ok.. I've been hearing this, that and the other thing, about "bandwagon" fans forever.... I want your opions on how long someone has to be a fan of a team, before they are no longer considered bandwagoners.....
I've been a fan of the NE Patriots since 1972, when I went to my first game, with a bf. I've followed them steadily since, even during the bad years.
I've also been a fan of the Boston Red Sox since my grandfather, took me to my first game at Fenway Park, when I was 5 years old...
but, what I want to know is, if I like a new team, for my own reasons, am I a bandwagoner ? when I lived in Texas a few years back I enjoyed the Longhorns... and cheered for them... does that make me a bandwagoner ?
2007-10-31 01:25:56 · 29 answers · asked by Foggy Idea 7 in Sports ➔ Football (American)
Being a Patriots and a Red Sox fan, I sure know about supporting them through losing seasons.. Having winning seasons sure is a treat.... The years I was in TX were up and down for the Longhorns... still love em.
2007-10-31 01:30:59 · update #1
I only think of bandwagon fans as fans who jump from team to team every couple of years. If someone had just started following the game 5 to 7 years ago then I'd almost expect them to be fans of a team like the Patriots or Colts because they're fun to watch. My dad used to take me to Purdue games when I was younger (early '80's) because he loved the Boilermakers - but I'd beg him to take me to Notre Dame games because they were so much more fun to watch. He broke down and took me. Now were both fans (even though he roots for Purdue more because he's an alumni. Three or four years ago I took a friend to South Bend that had been a Purdue fan since we were kids and now he is an Irish fan, too. The atmosphere in South Bend turned him. Some would call him a bandwagon fan... but would those same people call him that if I had turned him into an Indiana Hoosiers football fan?
2007-10-31 01:41:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Have you ever noticed when a team has a good season or a few good seasons "fans" start to come out of the woodwork? Then disappear when a team starts a downhill slide? That's a bandwagoner or fairweather fan. They cheer for the team that is doing well. Every great team has them.
When I moved to Indiana for college about 11 years ago, (just before Manning was drafted and the Colts were so bad they made awful seem like something to aspire to!), even in Indy it was tough to find a Colts fan, all anyone cared about was the Pacers. They were a joke, even in their home state. Now you can't spit downtown without hitting a Colts fan. And I think that is where the bandwagon fan becomes annoying because you know all it will take is one mediocre season and they jump off onto the next big team. Around here, the tell tale sign of a fairweather fan is either A) they can't name a player besides Peyton Manning or B) they can't name the coach before Dungy or the QB before Manning.
I think if someone is still a fan once the team starts a down hill slide, they can't be called a bandwagoner. And if some moves and starts to root for the home team, I don't think that's a bandwagoner either. I was a casual Purdue watcher in high school (because I was raised in a Big Ten family) but they became "the team" for me once I decided that was where I wanted to go and I wouldn't consider myself a bandwagon fan. I think the real mark of a bandwagoner is they are a fan when the team does well and suddenly not a fan when the team does bad. I don't think there is really a time frame involved.
2007-10-31 02:41:21 · answer #2 · answered by tnk3181979 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't think there is a time limit needed to graduate from the bandwagon. If you pick a team when your young and you stick with them, your not a bandwagon fan.
Obviously rooting for the Pats since '72 would disqualify you as a bandwagon Patriots fan. When you move to a new area and begin to cheer for the home team does not make you a bandwagon fan either, that makes you a homer - rooting for the home team. All well and good.
A typical bandwagon fan might live in New England all their lives but were rooting for the Steelers in the 70s, the Niners in the 80s and the Cowboys in the 90s.. Now this home bred New Englander wears his Patriot colors with pride. A bandwagon fan jumps on the bandwagon of the hottest or best team but never gets too comfortable.
2007-10-31 01:47:53 · answer #3 · answered by cowboysfan 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well if you're there while that team sucked or you were there well before they started winning consistently and well before they started winning Championships then you are not a bandwagon fan. Bandwagon fans are the ones who you never hear about rooting for a certain team while that team isn't doing all that great, but then when that same team starts to get it going and starts winning they all of a sudden have been fans of that team for a loooong time.
For example, I have been a Broncos fan all my life and I live in Texas (aka Cowboys country). And a lot of the people down here didn't root for the Broncos until they won their back to back Super Bowls. That's bandwagon. And some of those same people don't root for the Broncos anymore, they root for the Patriots. (You just don't know how bad that hurts to say) lol
2007-10-31 08:53:39 · answer #4 · answered by Ro Daddy 56 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Living in the team's area allows you to be a legitimate fan. Buf if you don't live near any team, or if you hate the team that you live near, then you get to pick which team you like. If you decide to pick a new team every couple of years, then you are a bandwagon hopper.
I live in the middle of PA (not particularly near any city) and I definitely noticed this with the Red Sox. Since all of PA's baseball teams suck horribly, everybody was rooting for the Red Sox until they won in 04. Now that they keep winning, I have noticed a steady decline in Red Sox hats. This constitutes bandwagon hopping. Me, I'm a die hard pirates fan, through thick and thin. Even though I found myself rooting for the Red Sox in 04, I wasn't about to go out and buy Boston gear.
2007-10-31 02:25:56 · answer #5 · answered by jovenitti_13 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you like a particular team, the hell with how long you've felt that way. Who cares what some drunk thinks about how long you have to support a particular team before you can be a "regular" fan? I've been a Steeler fan since the '50's, do I qualify as a regular fan or am I a bandwagon jumper? I'll support who I want to & the hell with what ANYONE calls me!
2007-10-31 10:18:14 · answer #6 · answered by Toe Cutter 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think if you stick with your team through thick and thin, you are not a bandwagon jumper.
I have been spending my money going to Colts games since Jack Trudeau was the QB, so you can imagine that I hung in through some bad years.
I also graduated from Indiana U and continue to attend their football games, and they never have had that great of a team, although I have to say I have abandoned being a fan of IU basketball until they fire the cheater and hire someone to bring back integrity to IU basketball. Maybe now I jumped off the bandwagon, who knows.
2007-10-31 02:16:04 · answer #7 · answered by Rich people employ me 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
A bandwagon fan is there basically whilst the group is valuable a real fan is a fan that helps his group interior the stable and undesirable situations. i'm not a bandwagon fan working example I even have been a 49ers fan because of the fact that 2003 and that i had in no way seen them be triumphant in the previous. i'm a Warriors fan because of the fact that 2004 and function in no way seen them be triumphant(basically whilst they beat the Mavs interior the playoff). i'm a Oakland A's because of the fact that 2003 and function in no way seen them be triumphant. i'm a Sharks fan because of the fact that 1997 and thankfully I even have seen them be triumphant yet I even have been their whilst they have had a nasty season. i understand that sooner or later we are able to and boy does it experience stable whilst it comes.
2016-09-28 02:30:22 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've been a Pats fan since they drafted Tom Brady. I'm actually a Tom Brady fan. If the Colts were to trade Manning to the Pats for Brady, I'd become a Colts fan that day. I was with a bunch of Colt fans last year when the colts played the Pats and Brady threw an interception to end the Pats hopes. Just before that, I was telling everyone to watch the living legend, Tom Brady, take the Pats down and win the game. I was in pain, as was the whole Pats organization. That's why they have new receivers this year. I may not be able to name 20 players on the Pats team, but I know who Tom Brady faced in his last college game.
2007-10-31 01:43:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
I don't think it has to do so much with how long you've rooted for a team, but rather if you've stuck with that team through the bad times as well as the good times. In your case, you definitely can't be considered a bandwagon fan. If you move somewhere and start cheering for the local team in that area, I wouldn't consider that jumping on the bandwagon, either.
To me, a bandwagon fan is someone who suddenly becomes a fan of a team when they are successful and jumps ship when they are not.
2007-10-31 01:34:54 · answer #10 · answered by Jack R 3 · 4⤊ 2⤋