4/4/13
Dave Levy
English 101
Sam Hays
Outline: What is the motivation behind a “fair-weather” fan?
- Better and more available media
- More at stake/more intriguing games
- Part of the “winning team” – mob mentality
As an avid sports fan, the “fair-weather” or “bandwagon” fan is amusing, and they pop up every year any time a team is having success. Three or four years ago, when Michigan Wolverine basketball was still mired in scandal and rebuilding from sequential losing seasons, the “Rah-Rah” fan base for the team was dormant. Fast forward to this season, with the team headed to the Final Four, and the fans are everywhere; packed into every bar, on every message board, and calling into the local sports radio station cheering on “their” team. This fickle fan base attaches themselves like lampreys to any team on its way to the top. The Tigers in 2006 with their World Series run after multiple 90-plus loss seasons, and the Lions’ unexpected playoff run of 2011 after countless years of disappointment, brought thousands out of the shadows, screaming, chanting, chastising and praising as if they had been there all along. Of course there must be some faint light of fandom that exists in this crowd to spark such utter exuberance in these teams at the first glimmer of greatness, but what exactly pushes someone to that next level, when sitting and watching an occasional game at home turns into full fledged “fandemonium”?
One reason may be the amount of exposure teams get as they succeed. For the Detroit Lions, who have never even appeared in a Superbowl game, almost no attention was paid to them by the national media, and when it was, it was typically about how bad they were. That makes it pretty unappealing to be a fan, or at least a loud and proud fan, and harder for a bad team to attract an out of market following. But recently the Lion’s stock has started to rise and more national media outlets are focusing on them. All of a sudden their offseason moves are being followed by ESPN, their star player, Calvin Johnson, is getting the nod for the new Madden cover, and all of the sequestered fans who have been hiding their heads in the sand are ready to stand up and make sure everyone within earshot knows that they have supported the team the whole time. The positive, and in some cases overwhelming coverage by the national media outlets signals to people, at home and in other markets, that this is a team worth following, and so they do.