There are many types of fans. The two types that are talked about the most are Die Hard fans and Bandwagon Jumpers. Recently, thanks to discussions I’ve been involved in with friends as well as random people on social media I have started to get more annoyed with both of these types of fans. Being a Die Hard fan myself I am even more profoundly annoyed with the Bandwagon Jumpers.
While I identify as a die hard fan of the Cubs and Bulls as well as the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels and Lakers I have realized through my frustrations with the random people who I have conversations with on social media that I have become more of a neutral fan who is optimistic about the success of teams I used to be a die hard fan of in the past and have started to become a die hard fan of my local home town teams again for the first time in about twelve years.
For readers of mine who are not close with me offline… you might be asking why I stepped back from being a Die Hard member of fandom. Well, it’s simple: I got busy with school and helping take care of my parents. First my father who was in failing health and then died suddenly at the 2011. Then a couple short years later, in 2014, my mom became disabled and fully dependent on nurses as well as my aunts, my siblings, our cousin on our fathers side, and of course me before asking us to let her go in 2019.
Then the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world and I started to become more of a Die Hard fan again and it started with the change at the helm on Chicago’s West Side when Jerry Reinsdorf fired Gar Forman and turned John Paxson into a high paid figured head officially handing over the reigns to the Arturas Karnisovas regime. When this news broke during the shutdown I had nothing better to do in my free time but start following sports closer.
Then later in 2020 after the short 60 game baseball season due to the virus that did not seem to be going anywhere there as a regime change on Chicagos North Side when Theo Epstein left a year early handing the reigns over to Jed Hoyer. The last two years have been referred to by Jed as a “retooling” and now the Cubs are contenders for a Wild Card spot as this season draws to a close.
Of course, earlier this summer Reinsdorf capped off the era of regime changes in Chicago firing Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn. These changes on the north and south sides of Chicago are things I’ve discussed in many previous articles of mine but you might be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with the fan spectrum?” It’s simple: when you are a die hard fan your reaction to news of your favorite teams making big changes means something different than when you are a Bandwagon Jumpers. So, let’s discuss why Bandwagon Jumpers are more annoying than die hard fans.
A bandwagon jumper is someone who suddenly cares about a team when they are good and complains about that team when they are struggling. Let’s use the Cubs as an example here.
Before I can bring the fans into this we need to look at some facts… the Cubs have struggled on the road all season. As a result, most analysts and reporters expected them to struggle against Colorado and Arizona over the last eight days. However, it does not appear to me that any of them expected the Cubs to go 1-5. based on things I’ve read and heard on the radio many of them were expecting the Cubs to have a 2-4 or 3-3 road trip.
As a Die Hard fan at heart I have seen so many Bandwagon Jumpers on social media complaining that the Cubs suck and calling for them to fire President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer, Manager David Ross, or worse both. Here’s the thing folks: I can tell a Bandwagon Jumping fan when I see one because they are not caught up on the news surrounding the team the same way I am.
Let’s take for example the pitching issues the team has had much of the last two weeks between bad outings and injuries I’ve read many Bandwagon Jumpers on social media calling to fire Hoyer who clearly did not know he took blame for the issues with the pitching back in May when things started to balance out leading up to the trade deadline and giving the Cubs a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. I am sorry but things like this are why I have always hated Bandwagon Jumpers because at the end of the day they are trying to show they know what is going on with their team when they really do not.
With that… at some point in the near future I will share my thoughts on the two types of Die Hard fans.
If you cannot play with them, root for them!