Yea, I know what you are talking about. I'll never forget the '93 Sugar Bowl, when Gino Torretta and the Canes got their asses thumped by Bama and that stupid damn George Teague play on Lamar Thomas (who I think was never the same player - he had so much NFL potential and that one play devastated him). At any rate, as I watched that awful game to the bitter end, one of my best friends came by to console me and said, "Well, at least one good thing came out of this. All those bandwagon Miami fans you hate so much will be throwing their caps, jackets, and jerseys away!"
I voted Yankees only because of the merchandising. Seriously...I've seen Yankee caps sold in every corner of the planet. I don't see that many Kobe jerseys outside the US. I see Barcelona ones (which should probably top the list). Honestly...I think Houston sports fans should get honorable mention. They are some of the worst offenders of wearing Bulls/Lakers/Yankees/Cowboys crap and suddenly becoming hometown fans once they start to win a few games.
Oh and something else that someone touched on - the Lakers are looked upon the way they are because they have all those damn celebrity fans. Outside of Jack Nicholson who has always been a fan of theirs, what other celebrity was a Laker fan when they were struggling? It is the same way with the Yankees (and the Red Sox), they will show people like Kate Hudson or Nicole Kidman in the stands (Ben Affleck for Boston) and you just want to punch these cameramen who keep showing them. I doubt Nicole Kidman even understands any of the rules in baseball. She probably thinks a touchdown is what you call it when a ball is hit out of the park.
I think Andy Garcia, Denzel Washington, and Dyan Cannon have stuck w/ the Lakers through their crap years
Dyan Cannon. Her and Jack are really the only TRUE laker fans. They both are there every night, even when the team sucks.
Yea, I remembered Dyan Cannon after I submitted the last post. She has been a true fan. Didn't know about Andy Garcia and Denzel Washington, thanks steddinotayto for the post.
In all honesty, I think Houston Rocket fans are more bandwagoners than the Texans. And this is not because of what goes on in this board either. Case in point: During the regular season, that pathetic lower bowl has very few attendees (i fail to recognize their fandom) that are willing to stand up and cheer without the potential of getting a t-shirt. Then when playoffs come, they stand up but this isn't just any regular "yea i'm excited!" kind. This is the "dammit i have to stand up because it's a playoff game and i don't want to look like a douche sitting" kind.
Yes, unfortunately I have to agree about Rocket fans. When the team sucks, it’s like they don’t even exist in this city. But when they’re winning championships (like in 94 and 95), EVERYBODY’S a Rocket fan. I still remember not being able to find any championship gear in the days following the win(s). I remember thinking “GOD, where were all you people as recently as 4 months ago?” I honestly think the only REAL hardcore Rocket fans in the entire city are us (clutchfans members). One of the reasons I love this site so much.
EXCELLENT point about UM. They were loved for being Thug U. I also agree about the UF/Tebow hate. It's rampant. I'll vote for the Lakers overall, although I don't care for much baseball so I always shut that stuff out.
I hated Florida State so much back in the day that I cheered for The U just to piss off my buddy who was a big FSU fan. Thug U vs the Criminoles. You watch for the brawls, but stay for the wide rights.
its the lakers and its not even close though I will say living in LA there are a good group of actual Lakers fans, but there are so many bandwagon or unintelligent fans problem is the Lakers themselves promote "bandwagon" fans by pricing themselves out of the reach of whats acceptable for their actual fans. That is not to say that there arent guys with cash to blow that arent real Lakers fans (see Jack and that cowboy guy), but if you go to a game at staples in sit in the lower section its more of an event and being around the people than the actual basketball product on the floor. i say unintelligent because of the Gasol trade ever since that lopsided of a deal happen almost every person who calls into sports talk radio here feels that the lakers can drop off their junk and get a all-star in return and feel entitled to do so because "They're LA" its just pathetic last season when Deron Williams was injured to start the season and started slow there was a caller who wanted to trade for Williams and all I remember was the primary pieces were Deron Williams to LA and Derek Fisher to Utah. caller claim was that Fisher knew the Jazz system really well and had championship experience. So infuriating at times
No question, it's the Lakers. 65% of the people cheering for the Lakers now were cheering for the Bulls in the 90s.
Yeah, Lakers by a LOT. And I don't know whether to agree about Rockets fans. It's probably more true than not, but Les doesn't help this by making the lower bowl the corporate/club seats and putting the fans in the nose-bleeds. That's my one real gripe about him as an owner. Aside from that I love the guy.
For college football -- easily Miami Hurricanes. Go look up the highest rated college football games on ESPN and you'll see something like 4 of the 5 are Miami games. That includes games from the past two seasons, with the team rebuilding. That means there's a ton of Hurricanes fans out there and they're waiting to be sure that The U is back. The Gators are trying to do their best impression of being a dominant team with swagger. Unfortunately it's not working for them -- they simply don't have the national appeal that Miami, Notre Dame, and Michigan traditionally achieve (except they sure are good at getting arrested).
