yankees, Lakers in the 80's, Steelers and now Colts, and even the Canadiens in hockey. Boston is a sports town enriched with history of the Celts winning championships. The Pats coming from being the Patsies to being one of the most dominant teams in maybe the history of the NFL and the the Bobby Orr years with the Bruins in the 70's. What makes this town special, as you being a Cleveland fan can attest, we have had our down years of sucking. Before this recent Celts trade, loyal fans have dealt with the Celts going from the best to the worst. The Bruins, man, I still look at my Cam Neely shirt and shake my head and say, why don't they get rid of that owner and bring back my big bad Bruins!! and the Sox, well, until 2004, we had the same heartbreak that the Cleveland fans have felt for all of their teams. The Sox have always been known to have loyal fans. The Patriots, well, knowing I have been a fans back in the days when about 5k would show up for a football game in the late eighties and early 90's and now there is a 50k person waiting list for season tickets, that team I would say for sure has bandwagon fans. The only sad thing to me, is these "young" fans today think winning is something to be expected (see Yankee fans as well). They don't remember the bad days of all these teams and they don't realize, this time is a time to cherish in Boston sports. This is not going to last and I am going to enjoy it immensely while it's going on!

Answer 2

To answer your question, no. It's not the new bandwagon. If you know someone from the Boston/NE area you know that they are die hard fans. And loyal beyond the call of duty. The word "fan" can be defined by Bostonians.

They have a great football team. Their best basketball team was when Larry Bird, Kevin McCale, and the others were the TEAM (back in the 80s). The Bruins, at least in the 80s, where a great team as well. And now that they got over the curse, the Sox are doing good.

I'm not a fan, but I wish them the best.

Answer 3

I don't know about that. Is that how we define a "bandwagoner" -- someone who roots for a team removed from their geographic location? That doesn't make sense to me. I grew up in New England, and like any good boy in NE, I grew up loving the Red Sox and hating the Yankees.

Now that I live in New York, I still love the Red Sox and hate the Yankees. (and the Mets)

Someone above me made a good point about the difference between "casual" fans and bandwagoners. I'll admit to being a casual Red Sox fan for several years following the 1986 series. I was a bit jaded, to say the least!

You like who you like, and in the instance where no one you like is in the series, you pick a team to root for. I don't think that qualifies as bandwagon-ing.

[but I am with you on hating Notre Dame and the Cowboys...because I went to Penn State and lived outside Philly for a few years]

Answer 4

Not everybody lives in a part of the country that has a team that they like so they are allowed to root for another team. I live in Tennessee, and everybody likes the Cardinals or the Braves around here. I used to like the Braves until Maddux and Glavine left and I don't follow them as close anymore. I hate the Yankees(never liked them), and started to follow the Sox around 02'-03' and was lucky to be able to witness the 04' season and have fell in love with the team. Did I swap the the Cards last year, no, still don't like em'. I have watched every Sox game on t.v. that is availible to me(thanks ESPN). I was going to get NESN so I could watch most of the games. Does that make me a bandwagon fan? Some say yes, I say no.


Edit: I do root for the Titans in football and the Vols in college football.

Answer 5

I really don't believe you will see as many "bandwagon" fans in Boston because they are such an established team. No doubt the Red Sox have many casual fans that pull for them that consider themselves Red Sox fans, but I don't believe fans like this should be considered "bandwagon" fans. However, the Rockies may be another story. I think there are many people in that part of the country that know very little about baseball and couldn't name three players on the Rockies. These are your real "bandwagon" people, not fans, that are going along for the ride and want to be part of the action. The best thing to hope for is that all the excitement will turn them on to baseball which in turn will increase the fan base for the Rockies in years to come.

Answer 6

how can you hate Notre Dame? I love ND the last college who has athletes, that have to be smart and good, right now they aren't exactly good, but they have had that combination of smart players in all sports for years. I'm a Buckeye first though. I was brought up on all Ohio teams, which is partly why I can't stand Toledo, because even our horrible newspaper doesn't root for Ohio teams, they are also so liberal it's disgusting, but that's another topic. I was brought up with sportsmanship, so some of those teams you mentioned that don't have sportsmanship I don't care for.

Red Sox do have started to be a little bit like the Yankees, but I don't think they are nearly as bad, in fact I even went to game 5 and was impressed with their fans.

I think any team that wins has bandwagon fans that's why the Yankees who have been winnng for so long and they have soo many bandwagon fans. No offense to those who grew up with the Yankees. Their winning has brought the bandwagon fans who have hurt their reputation and made them such a hated team. I don't think the Red Sox are like that I think the Patriots are getting there though.

P.S. my prediction is Red Sox in 5 or 6 in the World Series

Answer 7

I hope not. New England sports fans for the most part are disliked nationally. I rather be disliked to ward off bandwagon fans. The Patriots aren't even close to being the favorite team in the NFL even with all the success they've had. I think eveyone should root for the home team. It's so much better to be surrounded by people that feel the same way you do. When J.D. hit that grand slam everyone in the bar was cheering so loud. It was amazing.

Answer 8

A couple of points to make here:

1.) A lot of people who have a favorite team will pick a team to follow in the playoffs when their team doesn't make it. As they lose teams to root for they end up rooting for one in the World Series. Not exactly a bandwagon.

2.) Ratings are so low for the baseball post season that the sport is in jeopardy of moving to pay per view. I'll take a bandwagon fan over no fan any day.

3.) The team you like is the team you like. For some reason, some people living in New York cheer for the Cubs. There are people in Kansas who cheer for the Marlins. There IS no team you were 'intended' to like. You like who you like. It's very much like your favorite color. No one knows why a certain color is the favorite, it just is. Same with baseball favorites.

Answer 9

I grew up in New England..

and watched the Sox ever since i can remember, the first time I went to Fenway Park was with my grandfather, when I was 4 years old.... we went for 86 years without a World Series Win, yet the Sox fans were faithful for all those years.....

In the 1970s, I began watching the Patriots, and fell in love with the game, I watched faithfully through all the years, when the Patriots were the laughingstock of the NFL...

I was happy as a clam in the years, where the Bruins were the team to beat, Bobby Orr was a god..... and I am still a faithful fan, despite the fact they have done poorly lately, there's always this year, next year and the year after that....

The same goes for the Celtics.. I loved it when they won thier championships.. and have still loved them in the lean years....

I don't know about the bandwagon you are speaking of.. but .. it's great to see the Boston teams on an upswing... it warms my heart....

Answer 10

Nah, it's been like this even before they won in '04. Sure more people have become fans, just look how they've officially eclipsed the Yankees as the biggest draw in baseball all around the country. But considering how poorly the '05 & '06 SOX teams did that didn't affect their draw or fans so I don't think the bandwagon therory holds any water here at all. I'm a hometown fan and I don't mind their popularity with "outsiders" it's good for buisness and that's good for the team!