Are you good at identifying bandwagon fans?

Usually you can spot them and then they give themselves away when they open their mouth, that is usually the clincher! When I lived in Boston you could pick them out at the game (this was before 2004 when the bandwagon went on overload) but they would come out when the Sox were on a great streak and make ridiculous statements like "Troy O'Leary really is the best Left fielder that we have had!" That was the biggest sign of Band wagon jumper!

A bandwagon fan generally has a low self esteem using the winning team they are currently following as a crutch for feeling like they are a part of something successful when nothing else in their life has had that good of an outcome. The most identifiable factor..their jersey. If it is of a current champion and looks brand new, with a matching hat, shoes, and sweat bands...that screams bandwagon. Another, more intangible, factor is the bandwagon fans use of team bashing as a form of argument. Instead of actually arguing a point they'll throw in a "Your team here...SUCK!" *I did want to make a point and say that I agree with Peach Pie in that bandwagon fans don't really bother me. I do think there is a fine line between someone that is a sports fan "rookie" and a bandwagon fan. It is hard to distinguish the two. It's cool that we all have different levels of knowledge! It's just bandwagon fans will act like they know it all!

Well, as for the new jerseys and hats, that is just wrong because that implies that no true fan can ever purchase memorabilia after their initial purchase. However, bandwagon fans are rather easy to spot. They may know the lineup of their team, but a real fan knows what is going on elsewhere in baseball. For instance, a bandwagon sox fan may know the names of every player on the team, but if you ask about the sox a few years prior to their 04 victory, or if you ask them something about the national league, they can not answer.

I don't judge fans at all. I am a die hard red sox fan, been one since 1985 when I was only 3. If I see someone with Pink Red Sox stuff I still chat with them about the Sox, I mean just because they wear pink doesn't mean they are a bandwagoner.

As a Rangers, Orioles, and Redskins fan, I really don't get a chance to identify too many bandwagoners. =D

And I don't particularly like when girls wear pink jerseys of their team... If you're gonna wear the jersey, wear the team colors, not some pink crap.

I tend to suspect girls of being bandwagoners more than guys... which is totally stereotypical, but this is why:

There was this one time I got into a conversation with a girl sitting next to me at a Rangers game this year.. Josh Hamilton had just hit a home run and she was like "GO RANGERS!"

So I turned to her and said something like, "He's been phenomenal this year..."

And she said something like, "Yeah, he's played great for us the last couple of years."

???

Hello... We just acquired him in the offseason???

I just sort of ignored her "Great hit"s and "Go Kinsler"s after that. She'd probably try to tell me that Kinsler's having a Rookie of the Year caliber season.

=D

I still don't get it. A bandwagon baseball fan is so much better than no fan. Why the snobbery? If 50,000 people show up for the game, does it matter to you if some are bandwagon fans? Isn't that better than if only 17,000 show up? A bandwagon baseball fan just might become a die hard fan. Sometimes it really is the first year the person really became interested. So he picks someone who is winning? So what? He should pick someone who is awful? And what if he becomes a die hard fan as a result. You know, lots of kids pick the very popular players and teams, too. Are they bandwagon fans? Hardly. I just don't get this fixation people have against the bandwagon fan. He's interested. He's learning. If he were a bandwagon football fan he wouldn't even show up for the baseball game. I'm flummoxed. I really am.

im good at it. you can tell im not a bandwagoner cuz im a huge yankee fan and their really sucking right now. its easy for me to tell though cuz i live in south florida and no1 likes the marlins so last year all of a sudden every1 is a red sox fan and what do you know, this year their all gone. real fans know about the history of the team. real yankee fans like me hate jeff weaver and all the other players that sucked while the bandwagoners don't even know that he used to be on the team. Bandwagoners know their roster now while real fans know the entire roster from back in the day.

I don't know, I haven't come across to many in my day so I haven't had the chance to test out my skills, but sometimes it is just too obvious. But I have noticed a lot of Dodger fans coming out of the wood work since the Manny trade, but I cant really tell if they are bandwagon or not. I guess time will tell.

Yes when your team sucks for years and no ones at the games, then all of a sudden they start playing well, win, in a playoff race and the stadium sells out just about everyday. Those are true bandwagon fans. Wont go when the team struggles but when they win they are all out in droves.

Well, the other day I was in Washington and I saw someone with an O's hat. It was in my nature to talk to him because it seems like no one likes this team anywhere other than Baltimore (why would they). He says he's a DIE HARD fan. So I ask him, "Who do you like: Markakis, Huff, Jones?" He says no he likes Ripken the most..........

And about the Pink Rodriguez jersey, some people wear baseball clothes for fashion. Why do you think Pittsburgh has the highest baseball cap sale? Because it's fashionable...