Red Sox fandom in the post-"curse" era

Fuck yes, I have a green Sox cap as my avatar. I'm an Irish-American and a Sox fan. And I'm not complaining about the Pink Hat crew.

Mayfly, I'm not saying bandwagon fans are ok. I'm just saying that they're an ineviatble by-product of success. Hate them if you want, fine, whatever, all fanboyism is subjective and there's no "right" or "wrong" about it. I just find it silly that Sox fans feel deeply threatened by their bandwagon while other fans like Yankees or Cowboys fans just shrug it off as a predictable aspect of being a winner.

 

At Pitt, our bandagon is an actual wagon.

 

Does that boy in the back look overly happy? More so than the girl in the front?

 

By morning, that young man will have Wlat's head photoshopped onto him

 

One must say this much -- they are the new Evil Empire. Because if Lucchiano dubbed the Yankees the "Evil Empire" because of all the money they spent to win the bidding on a Cuban defect, then you could make an argument the Red Sox went way beyond that when it came to Dice-K this past offseason.

OK, carry on ...

 

Same argument could be made about the Braves through the 90s. They were America's Team, damnit! Until people got tired of their shit. The same will happen and some other team will come along in the next five years to be the national bandwagon team. May it be the Royals.

I went to Turner for the first time this summer. I'm a lifelong Braves fan, but hadn't been to a game in 10 years because life got in the way and I moved from the South. But, goddamn, there were a shitload of Red Sox fans for that series in June. In fucking Atlanta, they crawled out from under the rocks! And on a Monday!

 

The pink hatters are a New England thing. Sure, it's been exported elsewhere, but they were around in 2003-04 as well.

Anyone who's spent any significant amount of time in New England can easily spot the sense of ownership with which they treat their history, their arts, their ideals, so on so forth ... the Red Sox are an extension of that. It produces a lot of the region's general arrogance, but it is theirs.

 

But ... but ... but ... Ted told me they were America's Team! :'(

 

don't mind so much when fans jump on the bandwagon--as long as they realize that once they're on, there is no jumping off. not ever.

 

Dang, SC, that's not really fair. I suppose I could have left out the personal anecdotes, but I was making a point about what might be the most idiosyncratic fan base in the US. Fan behavior's a perfectly legitimate topic for a sports journalists' message board.

Arrogance comes in many flavors. I come from Texas, a place widely renowned for arrogance, but we don't get our rawhide thongs in a twist if someone else wants to like our teams. But, LJB, I think you nailed it with the word "ownership"...the more rabid of the longtime Sox fans don't want to share their team with the country, and that's just weird. Did Celts fans feel that way about their bandwagon when it existed? How about Pats fans and their current bandwagon? Seems like the Sox have been a particular magnet for the region's bitterness.

 

A big reason why the Sox can spend as much money as they do on a team is because of the revenue those bandwagon fans bring in from purchasing those pink hats, jerseys, tickets, etc. And I'm sure the team will make a boatload of money from this World Series title and the merchandise that is already flying off the shelves.

Bandwagon fans = $$. No salary cap = spending that money. The Sox would still spend up near the top if they didn't recieve as much revenue as they currently do, but it certainly helps.

 

1. The term “pink hat contingent” is just dumb. I’m sorry. But the reality is that a pink hat is perfectly acceptable if you are willing to accept the premise that a Red Sox logo can be placed on a golf shirt and worn. Or maybe you play golf and find it acceptable to wear a Red Sox logoed golf glove. Of course, the Red Sox are a baseball team and thus don’t ever wear golf gloves, but it is much more fun to sound off on pink hats than the whole hypocrisy.

2. Winning titles does not equal obnoxiousness. Yes the Red Sox have won less total titles but that isn’t where someone is going when it is said, “The Red Sox are the new Yankees.” It usually means that the Red Sox are an annoying bunch of self-entitled assholes.

3. On the subject of fandom, I find it very odd that anyone would support a team that isn’t their regional team.