Bandwagon Fan? Yes? No? (Casey)

Have you ever noticed that after every Super Bowl you begin seeing everyone wearing gear from the team that just won? Or after this years NBA playoffs there were many many people wearing Heat garb? Or after the Utes went to the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, invite to the Pac 12, how many stickers, hats, shirts there are around? Or how loud Utah State fans are now that there team has won some games? Or how BYU fans Just now begin to break out there BYU stuff from there closet or just now get to know who the quarterback is? Well this is the beginning of the sports year and I can guarantee the bandwagon will be going around the country like it does every year picking up front runners and bringing them in. Right now everyone is positive, all teams are starting a new year with a perfect record. But whats going to happen when teams begin to lose? I can guarantee people are going to stop cheering for teams and jump on with another team and start cheering for them. Now I understand its human nature for us to wanna associate ourselves with winners, but the shear number of people in this world that say they are fans when things are good and hide out as soon as things get rough is amazing. The Urban Dictionary describes a Bandwagon fan as, Anyone who claims they are a "fan" of a particular sports team, even though they had no prior support for/interest in the team until that team started winning. These types of fans only show playoff interest, have probably never watched a regular season game, don't own any type of team merchandise, nor would they buy any.
  Lets look at a recent example of Bandwagon fans. This years NBA finals was played between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat. Well in game 6 with the Spurs up by 5 with 21 seconds to go in the game (remember if the Spurs win they win the title) and Miami Fans got up and started to leave.

Well as you see in the clip they were denied re-entry to the game and as they should be had to watch from outside. Its just amazing to me that front runner/bandwagon fans usually are those people that would have nothing to do with a team while its struggling but put a few wins together and suddenly they are a hot ticket.

Now Speaking to Local fan bases ask yourself these question. Where were you when your team was struggling? Were you still watching every game or just catching the highlights here and there? Did you raise your voice in concern about your team as much as you cheered for them or did you go silent and disappear into the background? I think there are a lot of Bandwagon fans especially across this great state, of course there are diehards here as well but you see it every year. This year I have a feeling that the Utah Jazz will go through a big time growing process that will involve pain for the fans and it will be interesting to me to see IF those of us who call ourselves fans will stick with this young team come February. Also I see another tough year for Utah in the Pac 12, Will those fans stick around and continue to sell out that stadium, or will they begin again to have empty seats all over? If BYU has a tough beginning to this year, will the Idaho State game have fans attending? Will Utah State fans continue to talk smack to everyone about how good there team is if they don't win as many game in the Mountain West? Sports fans can be loyal almost to a fault but some can also be very wishy washy when it comes to who they root for. So if your gonna jump on a bandwagon this year, lets just hope you decide to ride on that wagon for good, even if you hit some bumps in the road.