By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
Like the lemon to the lime and the bumble to the bee, as long as there have been sports fans there have been bandwagon jumpers.
These are the shameless individuals who choose to support a team based solely on its recent success and media attention. They come in many different forms so as to not be easily spotted by the untrained eye, and will deny the fact to the bitter end.
“But I’ve always liked them!” — is their battle cry.
First, there is the “hometown bandwagoner.” These are typically the people who have lived near a certain team for a number of years, and when you would ask them whom they support they would name that team, even though they had never even watched a game, checked a stat or bought a T-shirt. They believet that their proximity immediately qualifies them for fan status, despite a complete disinterest in what that team was actually doing.
But now that their team is in the World Series, they’re suggesting you come over and watch the game and swear they had been a supporter all along. They even have the nerve to talk about the “old days” when their team couldn’t win a game, and how happy they are that they’ve “finally” got it together.
Even worse then these people are those with multi-team bandwagon syndrome. These are the individuals who like to say they have three or four teams they support in a certain sport, let’s say football, and switch their alliance based on all those teams’ weekly performances. One week they’re screaming “Go Raiders,” and the next they’re talking about “that great game the Vikings had.”
Note to fans — you are allowed one favorite team to support in each sport. You can have other teams you like and that you like to see win, but you must pick one to stand behind. This is the team you are allowed to brag about when they win, and the team that you must take criticism for when they lose. No exceptions.
Fans like these will then choose from their list of favorite teams at the end of the season based upon who did the best, and laugh at you because your “one” favorite team didn’t make it. These people are bad, very bad.
Yes, the bandwagon jumpers are out there, and it’s our job to flush them out. It can be a difficult task as they are masters of disguise, trying to trick us with their newly purchased fitted caps and/or Kobe Bryant jerseys. But don’t fear, no matter how many different trips they make to Chick’s Sporting Goods, time will surely reveal their true colors.
Just give it a year, or even a few years, and wait for their team’s inevitable decline. It is then when we can identify the bandwagon jumpers for who they really are.
Such was the case with a great number of supposed Chicago Bulls fans in the early ‘90s. After basking in the glory of one of basketball’s greatest dynasties, many quickly jumped ship when MJ left, escaping just before the Bulls finished 17-65 in 1999, dead last in their division. This is bandwagon jumping at it’s worst.
So it’s time to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself — do I fit one of the above descriptions? If so, it’s not too late to change. Just stop the trash talking over the next few years and keep supporting your team, through good times and bad, and eventually you will get off the wagon.
In my mind, it’s always good to become a sports fan, no matter what reason, but the difference is how you carry yourself. If you do support a team just because there doing good that’s fine, just admit it, watch the wardrobe changes, and please, please don’t brag about it or mock other fans.
October 24, 2002