Before anybody gets angry with me, just know that this particular post involves the NFL's New England Patriots and NOT the patriotism that is defined as supporting your country or beliefs. As I write this, the Patriots are going for a monumental achievement. If they defeat the New York Giants tonight, they'll be the first NFL team to go undefeated in the regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Kudos to them if they manage to pull it off.
With that said, however, I must tell you that I really don't care if they win the game or not. This blog isn't about undefeated football teams. It's about one of the worst types of fans out there: bandwagon fans. I can almost guarantee you that seventy-five percent of the Patriots' fans this season were NOT Pats fans last year. They were probably Colts and/or Bears fans once the playoffs began. Oh, and then there was the growth spurt in fan base that the New Orleans Saints had last year after their glorious post-Katrina run.
It's just very, very aggravating to see all of these idiots running around proclaiming their loyalty to a winning team, whether it be football, baseball, basketball, hockey or any other major sport. I remember growing up and witnessing the vast amount of Chicago Bulls fans during the Michael Jordan era. Then there were the Dallas Cowboy fans when Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith headed up that very good squad. Lakers fans, Braves fans, Yankees fans, etc., etc.
Whatever happened to team loyalty? I support the Saints because they're the home team for me. I also support the Houston Texans and the Astros because they're nearby. In basketball, I support the Rockets and the Hornets for the same reason. Anybody who knows anything about the Saints knows that they've had way more lean years than winning seasons. The Astros, who always seemed just good enough to get to the playoffs but never get beyond the first round until their recent WS appearance, have never really "captured the nation" until their championship appearance. Even after getting swept, I still saw a ton of people parading around in Astros black and orange. When their next season kicked off, those caps, shirts, etc. vanished.
What's even worse are the college bandwagon fans. As of late it's been USC (despite only winning one national championship in recent history, and even that's questionable), Ohio State, and Florida. LSU has also had their fair share of bandwagon fans. Something tells me that their merchandise sales will go up after they meet up with Ohio State for the national championship.
In all honesty, I know that there will always be bandwagon fans. I just had to get this rant out in the open because of the Pats recent run and the collegiate championship coming up. I'd really like to hear from other folks about this topic. If you read this post, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
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