Over the course of my existence as a Washington Redskins fan, I have come across my fair share of fair-weather bandwagon jumpers. As a football fan, nothing froths me more than watching some Joe Schmoe go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over this season's flavor of the week running up the score over another hopeless sapling. Then next season when they crash and burn to 8-8 (or worse...) they can look you in the eye and with a straight face say that they were never really a true fan to begin with.
I have the utmost respect for true die-hard fans of their team (even you Philadelphia...and congratulations, you're NOT on this list I am proposing below). I will certainly have my share of run-ins with them and remind them of how many Super Bowls they DON'T have (awww...low blow!), but at the end of the day, I will respect you for sticking to your guns and sailing with your chosen allegiance through thick or thin, in good times and in bad. I demand that same respect for having to put up with nearly 20 consecutive years of unadulterated futility out of my team (it will make the day we DO win it all that much sweeter...it's a matter of when, not if). Therefore, you should demand it out of me. However, I owe nothing to the mindless bandwagon jumper who has so much of a desire to call themselves a winner that their closet is a rainbow of colors of the different jersey's they have purchased in the last 10 years.
Losing stinks (trust me I know), but as any downtrodden New Orleans Saints fan will tell you, when you DO overcome all the odds, adversity, name your cliché, that thrill of victory is a sensation that will override hundereds of years of agony. (As a side note...I did notice that they were fairly quick to bring back the 'Aints moniker after a couple of back to back losses...fickle yes?) Anyway, until this year maybe, you would have had a hard time finding anybody who I would call a "bandwagon" Saints fan. Nobody would jump on a bandwagon just to put a paper grocery bag over their heads, would they? Therefore, as an homage to all of the bandwagoners and bandwagon haters out there, I have compiled an intersport list of the top 10 bandwagon teams of ALL TIME!!! Today we start with #'s 10-6. #'s 5-1 will be tomorrow. Read 'em and weep.
If I was doing this list 15 years ago, these guys would be way higher up than #10, but in the last several years, they have kind of fallen by the wayside as several years of futility start to add up. What this means is that the fans that are left might actually be fans of the Niners for the right reasons. They keep this up, they'll fall off the list all together. In any event, during their run in the 80s and early 90s, plenty of folks jumped on this bandwagon, singing the praises of Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and even Ronnie Lott (if only because of his poor pinky) but ask them who Dwight Clark was, or who John Taylor was they'll say "Clark...he's the New Years Eve guy, right?" "John Taylor...I used to work with that guy...I think" (Extra Credit for the first person in the comments to tell me who those two characters were and what their claim to fame was...honor system please...you don't want to be accused of bandwagon jumping now would you? Rule: you can't ask Bobby Shaulis).
A recent addition to our list, the Pats make it because they are the current flavor of the week, but are quickly losing their temporary support due to their proven cheating in the wake of Spygate. Tom Brady is the ultimate bandwagon idol: Super Bowl MVPs, husband to a hot wife, and a hairdo to beat the band. When they're not looking at video tape, they're spending money on razor blades, credit cards, and Comcast cable. Even their offensive lineman have gotten into the act with that silly Visa commercial from a few years ago. Unfortunately for teams like the Pats, reality tends to set in just as quickly as a stock market crash. Ever since Spygate, they have: blown a perfect season in the Super Bowl (18-D'OH), seen their superstar miss an entire season with a shredded knee, missed the playoffs with an 11-5 record, and have yet to win a playoff game since 2007. The bandwagon is getting increasingly restless and if they want to maintain their tabloid star status, they better start finding ways to win without the tape machine...that or Brady just needs to get a hotter wife.........
8) University of Notre Dame Football
Cheer, Cheer for old Notre Dame...I get that fight song stuck in my head at the least opportune moments. How can you NOT make a list such as this when you have your own network TV deal just to show your team's home games (NBC...which is about to expire this year if I am not mistaken)? That just SCREAMS of bandwagon fodder. If you look in your closet, chances are you probably have some piece of apparell with either the Notre Dame logo or that little leprechaun that just won't go away. Most Notre Dame "fans" will know who Knute Rockne is, or will be able to say they have won one for the Gipper, but in the name of Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz, can you tell me who Bob Davie was? I bet all those 49er fans have green and gold Montana #16 jerseys somewhere lying around. I will take personal pride as the Maryland Terps stick to these guys in November of this year in my presence at de la Plaza del Snydré (FedEx Field). Coach Edsall, I'm looking at you.
The only reason these guys are not higher is because they are a soccer team. The only reason they made this list at all is because they are the one soccer (futbol?) team that EVERYONE knows by heart around the world. The casual American fan of soccer (if there is such a thing), when asked what their favorite team is, more than likely will say Man U...and then balk at the prospect of supporting an MLS team...in their own country! For Pelé's sake, if you're going to like a team that plays their season in England, at least support your local MLS "side." Why are teams in soccer called "sides" anyway? Whatever the case, I can't give you any names...other than Beckham...and that's because he now plays in the States (when he's not moonlighting in Italy) and he, like Brady, has a hot wife. Would that put the Los Angeles Galaxy on this list...maybe in a few years...maybe never. Meanwhile, the Glazers are laughing all the way to the bank, and bringing the Buccaneers along for the ride.
7 years ago, these guys don't even get a sniff on this list, and now they are all the way up to #6. How do you go from lovable losers to bandwagon junkies in the course of 7 years? You declare yourself a "Nation." That's how. Folks, Red Sox Nation is everywhere...not quite as pervasive as another team that will be featured tomorrow, but when your own official website provides updates from the "Nation," you have officially qualified as a Grade A bandwagon squad. It was fun when Johnny Damon wouldn't cut his hair, Schilling had the bloody sock, and they came back and wiped out a 3-0 series deficit to a certain Evil Empire. However, by the time they won the second title in 07, the fun-to-watch label had officially been removed. These guys are just as bad as their rivals' fans. Having been to Boston myself, I see that they take their baseball very seriously. Game On is the place to go, folks. Nevertheless, seeing as many Red Sox hats as I did in Orlando...essentially the home of the other AL East team besides the Yankees that have given them fits for the last 5 years (the Rays...not on the list)...not good.
PS Yes, I know there's a TV program called "Redskins Nation" on CSN. That's just Snyder wishing he had a "nation" like the Red Sox. Redskins fans know who they are...we don't need to call ourselves a "nation."
OK, that's it for the first 5. I'll have #'s 5-1 tomorrow (along with a few dis-honorable mentions. Stay tuned!
I will be very disappointed if the Crapitals don't make that list. I've been a fan before these punks were born, but more importantly, I was a fan during the first 20 years of these punks' lives when they were calling hockey a dumb sport. Now that we're a Stanley Cup contender, all of the sudden, "I was always a Caps fan." I don't buy it.
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