According to dictionary.com, “There are diehard fans, and then there are bandwagon fans. Bandwagon fans only show interest and support for a sports team based on recent successes or popularity, e.g., when their city’s football team is going to or has won the Super Bowl.”
First of all, it is important to know that there are two types of bandwagon fans. There’s the fan whose loyalty shifts around frequently, looking around for the most successful teams every year (or even every couple of months in the most flagrant cases). Then there’s the fan who doesn’t really care about their local team(s) and all of a sudden decides to join in on the party because the team has suddenly started experiencing success. This phenomenon occurs in all sports but there are instances that bother me more than others. Perhaps the sports franchise with the highest number of bandwagon fans is the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. It is not worth anyone’s time being upset at the Dodgers themselves, even if they hog all of the top free agents and because the players play the game dirty (picking fights with opponents over something as petty as the other team celebrating a home run, as well as arguing with umpires over disputed calls on the field.) As frustrating as this is, this feeling of entitlement exhibited by the players is not something that we as fans can control. But what we can do is mock the fair-weather loyalty of the fans.
Here are some examples that clearly demonstrate the hypocrisy and the ignorance of the Dodgers “fan base”:
- Constant calls for the firing of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts for virtually the entire 2017-2019 season, especially during the postseason, until the 2020 season in which they won the World Series. Oh, now he’s a great manager? What about that time where they posted threats to Roberts on twitter? And that time where the entire stadium participated in a “fire Roberts” chant during the 2018 World Series and 2019 NLDS?
- The fact that thousands of Dodger ‘fans’ routinely don’t show up for home games until the 3rd or 4th inning and leave by the 7th or 8th. I imagine that their reason for doing this is to avoid parking and crowd headaches at the beginning of the game and to beat traffic at the end of the game. Another possibility is that Dodger fans don’t much like actual baseball games and can’t be bothered to sit through one in its entirety when there is sushi to be eaten or reality shows to be binged. Having lived in the Los Angeles area for my entire life, I have seen the ebbs and flows of the Dodgers fans’ interest in their team. If this team starts to cool down over the next couple of seasons, the Dodgers will see a noticeable decrease in attendance and merchandise sales. This will affect the team negatively from a financial standpoint, which will then lead to further struggles on the field. Consequently, this will become a vicious cycle and will lead to even more fans abandoning the team. Sadly, the reason for all of this is that Dodgers fans are simply not loyal and do not love the team for the right reasons and do not love the game of baseball.
- The constant criticism of Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw after he gave up back-to-back homers in game 5 of the 2019 NLDS, which the Nationals would eventually go on to win en route to an eventual World Series victory. Yes, he does have a history of not doing so well in the postseason, but does that justify running over his jerseys in the parking lot and setting them on fire after the game? Isn’t that too much considering the fact that he’s a two time Cy Young award winner and 2014 MVP and the all time leader in strikeouts in Dodger history? Do these fans know how much dedication he has to the craft of pitching and about the work he puts into helping people OFF THE FIELD? This is just a glimpse of what he does for the community:
https://www.kershawschallenge.com/.
This just goes to show that this fanbase lacks an appreciation for the recent success that their team has achieved, a level that so many teams would kill for. They have unrealistic expectations for the team and if the team doesn’t immediately perform up to those ridiculously high standards, criticism comes flying in from all directions.
- Then, there is the group of Dodger fans known as Pantone 294 which is a HUGE group of Dodger fans whose main goal is to invade other ballparks and obnoxiously make their presence known to the opposing team’s fans and players. Stadiums that are within driving distance of Dodger Stadium are at the highest risk of getting invaded by this unruly group. I’ve seen them in action in person and it’s annoying. What makes Dodger fans think that they have the right to yell obscenities and troll others teams and fans in their own ballparks? I would answer that it’s a sense of entitlement and a lack of self awareness. As a very wise man once said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
- The image below sums up pretty much everything I’ve been talking about. Pantone 294 has recently bought a sign RIGHT NEXT to Fenway Park, trolling the Boston Red Sox for trading superstar outfielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who has had a tremendous amount of success in the west coast and played a big part in helping the team win its first World Series title in 32 years. A World Series title should be enough to satisfy the fan base. Like, what more can they possibly want? What is more valuable than the privilege of calling themselves champions? Does humiliating the other teams make them feel stronger? If that’s the case, which probably is, that’s just sad. Straight up sad. As coach John Wooden once said, “respect every opponent but fear none”. This is not respecting your opponents.
