Bandwagon fans ruin Boston victory

The Hot Corner

After watching the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox slug their way through a seven-game series last week, many thoughts went through my head. None were more prevalent than the vision of bandwagon Red Sox fans on the JMU campus.

To be fair, I will post the disclaimer loud and clear: I am a diehard Yankees fan. However, my seething anger has subsided in recent days. It is directed toward the aforementioned fair-weather Sox fans, — not Johnny Damon and his Cro-Magnon appearance.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, I will elaborate. The "bandwagon" effect is all too common in sports. It occurs when an individual jumps from team to team at whim depending upon who is winning. Personally, I can’t stand it and, last week, I found this practice to be more common at JMU than I initially suspected it would be.

There’s nothing quite like walking through D-hall and seeing someone sporting a fitted, smells-like-new-car, sticker-still-on-the-bill Boston Red Sox hat the day after the Sox vanquish the Yankees in Game 7. It’s front-running at its finest and it makes me want to break furniture.

Apparently, I was wrong when I read that JMU primarily is composed of in-state residents. Apparently, I live in New England because everyone down here really loves the Red Sox. Unfortunately, I’m not stupid enough to believe that, and I’m willing to bet at least half of the Red Sox fans on this campus are of the bandwagon persuasion — depressed Baltimore Orioles fans who are looking for a reason to smile. Here’s a memo — you aren’t fooling anyone.

Don’t misjudge me. I have the utmost respect for the diehard Fenway Park faithful and equal disregard for all bandwagoners — even if they cheer for the Yankees. People who don’t think Sox fans are tough don’t know what they’re talking about. It takes courage to cheer for a team that’s been cursed since the Woodrow Wilson administration, and I respect that.

And that’s why fair-weather fans should feel ashamed of themselves. They have no allegiance. They’re only Red Sox fans because it’s the cool thing to do right now. Next year they’ll latch onto another team. In the case of the Red Sox, the bandwagon class of 2004 is strolling right into a World Series.

Congratulations — you’re testament to everything that is wrong with sports loyalty. I hope you’re happy.

If it really is the Red Sox’s time, then it should be objectively embraced as the end of a baseball era; the death of an 86-year-old curse. However, this statement does not condone the actions of certain bandwagon fans wearing brand-new Orlando Cabrera T-shirts and sporting away messages like "[four-letter-word] the Yankees!" Those actions are childish, shallow and disappointing.

I’ve learned a lot this past week. Sometimes curses can be broken and sometimes the unthinkable can happen. But the most important lesson I’ve learned from baseball this season is that it’s better to be a diehard fan of the team that lost than a fair-weather fan of the team that won. In that regard, I can relate to Red Sox supporters better than any front-runner ever could.

By the end of the month, the 2004 season will be over. If the Sox pull this off, they will entrench themselves in baseball history as curse-busters. It will be a great moment for baseball — one that should be reserved for diehard Boston fans and not their fair-weather companions.

James Irwin is a sophomore SMAD major.