Prior to their World Series victory in 2004, the Boston Red Sox last won a championship title in 1918, thanks to the "Curse of the Bambino." For those who are too lazy to count, that's 86 years that the city of Boston was without a championship baseball team. In the past four years the Red Sox have exorcised their demons by capturing two championships, in 2004 and again in 2007.
As I made my way around campus Monday morning, something stuck out like a sore thumb. In a campus where all I see are Yankees fans, something new appeared - Boston fans.
It happened so fast. Take, for instance, something that shocked me more than the emergence of Boston fans in general. Someone who I've always seen in Yankees gear walked past me sporting a Red Sox hat, giving me a great urge to attack him with all my might.
According to urbandictionary.com, a bandwagoner is "a person with a newly-developed appreciation for a sports team, generally acquired after said team has won a championship or become otherwise popular." Calling these people fans is an insult to those of us who have stuck around with our teams during their sub-par seasons, whatever you call these people the end result is always going to be a mockery of the sport.
I consider myself a fan of three franchises - the Buffalo Sabres, the Buffalo Bills, and the Boston Red Sox. I have stuck by the Bills through the "Music City Miracle," the Sabres through their bankruptcy era, and the Red Sox through the Yankees era. I've bled with them and cried with them, so don't be surprised that I want to rip the Sabres shirts off of some people when I look at them.
For instance, I saw someone on the UB Stampede the other day that had a Ryan Miller t-shirt on. I made a bet with a friend that this guy was a bandwagoner, and I could prove it. I asked the guy to name two other current Buffalo Sabres players other than Ryan Miller. He couldn't even name one.
I feel that there is definitely something wrong with that.
Take, for example, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are a perfect example of what a true fan-base is all about. Since re-emerging as an NFL team in 1999, they have had more coaches than winning seasons and playoff appearances combined, not to mention they are one of six teams who have never had the chance to play in a Super Bowl.
With an 11-21 postseason record since 1950, I can rightfully say that the Cleveland Browns are arguably the worst professional football team in the history of the sport.
Nonetheless, on any given Sunday, Browns fans tell themselves they can make it to the Super Bowl. You can bet that Cleveland Browns Stadium will be packed each and every week, and when the time comes that Browns country is given a Super Bowl victory, the party will make any that preceded it look like a joke.
So, if you ask yourself "Am I a bandwagoner!?" I have a simple self-test that you can take that will help you decide if you should jump off a bridge or not.
If you answered any of these questions with a "yes," please take all of your sports gear and burn it, and for our sakes, never pretend like you know how to pronounce Maxim Afinogenov ever again.
So to the real sports fans out there, I ask you this - How can we overcome this travesty?
Simply tell these people they are a bandwagoner; make it sting. Stomp on their hearts like you would stomp on a spider creeping on your floor. You will either make them drown in their own sorrows, as they slowly come to the realization that they are, in fact, great big phonies, or they will eventually stand by their team after a ten-game losing streak, re-inventing themselves as one of the good guys.
Think about the world we could live in - one where a person doesn't think that Tiki Barber is still a Giant, or where people could actually get their Ice Bowl tickets without any hassle! It would be glorious!
Sadly, that world will never occur, because some people feel the need to bask in all the glory of the real sports fans who have endured so much pain in the past. No matter what, I just have one thing to say to you anti-fans. To those of you reading this while walking around in your Sabres jersey that you bought last season, or your Tom Brady jersey which you purchased after the Patriots' current 8-0 run, or even your Red Sox hats after their World Series victory, for all that is sacred in this world, do us all a favor and just stop it already. Please?
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
