But ever since then, I've been thinking about the whole concept of fairweather fans and their stigma. I can't deny that many of the people I talk to about the Caps, who have been rooting for them in the playoffs, have been following the Caps for very long. I mean, I've only truly been following the Caps for about a year and a half. But before that I didn't really watch hockey. I didn't have the appreciation for the game that I do now. But even before, if I did watch a hockey game, I would root for the Caps. So does that make me a fair weather fan?
Also, who can blame people for not paying to watch their team lose? I used to go to Nats games, but it seemed that they won more than they lost that I went to, and also, they were cheap. It was cheaper to go to a Nats game than to a movie when they still played in RFK. I still root for the Nats, but I'm not going to pay the new ticket prices to go watch them. I'd rather go to a minor league game if I want the atmosphere, or watch on TV if I want to see my team play.
So, it's obvious that a winning team is going to be more popular than a losing one. Even in towns with strong ties to their teams; when the team is doing well, they'll be even more popular. I'll use the Red Sox as an example. In Boston, it has always been hard to get tickets to a Sox game, even before their World Series title in 2004. However, since then, their popularity has skyrocketed.
On the other hand. In the last few years, the numbers of Yankees fans has declined slightly after they stopped winning World Series after World Series. That's not to say that there aren't millions of Yankees fans all over the place, but just that right now, they've been slightly displaced by Red Sox fans.
But I think the biggest question concerning fair weather fans is, how do you define a fair weather fan? How do you distinguish a fair weather fan from a distant follower? I don't consider myself a fair weather fan because I've always supported the Caps, but I didn't start really following them until the last two seasons. It was mostly Kirsten's doing, but them winning certainly helped. I never owned a jersey or a Caps shirt, but that's partly because jerseys are expensive... I only have a Hokies jersey, and I got that for graduation in December.
Is a fair weather fan necessarily less knowledgeable? Can you determine a fair weather fan from a true fan by testing them on team trivia? I think there is a serious problem with the stigma of the fair weather fan. I think it's an unsubstantiated claim to insult fans of an opposing team because their team is better. But at the same time, I have trouble believing that every Red Sox fan actually follows the team and would like them if they were a .500 team. I cannot claim innocence from the use of the stigma.
I also cannot accept that a team, 500 miles from their home field, can have a home field advantage. I'm talking of course, about the Sox playing the O's. I went to a game between the two last summer at Camden Yard and O's fans were distinctly in the minority. I cannot accept that that many people from the Baltimore area have rooted for the Sox all their lives. I'm sure that if the O's were good, it would have been a bit closer, but considering the Red Sox popularity, I think it still would have been about 50/50 at best.
In the hockey world, I think of numerous Penguin fans as being the brainwashed masses, trained to worship the ground Sidney Crosby walks on by the publicity performed by the NHL. But how many people are Caps fans because they love the way Ovie plays and celebrates every goal? How many people were Atlanta Falcons fans because Mike Vick played there?
Almost no one will ever admit to being a fair weather fan themselves. And most people also would not consider fair weather fans ok, even if they were fair weather fans for their own team. Unfortunately, as despised as they are, sports will never be without fair weather fans, or the perception of them. It will always happen, and we'll all just have to learn to accept it. Or at least ignore it.
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