Hello Hawks fans, your help is requested.

[downundermike]

new fans who have recently jumped aboard the bandwagon cannot possibly have the same feeling over our championship last year and the prospect of one this year. They can't understand how precious it is and the elation we felt when we won it all, because they weren't here for the long slog of mediocrity. And that sucks for them, honestly.

I guess that is another main part of my issue. The real fans celebrated the title with class. The bandwagon crowd ran around chest puffed out, talking smack to other teams fans that they know, when we know for a fact the did not give a crap about the Hawks 5 years ago.

 

[JAGHAWK]

I am originally from Salt Lake City UT. As most of you know, Utah does not have a pro NFL team so most of my life, my love for football was focused on our college team (U of U.) I remained completely unbiased with the NFL because I never invested any loyalty to any one team. I moved to Seattle in July 2012. Naturally, I fell in love with the city, the Hawks and the fans. Most will call me a "bandwagon fan" simply due to the timing of my fandom. Believe me, I have received my fair share of "Seahawks fan since 2012" memes. The reality is, I was completely won over. Not simply by the wins, although that made it very easy. But one thing that people outside of the state of Washington will never understand, is the 12th Man. It's unlike ANY fan base I've ever experienced in my life. The die-hard loyalty and love that you all have for you city and football team is hands down the biggest factor in why I love living here and rooting for the Hawks every Sunday. I'm just grateful to be a part of it all and hope that despite my short time as a 12th man, I'm not considered a "bandwagon fan" anymore.

 

[downundermike]

I am originally from Salt Lake City UT. As most of you know, Utah does not have a pro NFL team so most of my life, my love for football was focused on our college team (U of U.) I remained completely unbiased with the NFL because I never invested any loyalty to any one team. I moved to Seattle in July 2012. Naturally, I fell in love with the city, the Hawks and the fans. Most will call me a "bandwagon fan" simply due to the timing of my fandom. Believe me, I have received my fair share of "Seahawks fan since 2012" memes. The reality is, I was completely won over. Not simply by the wins, although that made it very easy. But one thing that people outside of the state of Washington will never understand, is the 12th Man. It's unlike ANY fan base I've ever experienced in my life. The die-hard loyalty and love that you all have for you city and football team is hands down the biggest factor in why I love living here and rooting for the Hawks every Sunday. I'm just grateful to be a part of it all and hope that despite my short time as a 12th man, I'm not considered a "bandwagon fan" anymore.

I think you could say the same moving to any city about the love they have for their team, I do not believe it is unique to Seattle. The Bills suck, but those are some die hards.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I guess that is another main part of my issue. The real fans celebrated the title with class. The bandwagon crowd ran around chest puffed out, talking smack to other teams fans that they know, when we know for a fact the did not give a crap about the Hawks 5 years ago.

Now this I agree with, newer fans tend to be the most obnoxious because they don't have that humility from living through all the misery.

 

[grizbob]

It's not when you got on, but when you get off that makes you a "band wagon" (aka fair weather) fan ukeface:

 

[SnoCoHawk]

Creating a poll seems a roundabout way of coming on here to bitch about the bandwagon fans you're seeing around you. (In Washington State, no less. What else would you expect?) If you consider that to be one of your bigger problems, then I envy you your charmed life.

The fact is that bandwagon fans will jump on when a team is winning - you can't deny the same thing would happen with the Eagles or any other team in any other sport. Some of those new fans will stay, some will fade away, and most will probably fall somewhere in between. I have no problem with people who are intermittently enthusiastic about anything...I personally have too many interests that have come and gone to cast that stone. I just don't see how it affects me, or anyone else, what another person does regarding their sports team interests.

 

[kjreid]

People throw around the "band wagon fan" so they have someone to look down upon. a fan is a fan is a fan and its ridiculous to have someone think they are "far superior fans" because they went through the "suffering" of bad years. BIG DEAL. if you love a team it doesn't matter what anyone else does or thinks.

 

[HawkFan72]

I have no problem with bandwagon fans.

They have some fun cheering for good teams. But I came to the realization a while ago that they will never experience the lows that a true, lifelong fan will. As a result, they can never experience the highs the way a lifelong fan can, either.

It's their loss.

 

[Msfann]

The WORST part of team success is the big blank contests (keeping it clean) between the fans about who is better or who has been a fan longer etc. Once the teams make it to the super bowl everything goes crazy and it gets 10x worse.

 

[gulliver]

Games at the Clink would be so much better if we ONLY let in the 100 purest Seahawks fans and sent the rest packing. In order to be considered pure, you must:

(1) Have been following since 1976, even (especially) if you weren't born yet
(2) Own at least $5000 worth of Seahawks merchandise
(3) Been to every game since the Ford administration, home and away (we'll need to see ticket stubs)
(4) No "man caves"--real fans watch games in person
(5) Been divorced at least twice over your excessive commitment to the team
(6) Done hard time for strangling a 49ers fan to death with your bare hands
(7) Declared bankruptcy due to the ruinous cost of the Hawk fan lifestyle
(8) At least 3 current Seahawks players have a restraining order against you
(9) Have given up children for adoption in their teens as you couldn't juggle both commitments
(10) Spent time in 'stadium jail' in both the Kingdome and the Clink

At that point, you will have to pass a series of oral examinations and trivia quizzes before reaching the final round, where you must defeat Cortez Kennedy in hand-to-hand combat.

Now obviously we could no longer afford the lease at the Clink, but I don't see what's stopping us from turning Everett HS into one of the most ferocious, small-stadium HFAs in the league. Imagine the tailgates!

That is how other teams do it, or at least that's what I understand from all the other fanbases I see who apparently don't have any bandwagoners. Must be nice.

 

[Sarlacc83]

It's the price of success.

I also notice that this question only gets asked by fans who have to take a moral victory over a real one.

 

[SPIRITOF12]

Making “band wagon” fans an issue is juvenile. Is the goal of the Seahawks or any Team in the NFL to GROW their Fan base or to keep it as is? To grow, of course. Kind of like church - they reach out to the surrounding community to grow the congregation. To make fun, or discount the contributions of new or returning NFL fans, would be like making fun and discounting the contributions of a new member to your church. It just isn’t done, and we should not condone it in the great sport of Professional Football.
And to those fans who have fallen away during the dark years (Holmgren) who have come back in droves in 2012 and 2013, I say welcome back, we missed you.

 

[downundermike]

Reading the bulk of replies, I did not realize I was so far in the minority on this issue. I guess I will be a **** when I call out Eagles band wagon fans in the future.

I really did think that true life long fans hated the band wagon fans more than this. I guess I am wrong.

I guess if they displayed as much class as life long fans it would be a non issue.

 

[grizbob]

It occurs to me that so many here have no idea how lucky we all are. When social media and the best Seahawks team meet their apex simultaneously

 

[Zebulon Dak]

Reading the bulk of replies, I did not realize I was so far in the minority on this issue. I guess I will be a **** when I call out Eagles band wagon fans in the future.

I really did think that true life long fans hated the band wagon fans more than this. I guess I am wrong.

Well there's not really anything that can be done about it. Sure it kind of makes me sick seeing Seahawks logos all over the place when 3 years ago there was virtually none, knowing the chances of that person understanding the pain and heartbreak I've had to endure while wearing that logo before it was cool. But what am I supposed to do, beat them up? Hell, at least it's not a 9ers or stealers logo.

The fan base has grown immensely, hopefully it just stays that way. It's kind of nice having a larger army.

 

[SnoCoHawk]

Reading the bulk of replies, I did not realize I was so far in the minority on this issue. I guess I will be a **** when I call out Eagles band wagon fans in the future.

I really did think that true life long fans hated the band wagon fans more than this. I guess I am wrong.

I guess if they displayed as much class as life long fans it would be a non issue.

I think you'll find that you're just fine with your own team's bandwagon fans. It's a "problem" that other teams' fans create and it stems from jealousy.

 

[NorCalHawk12]

Games at the Clink would be so much better if we ONLY let in the 100 purest Seahawks fans and sent the rest packing. In order to be considered pure, you must:

(1) Have been following since 1976, even (especially) if you weren't born yet
(2) Own at least $5000 worth of Seahawks merchandise
(3) Been to every game since the Ford administration, home and away (we'll need to see ticket stubs)
(4) No "man caves"--real fans watch games in person
(5) Been divorced at least twice over your excessive commitment to the team
(6) Done hard time for strangling a 49ers fan to death with your bare hands
(7) Declared bankruptcy due to the ruinous cost of the Hawk fan lifestyle
(8) At least 3 current Seahawks players have a restraining order against you
(9) Have given up children for adoption in their teens as you couldn't juggle both commitments
(10) Spent time in 'stadium jail' in both the Kingdome and the Clink

At that point, you will have to pass a series of oral examinations and trivia quizzes before reaching the final round, where you must defeat Cortez Kennedy in hand-to-hand combat.

Now obviously we could no longer afford the lease at the Clink, but I don't see what's stopping us from turning Everett HS into one of the most ferocious, small-stadium HFAs in the league. Imagine the tailgates!

That is how other teams do it, or at least that's what I understand from all the other fanbases I see who apparently don't have any bandwagoners. Must be nice.

Dang it, I missed some games when I was doing hard time.
On a more serious note, did you know Steve Raible has only missed one Seahawks game...ever??? That is some crazy fandom right there. Oh, wait...

 

[fenderbender123]

I'd rather have people jump on the bandwagon than not give a rats ass that our home-town professional football franchise is winning championships and playing the most exciting football I've ever seen in my life.

Honestly, I get how a bandwagon fan can be annoying...but let's not forget that they are an essential ingredient to professional sports. Bandwagon fans mean more ticket and merchandise sales. They boost TV ratings. Bandwagon and fairweather fans are practically the entire reason why teams compete so hard to be the best in the first place. We should be thanking them instead of calling them out, IMO.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Reading the bulk of replies, I did not realize I was so far in the minority on this issue. I guess I will be a **** when I call out Eagles band wagon fans in the future.

I really did think that true life long fans hated the band wagon fans more than this. I guess I am wrong.

I guess if they displayed as much class as life long fans it would be a non issue.

You have to remember that the annoying fans you're talking about are unfortunately the minority of troll fans that roam the fan boards talking crap. So it gives a skewed perception of the fanbases as a whole.

Most Hawk fans are busy all week with work, kids and normal life and don't interact at all with other fanbases until gameday when they're sitting in their seats. It's the college kid with school three hours a day and the rest of the day is spent trolling fan sites being a jackass that other fanbases see.

 

[Uncle Si]

It's such weak sauce to be annoyed by bandwagon fans. This whole "you haven't suffered" so you can't be a fan and enjoy the sport for as long as you want is beyond ridiculous. What I don't like are stupid fans. Fans that have no knowledge of the game and think they do. But then everyone, in all areas, that think they know when they don't are annoying. New fans fall into this category more often and that can be trying. But not nearly as long time fans that still don't know what they're talking about.

SC

Good input. I guess it is more annoying being in the teams territory. Every team has a bandwagon I guess, but everyone around me is part of it right now. They don't know crap about football, and don't know that much about the Hawks, and I have to suffer through it all day every day.

Hell, I didn't even see any of them when I went out to Hawks camp when it was here at EWU.

yeah, im surrounded by Viking/Twins fans here, and it gets annoying.

not much you can do though