MP2 Sports | You are a Bandwagoner

Michael Pearce

More stories from Michael Pearce

Congratulations! If you have a jersey for a player on the Cavaliers, Cubs, Penguins or Broncos on your Christmas list, you are likely what is called a “bandwagon fan” also known as a “bandwagoner.”

Why should I care if you bandwagon? One of the most annoying things about sports fandom is the trash talking from the bandwagon fans when their “favorite” teams are doing well. Talking smack on Twitter about how great “your” Warriors are doing when just last year you were a big fan of LeBron, is annoying. It is even more annoying to gloat over the actual fans of their preferred team. If you bandwagon, you are not allowed to be cocky about “your” team.

“I’ve liked the Seahawks forever bro! All the way back in 2012 I became a fan!” Stop it, please. Just because you have supported a team for more than one or two years does not make you a true fan. True fans go through hardship and rough times, which usually takes place over many years, and not switch as soon as they are unsuccessful.

This hardship does not mean your team losing in the playoffs every year. Hardship is all your favorite players or coach leaving and multiple losing seasons where the team misses the playoffs. Do not try to tell me that clinching the playoff berth every year but losing qualifies as rough times.

Sorry Warriors or Seahawks “fans”. If you do not know who Shaun Alexander is or do not remember what the old Warriors logo looks like, you are not a true fan. You are someone who jumps on the wave of success when a team is great so you can be a part of something, without having to show loyalty or commitment.

I know what some of you are thinking, I get it all the time. “Aren’t you a Steelers fan and a Celtics fan? Both of those teams aren’t Michigan teams!” Yes, I am. However, my dad has been a Steelers fan since I can remember (early 2000’s, I was born in 1999), and I stuck it out through the 2012-2014 seasons for Boston, where in 2014 they had a “Pitbull” kind of year with a .305 winning percentage. Meaning they won three out of every 10 games.

There is a level of credibility to fans who respect greatness and appreciate good players when they are playing on an insane level. That does not make jumping from team to team okay. If I were king of the world, every fan would have one permanent change of their favorite team in each sport. After that, you are locked in for life to that team. Passion and loyalty is what the word “fan” is all about.