The Steelers fanbase is not Bangwagon Friendly...

[LingeringRegime]

Are you kidding? In North Carolina this past week or so, all I have seen is people wearing Steelers gear. If they are all transplants from Western PA, I could understand. But, we all know that isn't the case.

[jake44np]

People who complain about bandwagon sports fans crack me up.
Of course good teams are going to have more fans and if a team is winning and ran the right way they should.
Look at the Bengals right now.
Everyone is saying that Mike Brown is only going to change if people quit supporting his team and quit going to games. Does that mean they are jumping off the bandwagon?? No it means they dont want to support a losing franchise. Now it he does change (which will never happen) and they get better, everyone would say they have bandwagon fans. Which is just not true, they simply would have smart fans. I know fans of "good" football teams wouldnt or dont understand this but it is the truth.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

EVERY successful team has bandwagoners. The Steelers are not exempt from this. Is it as bad as the Lakers? No, but to say either people are either diehard fans or people hate the Steelers is wrong.

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheRealHST

A few days before the Jets/Steelers Championship game I found myself listening to Fox Sports Radio, a favorite pastime of mine. One caller suggested something that I find, and have always found utterly ridiculous. He suggested that the Steelers all of sudden have this huge bandwagon following. This is the biggest lie. As a Steeler fan I can tell you either people love The Steelers or hate the Steelers. The people who love the Steelers have always been fans of the team. When I think of teams who have these horrible bandwagon fans I think of The Saints, Cowboys or (the greatest bandwagon team of all) The Lakers. These teams have always have the media glitz, The Steelers, even when the damn big game they barely get all the post game hype regardless of the Troy commercials out there. I just don't see The Steelers in that way. The team has never been a sexy or flashy pick like the teams mentioned above. Our fans are diehards...diehards that have took decades to cultivate. Yes we can get grumpy and angry and blame the Coaches or the Quarterback after we lose any game, as the caller pointed out, but that's just how we are. You get used to winning, like Mike Tomlin said "The Standard Is The Standard". I'm 28 years old and I've been a Steeler fan since the age of 9 years old. At 11 years old, I started seriously watching the games in 1993. So, since 1993 the Steelers have been in and out the playoffs, Championships and Superbowls. That's alot to live up to, so as a fan you have to understand why some of us are so critical and angry after a loss because we've been spoiled for so long. It's a gift and a curse because when they lose/lost the big games it take alot out of you. But our fanbase is definitely not that of bandwagoners. Pittsburgh for example has the strangest phenomenon that I've noticed in all the years of my fandom. I've noticed people are either True Steeler fans, Cowboy fans, Raider fans, and now I've even spotted a few Ravens fans I think. I'm not sure if these bitter fake fans even know the history of the teams they claim to be fans of but it's always been this way. I think most of them root for the rivals of the Steelers out of spite, that just my opinion. It's lame...as hell, but this the life of a real fan. You can keep your bandwagons and our fanbase will be fine without you.

I too live in Pittsburgh, and yes, the fans here are awful bandwaggoners.

You don't notice a difference in the amount of "diehards" between last year (no playoffs) and this year?

If you don't notice a difference you haven't looked very hard. Sorry but it's true.

[jeremym480]

I live in Baton Rouge and if you go to BWW's or any other sports bar on Sunday there are more Steelers fans than any other team (other than the Saints of course). Whether those fans are bandwagon fans or hardcore lifelong fans, I have no idea but they definitely come out in droves.

Oh and I'm a Packers fan and I don't have any hate at all for Pittsburgh. I like a lot of their players. The only player I don't really care for is Harrison but, I'd be trilled to have him on my team. Sometimes I'll root for them and sometimes I'll root against them it just depends on who they're playing.

[boomhauertjs]

As a kid growing up in Cleveland in the 1980's, you very rarely ever saw people wearing Steelers stuff because the Browns were good and the Steelers were not. Now, Steeler fans are everywhere around NE Ohio. The main contributor to that is the Steelers' success and the Browns suckitude.

[lonewolf371]

Fan bases don't grow without "bandwagoners". Are a lot of people going to hop off once the ride gets a little bumpy? Yeah, but there will be a few that stay on and those few will be the ones that carry the team until its bout of success.

I really hope that we have a lot of fans in Indianapolis that will stick around after Manning's tenure. Things were looking quite grim not too long ago.

[TheRealHST]

Quote: Originally Posted by kehlis

I too live in Pittsburgh, and yes, the fans here are awful bandwaggoners. You don't notice a difference in the amount of "diehards" between last year (no playoffs) and this year? If you don't notice a difference you haven't looked very hard. Sorry but it's true.

Oh Ive noticed, and mainly what ive seen are people who bandwagon other teams out of spite!

But im open to criticism here of course in acknowlegding there are bandwagon fans