Detroit Listed as a Bandwagon Fan Base

[martinezsvsu 240]

here in michigan when the tigers pistons and lions are good people will show up but when they are bad people will disappear. red wings are a constant, partially because they are always good, but most of all because this is hockey town and michigan loves hockey.

[ZachPariseisMyDaddy 1]

A few things:

1. What is his team? I bet he believes they have the most passionate fan base.

2. If you are going to write an article, what is your goal? Getting traffic. Attack the large fan bases and you'll get more views.

By looking at his archives, I think he's a Canucks fan...

OP: Why, exactly, are you outraged at the words of some random blogger?

I don't know... because I'm a passionate fan? Haha, who knows.

[Marty Barry 230]

We may have a lot of bandwagon fans, but you have to admit, our wagon IS pretty pimp.

[ZachPariseisMyDaddy 1]

We may have a lot of bandwagon fans, but you have to admit, our wagon IS pretty pimp.

Of course. Everyone loves winners. Can't complain!

[Echolalia 2,961]

here in michigan when the tigers pistons and lions are good people will show up but when they are bad people will disappear. red wings are a constant, partially because they are always good, but most of all because this is hockey town and michigan loves hockey.

I dunno, dude, the Lions have been about as consistently terrible as you can get, and they're still maintaining a pretty strong fan-base.

[vladdy16 2,154]

Honestly, I think a big part of this is that the Wings have been so successful for so long. People my age generally aren't doing message boards - I just happen to be more hip than most. My generation is the die hard generation; no one dares question us. Anyone born after 1980 is going to be hard pressed to not be called a bandwagoner.

[55fan 5,133]

When people call me "bandwagon" for supporting the Wings, I point out that I have also supported the Lions for 4.5 decades. No one ever accuses a Lions fan of being a bandwagoner.

I live in an area where there aren't a lot of pro hockey fans. If I see someone in Wings gear, I talk to them. Most are actual Wings fans, but some are just "oh, I got the coat for free" or "oh, it just looks cool". I just want to smack them.

I get excited when I meet someone who actually knows their stuff, but I'll settle for "ooooh, Zetterberg's so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute!"

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I dunno, dude, the Lions have been about as consistently terrible as you can get, and they're still maintaining a pretty strong fan-base.

That's what I've always said.

Detroit is a great hockey market but it's not really Hockeytown (any more than other great hockey cities). It's definitely footballtown though because the Lions have been awful for decades and fans still faithfully go to games and watch them on tv.

Whereas when the Wings were awful long long ago, Joe Louis was empty.

[kipwinger 8,524]

I've consistently hated the Lions for as long as I can remember. Hence, I don't watch any football ever. Not sure what that makes me, but I certainly didn't tune in last season when they looked impressive. That said, I did have partial season tickets the year the Tigers set the record for most losses. Ugh.

[BigWillieStyle 662]

Another article article that fails to look into the reason that Detroit has so many fans around the country. He surely wasn't born before the first great migration in the early to mid 70's. Probably not born before the large migration that took place from 79-83. Maybe was in diapers during the 86-92 movement of jobs out of the state and subsequent economic downturn. Probably not even familiar with the all of the economic issues in the Detroit area that drove more people out of the state looking for work elsewhere during the 2000's. I can't for the life of me, see how there could be so many Wings fans across the country?

Every team has "bandwagon" fans using this guys reasoning. Put Vancouver at the bottom of the standings for a few years, and his team will help show how dedicated their fans are, too. Outside of Toronto, Montreal, and The Rangers, every team will have empty seats if they don't put a competitive team on the ice.

[martinezsvsu 240]

yes the lions do have very very loyal fans but when they finished 10-6 many people came out of no where to support them

[pvilleguru 65]

I don't see how Detroit isn't a bandwagon team. That's not saying you are a bandwagon fan. It's just a lot of Red Wings fans are fans because of their success since the 90s. Teams like Pittsburgh may be bigger bandwagon teams right now, but Detroit is still one of the top ones. It's amazing how many of the fans down here in the South are either Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, etc. fans.

[Guest Crymson]

I don't see how Detroit isn't a bandwagon team. That's not saying you are a bandwagon fan. It's just a lot of Red Wings fans are fans because of their success since the 90s. Teams like Pittsburgh may be bigger bandwagon teams right now, but Detroit is still one of the top ones. It's amazing how many of the fans down here in the South are either Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, etc. fans.

You're not accounting for Michigan's massive outbound rate. The vast majority of Wings fans I know who live outside of Michigan are either folks who moved away from Michigan or the children of people who moved away from Michigan. More, I don't think that one refer to any longer as 'bandwagon fans' people who became fans of the Wings in the mid or late 90s and are still big fans today.

Your post is, in sum, very much assumptive.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Crymson

[Electrophile 3,554]

I get excited when I meet someone who actually knows their stuff, but I'll settle for "ooooh, Zetterberg's so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute!"

Well.........

[pvilleguru 65]

You're not accounting for Michigan's massive outbound rate. The vast majority of Wings fans I know who live outside of Michigan are either folks who moved away from Michigan or the children of people who moved away from Michigan. More, I don't think that one refer to any longer as 'bandwagon fans' people who became fans of the Wings in the mid or late 90s and are still big fans today.

Your post is, in sum, very much assumptive.

I live in Alabama and went to the Wings game in Atlanta a few years ago and a playoff game this year in Nashville. There were a ton of wings fans at both games. I'd wager a large sum of money that most of those people have no affiliation with Detroit or Michigan. Many people in the 90s AND EVEN TODAY are became and are becoming Red Wing fans simply because they are winning. I know a lot of people that have recently started watching the NHL and are choosing to become fans of other teams because they DON'T want to be viewed as bandwagon fans. Having bandwagon fans is NOT a bad thing. It simply means you are doing something right.

[dobbles 252]

OP: Why, exactly, are you outraged at the words of some random blogger?

considering he joined today and has pretty much only posted in this topic, it kinda feels like he is the writer of the article and just coming to drum up traffic.

regarding the topic, sure theres going to be a black area with the wings because they have been successful for so long. fans of other teams assume that wings fans are only fans because they are winning. whether or not its true can only be shown by having lean years which everyone here hopes we can continue to avoid.

regarding the hawks, i give them a little leniency. part of their resurgence was old man wirtz dieing. it was hard to be a fan of the hawks when you couldnt even watch their games on the local sports network. old man wirtz seemed to go out of his way to make is really really hard to be a hawks fan. him passing not only allowed more people to get interested in the hawks thanks to the increased exposure, but it also caused some fans to come back to the team after sometimes boycotting the hawks or at least minimizing their fanhood because of the hatred they had for wirtz.

Edited January 11, 2013 by dobbles

[Guest Playmaker]

How can you not say the Wings have bandwagon fans...they have almost worse than bandwagon, they have complacent fans who are bored with anything less than the Stanley Cup...don't tell me about all the sellouts...those are clearly sellouts in name only...The last several years the Wings have had trouble selling out playoff games in the early rounds...Making the playoffs isn't even considered exciting around here anymore...

[Guest irishock]

^ The same goes for many franchises outside the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. It's just that we're nowhere near as bad as Pittsburgh and Chicago.

[Nightfall 871]

I dunno, dude, the Lions have been about as consistently terrible as you can get, and they're still maintaining a pretty strong fan-base.

Those aren't bandwagon fans. Those are real fans that bleed Honolulu Blue. They are not people who are just there to watch a good team win and ***** about how every player sucks.

[Guest Johnz96]

Well.....yeah sure....What does that have anything to do with it being silly to worry about someone saying we have bandwagon fans.....And so what is someone is a true bandwagon fan.....I still don't get it. Just seems like an elitist jerk mentality to me. We want the sport to grow but we don't want fans to love the good teams like our unless they have been a fan for 10+ years. We don't want any fans in the southern states because they don't have enough cold weather....yeah sounds silly to me.

You gotta be good to have band wagon fans

[ZachPariseisMyDaddy 1]

considering he joined today and has pretty much only posted in this topic, it kinda feels like he is the writer of the article and just coming to drum up traffic.

regarding the topic, sure theres going to be a black area with the wings because they have been successful for so long. fans of other teams assume that wings fans are only fans because they are winning. whether or not its true can only be shown by having lean years which everyone here hopes we can continue to avoid.

regarding the hawks, i give them a little leniency. part of their resurgence was old man wirtz dieing. it was hard to be a fan of the hawks when you couldnt even watch their games on the local sports network. old man wirtz seemed to go out of his way to make is really really hard to be a hawks fan. him passing not only allowed more people to get interested in the hawks thanks to the increased exposure, but it also caused some fans to come back to the team after sometimes boycotting the hawks or at least minimizing their fanhood because of the hatred they had for wirtz.

Yep, you're exactly right.

Actually I've been a lifelong Red Wings fan and have never be apart of any forum. I stumbled across this one today and thought it was pretty awesome...Thanks for the warm welcome.

[Guest The Axe]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="55fan" data-cid="2339123" data-time="1357858533"><p>

When people call me "bandwagon" for supporting the Wings, I point out that I have also supported the Lions for 4.5 decades. No one ever accuses a Lions fan of being a bandwagoner.<br />

<br />

I live in an area where there aren't a lot of pro hockey fans. If I see someone in Wings gear, I talk to them. Most are actual Wings fans, but some are just "oh, I got the coat for free" or "oh, it just looks cool". I just want to smack them. <br />

<br />

I get excited when I meet someone who actually knows their stuff, but I'll settle for "ooooh, Zetterberg's so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute!"</p></blockquote>

Lie Down fans are hard core!

[Guest Crymson]

How can you not say the Wings have bandwagon fans...they have almost worse than bandwagon, they have complacent fans who are bored with anything less than the Stanley Cup...don't tell me about all the sellouts...those are clearly sellouts in name only...The last several years the Wings have had trouble selling out playoff games in the early rounds...Making the playoffs isn't even considered exciting around here anymore...

They are most certainly not sellouts in name only. The empty seats one sees in the lower bowl are corporate types who didn't show up. The upper bowl, which is rarely shown, is always full.

As for the difficulty in selling out early playoff games, this has been an issue since 2007... and the Wings were at the top of the league back then. It makes no sense for you to first say that the difficulty selling out playoff games indicates troubles when, in fact, the Wings were a tremendously good team when this began happening. Perhaps you should take into account the fact that the past six years have constituted one of the worst economic periods in Michigan's history.

I live in Alabama and went to the Wings game in Atlanta a few years ago and a playoff game this year in Nashville. There were a ton of wings fans at both games. I'd wager a large sum of money that most of those people have no affiliation with Detroit or Michigan.

Consider doing some research, then. As things stand, your claim has no logical basis.

Many people in the 90s AND EVEN TODAY are became and are becoming Red Wing fans simply because they are winning.

The 90s don't really count anymore. That was a long time ago. As for today, would you care to show your data on this one? Your claim doesn't make much sense; there have been teams that have been far more dominant over the past three seasons than the Wings.

I know a lot of people that have recently started watching the NHL and are choosing to become fans of other teams because they DON'T want to be viewed as bandwagon fans. Having bandwagon fans is NOT a bad thing. It simply means you are doing something right.

I find this very hard to believe.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Crymson

[luvmnger 125]

When people call me "bandwagon" for supporting the Wings, I point out that I have also supported the Lions for 4.5 decades. No one ever accuses a Lions fan of being a bandwagoner.

I live in an area where there aren't a lot of pro hockey fans. If I see someone in Wings gear, I talk to them. Most are actual Wings fans, but some are just "oh, I got the coat for free" or "oh, it just looks cool". I just want to smack them.

I get excited when I meet someone who actually knows their stuff, but I'll settle for "ooooh, Zetterberg's so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute!"

i hear you loud and clear!

as everyone knows...albuquerque is a HOTBED of hockey players/fans as well...so when i see a jersey, ( any team except pens, and avalanche) i give them a nod of understanding/chat.

but for the record i have seen 1 whaler jersey, 1 senator jersey,1 sabres,2 blues, 2 kings, a few stars,pens,avalanche, and an ass load of WINGS!

so the red is rocking the desert fo-shur.

[kipwinger 8,524]

To me this whole conversation reminds me of something I used to hear when I lived out East. "Ask a pink hat" was a segment on Boston's sports radio in which EXTREMELY self righteous Red Sox fans made fun of girls who came to the games but didn't know anything about baseball. On the surface it was kind of funny, but I could never help thinking about how the two overweight, middle aged, talk show hosts would gladly exchange their press passes or season tickets for one night with the "pink hats". Here's a link to the "pink hat" segment. Listen to it, it's fairly humorous, but take it with a grain of salt. I'd gladly wager my paycheck that most of these "true fans" do something equally superficial on a daily basis if anyone were to hold them under the same sort of microscope.

Edited January 11, 2013 by kipwinger