The_Real Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 This is specifically about baseball but you can widen the conversation to any sport. A friend of mine grew up an Atlanta Braves fan for over 22 years. Two years ago, he took a job working in the suburbs of philly. Then, last summer told me he had become a Phillies fan. S E R I O U S L Y? Can you do that? I mean seriously, is that even allowed? That would be like going from being a Bills fan then moving to Boston and rooting the Patriots. I called shenanigans. I told him that was the weakest thing a fan could do, to bail on his team but worse to root for another team in the division. What made it worse for me is that they went on to win the World Series. So, My fellow wallers, Is that not weak? Thanks in advance.
Jim in Anchorage Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 This is specifically about baseball but you can widen the conversation to any sport. A friend of mine grew up an Atlanta Braves fan for over 22 years. Two years ago, he took a job working in the suburbs of philly. Then, last summer told me he had become a Phillies fan. S E R I O U S L Y? Can you do that? I mean seriously, is that even allowed? That would be like going from being a Bills fan then moving to Boston and rooting the Patriots. I called shenanigans. I told him that was the weakest thing a fan could do, to bail on his team but worse to root for another team in the division. What made it worse for me is that they went on to win the World Series. So, My fellow wallers, Is that not weak? Thanks in advance. Only if the Bills move to Toronto. Then I will kneecap them.
Alaska Darin Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 It's probably a lot easier to become a "Phillies fan" when they just won a Championship. Friggin' bandwaggoner.
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Bandwagon fans are the scourge of the sports world. They're worse than Pats* fans.
BillsFanNC Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 The only circumstance where swapping teams is allowed is if your team folds or moves to another city. Of course the preferred response in that case would be to declare the entire sport dead to you.
Nanker Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Bandwagon fans are the scourge of the sports world. They're worse than Pats* fans. Pats* fans are synonymous with Bandwagon fans.
GOBILLS78 Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 The only circumstance where swapping teams is allowed is if your team folds or moves to another city. Of course the preferred response in that case would be to declare the entire sport dead to you. Yes.
Albany,n.y. Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I believe that it's ok to change teams when you move-provided that you now attend some of your new team's home games and you have grown attached to that team as a result of attending the games. It's much easier to follow the home team & go to their games than the team from the place you moved from. Also, if you move & want to feel more a part of your new place, while leaving the old place in the past, it's ok to convert. It's always best to root for a team in a city that you currently live in or have lived there in the past. There's really no excuse for kids who grow up in Buffalo rooting for the Dallas Cowboys. Now, there are many fans who live in areas with no major league teams. These people need to pick a team, for whatever reason they choose, and stick with it. I don't agree with bandwagon fans who live in an area with no teams & change to the top teams every few years. The annoying fans are the ones who were last year's Patriots fans and this year's Steelers fans.
Arkady Renko Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 It's okay if you had no real attachment and barely followed your "favorite" team.
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Bandwagon fans are the scourge of the sports world. They're worse than Pats* fans. I think the recent influx Chicago Blackhawk fans also fit that. But they sure are not the scourge of the owner's pocket book.
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 The only circumstance where swapping teams is allowed is if your team folds or moves to another city. Of course the preferred response in that case would be to declare the entire sport dead to you. Or if your city/area does not have a team.
GOBILLS78 Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Or if your city/area does not have a team. But just because your city doesn't have a team, that doesn't give you the right to switch as you please, in my opinion.
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 But just because your city doesn't have a team, that doesn't give you the right to switch as you please, in my opinion. True. I live on the south side of the ChicagoLand area... I would never dream of rooting for the Cubs over the White Sox... Now, since I was not born here... I can see MAYBE rooting for the Cubs if they were the only team left from Chicago in the playoffs. That being said... That whole north-south side thing died in footbal around 1960 when the Cardinals moved to St. Louis... The Cards were always the South Side team and the Bears the North Side team... Wrigley is still the venue where the Bears have played the most games ever. That will change soon since they started playing at Soldier in and around 1970.
Kelly the Dog Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I would divide it up into "serious fan" and "casual fan". If he was a serious Braves fan for 22 years then sure, it is heinous. If he doesn't really care all that much about baseball, and didnt follow the team religiously, then it's not nearly as bad.
Chef Jim Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I was a "serious" Angels fan for two decades when I lived in soCal and have become a "casual" Giants fan since I moved to SF. Kind of hard to follow a team if you can't watch any of their games, I just like having a team to follow. The Angles come up here in a couple of weeks for inter-league play against the Giants and I'm not sure who to root for.
Phlegm Alley Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Born and raised a Yankee fan here and I currently live in Philly. I've been to a couple of Phillies games here gleefully rocking my Yankees gear, but I still watch every Yankee game using MLB TV. I think people who jump their team's ship and start rooting for another team don't deserve to be alive. THink about it. What type of friend would this person be? I don't trust them as far as I can throw them and they can all go to hell as far as I'm concerned.
GOBILLS78 Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I was a "serious" Angels fan for two decades when I lived in soCal and have become a "casual" Giants fan since I moved to SF. Kind of hard to follow a team if you can't watch any of their games, I just like having a team to follow. The Angles come up here in a couple of weeks for inter-league play against the Giants and I'm not sure who to root for. I don't know about that. I've been a Cubs fan since I was 6 years old and caught the WGN signal from Chicago and watched Ryne Sandberg become a Hall of Famer. I've never lived outside WNY or the Charlotte area, so I can't watch many Cubs games. But I do follow them religiously through the Internet with live game casts, box scores, highlights, blogs, etc. And I would never dream of rooting for anybody else. If Charlotte ever got an MLB franchise, I'd have nothing to do with them unless the Cubs came to town; and I've never been to a Carolina Panthers game (until this season, at least )
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I was a "serious" Angels fan for two decades when I lived in soCal and have become a "casual" Giants fan since I moved to SF. Kind of hard to follow a team if you can't watch any of their games, I just like having a team to follow. The Angles come up here in a couple of weeks for inter-league play against the Giants and I'm not sure who to root for. Escape clause: You can do anything you like... BFLO/WNY wasn't blessed with a MLB team! EDIT: Did I say "blessed"... Surely they would have been "cursed!"
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I don't know about that. I've been a Cubs fan since I was 6 years old and caught the WGN signal from Chicago and watched Ryne Sandberg become a Hall of Famer. I've never lived outside WNY or the Charlotte area, so I can't watch many Cubs games. But I do follow them religiously through the Internet with live game casts, box scores, highlights, blogs, etc. And I would never dream of rooting for anybody else. If Charlotte ever got an MLB franchise, I'd have nothing to do with them unless the Cubs came to town; and I've never been to a Carolina Panthers game (until this season, at least ) See my post above^^^ I watched the Mets growing up in WNY because the games were on WOR.
Captain Quint Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 As others have said, if he didn't really follow the Braves, then its Ok. But if he went around saying that he was a Braves fan while they won 14 straight division titles, then switched to the Phillies, he's a bandwagoner. He can't even use the excuse that he can't watch Braves games anymore because they're always on TBS here in Philly and everywhere else. Conversely, I live in Philly and it's hard not to root for this team and get caught up in it. Being from WNY, I never really followed a team, but following the Phillies is almost as fun as following the Bills. I can safely say that I'll probably be a Phillies fan for life, regardless of if I move from here.
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