How is "Bandwagon Fans" an insult from opposing fans?

[HawkAroundTheClock]

I'm not an adept smack talker, but I can sniff out lame efforts. At the risk of parsing the fun out of it, I don't understand how Panthers fans saying "Seahawks fans are bandwagon fans" is an insult.

1) I know when I became a fan and I know the Seahawks have been my only team. So the lame smack talkers aren't talking to me. And they aren't talking to the dozens of others at .NET who preceded me in fandom, nor the tens of thousands who grew up watching Zorn, Largent, and Tez. Even those who followed Russell Wilson or Pete Carroll from their collegiate affiliations are welcomed into the family of 12s. Yet Panthers fans keep saying "that fan base is nothing but bandwagoners" and the like. Huh? I could say Panthers fans are nothing but popsicle sticks with bobble heads taped on, but it doesn't make it so.

2) If some football fans rooted for other teams last year or the year before, then decided to follow the Seahawks, they must have decided it's more fun to root for a winning team and awesome organization. So, are we longtime fans supposed to be insulted that fickle people recognize that our team is great? If the Panthers were worthy, the fickle fans would gravitate there. So what?

3) If Panthers fans are offended by boisterous, chest-thumping, brand-new Seahawks fans, then why don't they specifically call them out? If they feel they are confronted by a know-nothing, bandwagon fan, why don't they quiz that particular fan or deride that fan's lack of commitment? The blanket statement just doesn't make sense.

4) The only people I see bandwagon fans insulting are the longtime fans of the same team. I mean, if some jack wagon comes here sporting blue and green, talking smack, and puffing him or herself up as a superfan but doesn't know the current lineup, doesn't understand how we got to the top of the heap, or has no idea who Tim Ruskell, Ken Behring, or Chuck Knox are, that's going to annoy the fans who've been bleeding blue and green through the good times and bad. That makes sense.

Otherwise, whatever Panthers fans or any other team's fans have to say about it doesn't mean squat. Our favorite football organization retired a number in our honor back in 1984*. Our loyalty was recognized 30 years ago with a number that reflects our close connection with the players on the field. When the NFL introduced the excessive noise penalty in 1989, Seahawks fans in the Kingdome were so rabidly intense they incurred multiple penalties, getting louder with each flag. Eventually, the NFL backed down and revoked that rule. Recently, the league relaxed its restriction on clubs provoking crowd noise – something we've never needed help with, and the only reason Kansas City took the record. Mike Holmgren awarded us fans the game ball for a victory over the Giants in 2005. Matt Hasselbeck, our QB in that game, said the Seahawks would not have won if the game was played in New Jersey. Our team's current uniform incorporates several tributes to us. Our steadfast fandom on the whole is well documented and unwavering throughout our team's history.

(*The man who permanently honored us was Mike McCormack, who as you Panthers fans know was later permanently honored with a statue at your stadium.)

The whole "all you bandwagon fans" doesn't hold an ounce of water. So why do these trolls come along hurling that at a fan base known for being die-hard loyalists who continually create one of the most hostile home field advantages in the league? It's weak. Is that really the best you can do?

We're the reigning champions of the NFL. Everybody loves a winner. Why would we be offended or insulted by any other team's fans whining about it?

 

[SoulfishHawk]

People can say what they want, but to assume a fan base that has sold out every game over a decade is bandwagon is corny. But hey, if you know you're a huge fan, you don't need to justify it to anyone.

 

[Pak-Man12]

I remember when I was a kid and just starting to get into football, the Seahawks were my team since day 1. And this was back when admitting you were a Seahawks fan got you laughed at, back in the early to mid 90s, right here in Washington. Through it all the Hawks were my team. I wore the jackets, the hats, got picked on for it all the time in school, but I loved my Hawks. So now when people say we're bandwagoners I'm part insulted but mostly amused.

 

[Mol3m4n]

It isn't just the Seahwawks fanbase that have bandwagon fans though. You will hear a lot of fans talk bad about Dallas, Pittsburgh, the 49ers, the Patriots, and most recently the Seahawks. This is because many fans don't like the culture that comes along with being a bandwagon fan. MOST bandwagon fans jump onto any team that is winning at the time. They bang on their chest and spout how they love their team, but they don't take the time to learn the tradition and history behind the team until they're on to the next big thing. A lot of people, I could probably claim Seahawks fans too, hate bandwagoners because of the time and effort that true fans put into their team, and it sort of takes away from how special an experience it should be.

However, I don't think anyone on this board is a bandwagon fan because you guys obviously care enough for your team to have an active role on a forum. I do believe the Seahawks have some bandwagoners, but that's to be expected after a super bowl win. As do the panthers after last year, all though that number is dwindling a bit after a 7-8-1 record.

 

[Pak-Man12]

It isn't just the Seahwawks fanbase that have bandwagon fans though. You will hear a lot of fans talk bad about Dallas, Pittsburgh, the 49ers, the Patriots, and most recently the Seahawks. This is because many fans don't like the culture that comes along with being a bandwagon fan. MOST bandwagon fans jump onto any team that is winning at the time. They bang on their chest and spout how they love their team, but they don't take the time to learn the tradition and history behind the team until they're on to the next big thing. A lot of people, I could probably claim Seahawks fans too, hate bandwagoners because of the time and effort that true fans put into their team, and it sort of takes away from how special an experience it should be.

However, I don't think anyone on this board is a bandwagon fan because you guys obviously care enough for your team to have an active role on a forum. I do believe the Seahawks have some bandwagoners, but that's to be expected after a super bowl win. As do the panthers after last year, all though that number is dwindling a bit after a 7-8-1 record.

Very true. Fans for every team crawl out of the woodwork after winning seasons. Growing up I hardly EVER saw someone wearing Seahawks gear. Once we had that '05 season suddenly it's cool to be a Hawks fan and now people are painting houses blue and green. Where was all this fervor when we were 2-14?

 

[Mol3m4n]

It isn't just the Seahwawks fanbase that have bandwagon fans though. You will hear a lot of fans talk bad about Dallas, Pittsburgh, the 49ers, the Patriots, and most recently the Seahawks. This is because many fans don't like the culture that comes along with being a bandwagon fan. MOST bandwagon fans jump onto any team that is winning at the time. They bang on their chest and spout how they love their team, but they don't take the time to learn the tradition and history behind the team until they're on to the next big thing. A lot of people, I could probably claim Seahawks fans too, hate bandwagoners because of the time and effort that true fans put into their team, and it sort of takes away from how special an experience it should be.

However, I don't think anyone on this board is a bandwagon fan because you guys obviously care enough for your team to have an active role on a forum. I do believe the Seahawks have some bandwagoners, but that's to be expected after a super bowl win. As do the panthers after last year, all though that number is dwindling a bit after a 7-8-1 record.

Very true. Fans for every team crawl out of the woodwork after winning seasons. Growing up I hardly EVER saw someone wearing Seahawks gear. Once we had that '05 season suddenly it's cool to be a Hawks fan and now people are painting houses blue and green. Where was all this fervor when we were 2-14?

I've been a Panthers fan since 2000. I was young and it was the home state team. I got very into football and was surprised to find out that no one else had a love for the team that I did. And then in 2003 the panthers started getting a lot of "love". That's when I started having disdain for bandwagon fans. It ticked me off every time someone didn't know that the panthers middle linebacker was Dan "The Man" Morgan. They only knew Steve and Jake.


By the way, you guys have a great guy as a talent evaluator. One of my favorite players all time.

 

[HomerJHawk]

Being a winning, Super bowl kind of team brings out the haters. We are finally getting the attention, being discussed on NFL shows and have personalities that are polarizing. Two to three years ago no one other than the NFC West knew we existed.
Now that they're paying attention, they see there is a large fan base. Its been there all along, they just never payed attention and rightfully so. Now that we're on top, we are the new ones to hate.
Its good to be the king.

Go Hawks!

 

[Sports Hernia]

I'm a bandwagon fan since I was 8, which was in 1976. 8)

 

[Largent80]

Good name for a band.....Bandwagon

Seriously when I was 6 and a beginning drummer, I used to take my drums down the street to my friend's house (beginning guitarist) in my wagon.

All kinds of people are jealous right now because our team is finally relevant, and I could care less what they call me or ask me. I simply say, How is your team doing........ :lol:

 

[12thbrah]

Bandwagon is the "go to" auto respone that every Seahawks hater uses when talking smack. Its stupid thing to say cuz obviously every team that just wins the Super Bowl gets new fans. I read an article recently that the Seahawks since winning the Super Bowl last year had a 27% increase in their fanbase around the country.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I've heard the term "bandwagon fan" dozens of times now over the course of the last 12 months from people all over the country.

Are there a ton of new bandwagon Hawk fans now that they're successful? Sure, my own wife is one of them. Now her and all her friends get excited about hosting Hawk parties each Sunday. IMO that's an awesome thing, the more the merrier.

But as far as other fanbases saying that "bandwagon" means no one in the NW cared about the Hawks before last year? Well those people can go F-themselves. Just because no one outside the NW gave the Hawks any media attention before 2013 doesn't mean we weren't amazing loyal fans that packed stadiums and screamed our lungs out since the Kingdome days..............it's just that no one paid attention until now.

 

[-The Glove-]

I don't even discuss football with anyone once they toss out that word

 

[Grahamhawker]

It's called "sour grapes"

 

[Uncle Si]

I'm not an adept smack talker, but I can sniff out lame efforts. At the risk of parsing the fun out of it, I don't understand how Panthers fans saying "Seahawks fans are bandwagon fans" is an insult.

1) I know when I became a fan and I know the Seahawks have been my only team. So the lame smack talkers aren't talking to me. And they aren't talking to the dozens of others at .NET who preceded me in fandom, nor the tens of thousands who grew up watching Zorn, Largent, and Tez. Even those who followed Russell Wilson or Pete Carroll from their collegiate affiliations are welcomed into the family of 12s. Yet Panthers fans keep saying "that fan base is nothing but bandwagoners" and the like. Huh? I could say Panthers fans are nothing but popsicle sticks with bobble heads taped on, but it doesn't make it so.

2) If some football fans rooted for other teams last year or the year before, then decided to follow the Seahawks, they must have decided it's more fun to root for a winning team and awesome organization. So, are we longtime fans supposed to be insulted that fickle people recognize that our team is great? If the Panthers were worthy, the fickle fans would gravitate there. So what?

3) If Panthers fans are offended by boisterous, chest-thumping, brand-new Seahawks fans, then why don't they specifically call them out? If they feel they are confronted by a know-nothing, bandwagon fan, why don't they quiz that particular fan or deride that fan's lack of commitment? The blanket statement just doesn't make sense.

4) The only people I see bandwagon fans insulting are the longtime fans of the same team. I mean, if some jack wagon comes here sporting blue and green, talking smack, and puffing him or herself up as a superfan but doesn't know the current lineup, doesn't understand how we got to the top of the heap, or has no idea who Tim Ruskell, Ken Behring, or Chuck Knox are, that's going to annoy the fans who've been bleeding blue and green through the good times and bad. That makes sense.

Otherwise, whatever Panthers fans or any other team's fans have to say about it doesn't mean squat. Our favorite football organization retired a number in our honor back in 1984*. Our loyalty was recognized 30 years ago with a number that reflects our close connection with the players on the field. When the NFL introduced the excessive noise penalty in 1989, Seahawks fans in the Kingdome were so rabidly intense they incurred multiple penalties, getting louder with each flag. Eventually, the NFL backed down and revoked that rule. Recently, the league relaxed its restriction on clubs provoking crowd noise – something we've never needed help with, and the only reason Kansas City took the record. Mike Holmgren awarded us fans the game ball for a victory over the Giants in 2005. Matt Hasselbeck, our QB in that game, said the Seahawks would not have won if the game was played in New Jersey. Our team's current uniform incorporates several tributes to us. Our steadfast fandom on the whole is well documented and unwavering throughout our team's history.

(*The man who permanently honored us was Mike McCormack, who as you Panthers fans know was later permanently honored with a statue at your stadium.)

The whole "all you bandwagon fans" doesn't hold an ounce of water. So why do these trolls come along hurling that at a fan base known for being die-hard loyalists who continually create one of the most hostile home field advantages in the league? It's weak. Is that really the best you can do?

We're the reigning champions of the NFL. Everybody loves a winner. Why would we be offended or insulted by any other team's fans whining about it?

The Panthers have been in existence since 1995. by definition they are all "bandwagon" fans

whole thing is dumb. everyone started being a fan at some point.

 

[kjreid]

imo those who throw around the "bandwagon" title as a negative are a bunch of elitist Arses that try to pump themselves up as the "only true" fans that can make judgement. It really is a pathetic thread everytime I see one. BTW, if you go onto the Panther sites that is all they talk about is "those other" teams bandwagoners.......I guess it's because they are not even good enough to have enough fans to attract bandwagoners (or whatever that means?)

 

[StoneCold]

I am a bandwagon, fairweather fan, but I only jump on and off the local teams wagons. If the hawks suck, I got other things to do. If the M's suck I work In the garden. I have an awesome garden.

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

If the M's suck I work In the garden. I have an awesome garden.

LOL. Hell yeah, you do. Just need a 12 flag in there or sump'n.

 

[HawkFan72]

Only fans of inferior teams use "bandwagon fans" as an insult. It's what you go to when you've got nothing else to criticize.

 

[Seanhawk]

I see it more on here with Hawk fans talking about other Hawk fans than anywhere else. I've lived in the Midwest all my life, and in Chicagoland for the last 15 years and I've never once been called a bandwagon fan.

 

[danp1990]

There is no such thing as a bandwagon fan! To be a fan means to be a FANATIC. Definition per Websters dictionary- marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical "devotion" .When I was 12 yrs I became a fanatic of the seahawks,. learning our coaches, players, team history.i devoted myself to this organization and the brotherhood as to say with real fellow 12's in Washington at the time.

You cannot be a fair weather fan because if your on only when we're good and not when their bad.HOW DOES THAT SHOW YOUR DEVOTION? OR EXCESSIVE ENTHUSIASM? I'm happy if some are becoming fans but please don't call yourself a fan If it's only temporary because this takes time and effort from one self.as many as you here on the net are true fans! Fanatics as my self.

I live now in California but I like many others here living far from Seattle, Washington, Or the PNW look up constant news here or various sites to get our seahawks fix.Lol . A Fan is just that! A Fanatic! There through the thick and thin.although I haven't been a fan as many yrs. A much here I've been one since 2003 and haven't been through as many rough patches of seasons but have lived and stuck with the teams let downs in past years.N eways Go Hawks!!! So someone calling any of us a bandwagon fan is retarded! Do you even know what your saying? I don't even really respond to a statement like that, because it makes no sense! Showing that you're the newbie not the one your trying to insult.