Jumping On The Sports Team Bandwagon

“How many people have been Chiefs fans since 2015?” read part of one social media post that I saw yesterday. Chuckling, I moved on past it and started thinking about when people jump on the bandwagon with certain sports teams, citing unrequited loyalty and trust.

That is, until they lose. Then, continue to flame out.

About the time that the Chiefs defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl 4, was the time when I started following the NFL. I wasn’t a Chiefs fan, but since they were a regional team, you could catch their games on television once in a great while. The Chiefs continued to be competitive with HC Hank Stram at the helm into the 1970’s, then things fall apart, as they usually do with most teams - age, jealousy, trades breaking up the team, bad management, stupid personnel signings, and the usual laundry list of items that suck the life out of squads. Even with head coaches such as Marv Levy, Marty Schottenheimer, Dick Vermeil, and Herm Edwards at the helm, the Chiefs could fall into the competitive, yet not so much category year after year. I can count on half a hand the people that I know (and I might be missing a few that I don’t know), that have been Chiefs fans through all the muck and garbage years. Well, you’re certainly rewarded now, folks, with Big Red and crew, that Mahomes kid, plus Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. Yes, indeed.

It’s always interesting to see who jumps from the bandwagon to true fandom during these times. Gosh, that almost twenty-year span when the Patriots were a dominant force seem like ancient history in the rearview mirror, doesn’t it?

I don’t want a medal for my fandom, but then again, dammit, I do. 40 to 50 years following a couple of teams named after some ornithology pursuits deserves something, I suppose, right? Pass the Kleenex, blah, blah, blah.

By the way, new L.A. Dodgers fans - welcome aboard! You got in at the right time. Just don’t start burning your gear when things start to go south in a couple of years. Then again, maybe not - you’ve got the best team that money can buy at the moment. So, soak it up, baby. Old Dodgers fan, and especially the ones going back to the Brooklyn days, I salute you.

Through savvy merchandising, salespersonship, and continual brand awareness, some teams keep the money coming in and the fanbase buying the tickets and the gear, even though they are complete shit at this point. Uh, Cowboy fans, you might want to disregard that last statement. Then again, we are only at the mid-season point.

Like the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes, anything could happen during the course of a season and your team’s fortunes. Hold off putting the lighter fluid on your jerseys dumped in the dumpster. Of course, last rites could be in order, as well.

Such is fandom. And if you’re on the bandwagon, life is great, until it isn’t with your team. Then you can jump off and start shooting Tik Tok videos with some mannequin that you’ve set on fire in your backyard, that’s wearing your team merchandise.

Isn’t fun to be a fan? Boy howdy!