I have been so depressed

since they have changed 92.3 into only sports talk radio…. 

I am very uncomfortable with the current hashtag (#HowToTellIfTheyreBandwagoners) and the seemingly neverending discussion about Bandwagon fans.

First of all, why does it bother you so much? like, for real? I have a hard time believing these bandwagon fans are ruining the games for you.

More importantly though, based on the comments I am seeing (and see regularly), it’s as though people have a really hard time understanding that there are varying degrees of interest in and knowledge about a sport and that not everyone gets into a particular sport at a young age. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere and sometimes a lack of knowledge is a reflection of the fact that they got into the sport later than you did. This idea that someone else’s way of being a fan has to meet your standards of being a fan is fairly ridiculous.

A common one I see is “you don’t know X player was on Y team 5, 10, even 15 years ago. Bandwagoner!!!!” Like, what? I just got into hockey last spring and there is only but so much information I can soak up. Because what the fuck does this really have to do with my loving the game now? Am I supposed to be apologizing for not knowing everything or for only discovering hockey late last season? (my favorite example is this Rangers related one… FFS, the man retired in ‘88, you can’t expect everyone to know this. Yes saying “Potvin sucks!” at Rangers games is a ~time honored~ tradition but I only learned this after going to a Rangers game for the first time and having it explained to me by my friends)

There’s also the “YOU DON’T KNOW THE RULES OR STRATEGY!!!” crew. Well yeah, because again, everyone has to start somewhere? Case in point, Game 5. Senators. Rangers. Senators are leading the game 1-0. With a minute or so left in the third period, Lundqvist leaves the net. Wait what the fuck is happening?! Guess what? That was my first game, so of course I didn’t know what was happening (this is a common complaint I see from Bandwagon finger pointers…like I’m sorry if someone is new to this game, that move initially makes no sense, stop acting like everyone magically knows rules and strategy from the get go)

Here’s one that actually describes me to a T and oddly enough for a long time I refused to say “we” when referring to the Kings as a result (now I don’t care because really, fuck you, I don’t owe you an explanation though I will provide one anyway). Here’s the thing: when the Stanley Cup Final started, I turned on my TV and initially I had very few feelings on the matter. I sort of thought “well I don’t really care about this because the Rangers aren’t in it and yeah fuck the Devils! but the Kings still aren’t the Rangers so who cares?” except when the Kings got their first goal? I was so excited for them and I was not expecting that. And you know what, it IS common practice to root for the team that’s up against the team that knocked yours out of the playoffs. It’s also pretty common practice to root for a team so that you can continue watching a sport you love with some investment. This…this isn’t a hard concept and I really won’t knock anyone for doing it. I just so happened to continue loving that team after the playoffs were over. But if that makes me a bandwagoner, well then so be it! That said props n such to all the Kings fans who were there from early on, and especially those who waited 45 years for a Stanley Cup win. But that said, it doesn’t make those who weren’t around since the franchise’s inception awful people. Give me a break.

Someone (probably Conan but I can’t remember anymore) remarked last June that Los Angeles just discovered they have a hockey team! And you know what, there probably are a lot of people who discovered hockey after the LA Kings won the Stanley Cup or heard about how they were basically plowing through the competition during the playoffs (16-4 muhfuckers with only 1 road loss!). And maybe this did spark an interest in hockey for them. I really don’t see the problem with that. You have to start somewhere. (also keep in mind that the lockout may have cost the Kings some new fans but I hope not).

Anyway, that was a long post about a subject that’s been getting on my nerves for a while now. Like if you’re the type of person who claims to be a diehard fan of a winning team and then you stop being a fan when that team hits a rough patch and hop onto the new winning team’s wagon (and you keep doing that), then yes you are a bandwagoner. But really I stand by the “why does this bother you so much, diehard fans?” why are you so caught up in what is the “right way” to be a fan? Not everyone is going to care about the same things you do in the same way you do.

*you know I’d initially planned to tailor this post to both hockey and baseball but then I noticed most of the tweets today were hockey related so I stuck to that. But make no mistake, I see this shit in all sports.

Twitter Brawl

Is anyone seeing this brawl over twitter right now between David Boreanaz and some other person over baseball a Phillies and Giants talk! David is hilarious I just love it. I hope the other guy feels like a fool now!

OK SO Shane Doan wasn’t nominated for the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy thing but congrats to Adam McQuaid for being nominated.