Obviously, almost everyone viewing and posting on this site is a Rockets fan, but the phenomenon that was "The Streak" and our subsequent failures against some elite teams has re-hashed some old wounds between legions of Rockets fans. All of the sudden, you get terms like "true fans" vs. "bandwagonners" thrown around. This doesn't even take into consideration the whole branding of fans as Yao-Only Fans or T-Mac haters, etc. I'm not sure quite how to describe it, but I see it differently and think there are definitely at least 2 legions, and I think they are most neatly divided into Old School vs. New School - There's no definite time in history here, but I consider the transition from Hakeem era to the Stevie/Yao era to be the main dividing point. The "old school" fans wax eloquently about our 3 championship experiences, whereas the "new school" fans focus on a future with Yao and T-Mac surrounded by our young guys. I also see the OS fans was more even-keeled, willing to look at the big picture during the ebb-and-flow of the regualr season, whereas the NS is much more demanding and often reactionary. During the streak, the OS tried to temper expectations by telling themselves that the streak was too good to be true and and to just enjoy it because it had to come to an end at some point, whereas the new school let their emotions fly high but reacted very bitterly when the streak came crashing to an end. The OS tends to be more lenient on T-Mac when he does not play like Kobe or Rafer when he doesn't play like Chris Paul, whereas the NS wants heads-to-roll when guys they believe in don't play up to their potential. I don't know, I think it also comes down to the OS being more of the traditional Houston/Southern-type of fan that is more laid-back and forgiving, while the NS is much more like the East Coast fans who demand execellence and do not like excuses for sucking. For that, OS fans tend to label NS fans "bandwagoners" and NS fans tend to label OS "dispassionate." Each side is probably over-reacting. Maybe, there's another way to characterize this, and obviously, like any generalization, this over-simplifies things, but I'm wondering if you guys see this same divide. Obviously, OS fans are gonna be older, but I think there's more to it than that Regardless, we're all Rockets fans in this thing together, but I'd love to here what you think.
I agree please break it up in paragraphs. On the actual subject, there's an easy answer to why Old School vs. New School fans act the way they do. Old School fans are typically older while the opposite is true of the new school fans. Old school fans don't over react because we've watched a lot more games and seen the ups and downs over the course of decades in some cases. This is of course a generalization and by no means intended to encompass everyone.
Old school fans have watched many, many games. We watched the Championship Rocket teams lose many games and big games. It happens. There is a big picture. We also see that constant b****ing about the team makes you look just like that, a b****. If I was ever "east coast" I would want somebody to kill me.
People are different. Everyone is passionate about the team and has their own opinion about what would make it more successful.
You are looking at it incorrectly, you should have called them reactionary fans vs tempered fans. I am not old school... I wasn't here before Hakeem was drafted, I wasn't around when Clyde was snatched at the trade deadline, I wasn't here when Yao was drafted or when the Rockets traded to get Tmac... so I wouldn't say I am old school. But I certainly don't want to commit suicide when we lose two games in a row, or hustle to post a trade "who stinks today" thread when someone has an off night. I enjoyed the streak for what it was, something special, but I knew it wasn't going to last forever. I know it doesn't mean we will win a title. But I can logically assess what team we put on the court and tell what they are doing right or wrong by what I know about the sport and talk about that... with other non-reactionary fans. Sometimes even "old school" fans can be reactionary.
Go find a sports forum where there aren't such divisions. It is just natural diversity in background and opinion.
he had 3 paragraphs. sure, it might have been easier with 5 paragraphs. did you also want correct indentation, capitalization, punctuation, and proper grammar along with that???
You could just break it down as to: 1. People who understand the game and what it takes to build a winning team. 2. People who like dunks on Sportcenter. DD
The first NBA team I ever liked was the Orlando Magic because of Shaq. i was a kid, he was larger than life, so I became a fan. I never was a hardcore basketball fan, but I liked Shaq, and later Penny. I stuck with them after Shaq walked and after Penny went down, I kind of stopped watching ball. T-Mac came along, and basketball became interesting again. I was very interested in Mac/Hill and started following ball pretty hardcore (haven't really stopped since). Obviously, that didn't work out, as Hill had eight surgeries but was paid every year, and Mac was surrounded with C-list talent. Still, I watched. When the feud with Weisbrod happened, I was very upset with Orlando management. I thought they handled the T-Mac situation poorly, were taking shots at him, and were overall a horrible organization. So when Mac left for Houston, I did too. Over time, I have become less of a Mac fan and more of a Rockets fan. There's just so much character and heart on this team and on our past teams, from the Bobby Suras to the Carl Landrys... it's been a fun ride. As a fan I am very supportive, but pessimistic (as I am in life). I think that no game is guaranteed, and have been found to hold my breath for entire fourth quarters of close games. I am extremely passionate, but not at all reactionary. I don't think that we should trade X, or that we are better without Yao. I also noticed that this board is extremely critical of T-mac, not taking into account that while he is not LeBron, the Rockets got him for peanuts, and should be happy just to have him. So yeah, I guess I could be classified as New School, non-reactionary, a born-again ROF, a bandwagoner, or whatever other categorizes you all want to ome up with. Or, I'm just a huge fan of this team.
types of fans? lol. male and female old and young know about bball and those who don't appreciate yao (sub yao's name with any other rocket's) and don't etc.
I was referring to the Finals loss to Boston in '81 along with the 2 championships in the 90s. My Dad took me to a game back then, but admittedly, I wasn't a fan until Sampson and Akeem joined the team in the mid-80s. I see how this can be broken down many ways and calling it Old School vs. New School is just one way to do it. I was trying not to be disparaging towards people who I'm sure are true fans but who "support" the Rockets differently than me.
Before you wittily reply to a post, check the post time and edit times. His post had 1 paragraph before those first few replies.
Yeah, its funny watch sports center and hear them say that half of the top 10 plays were from the loosing team. I like number 1 but I would make the second one people who pay more attention to nba.com (stats) than the actual nba. But hey who doesn't like to see a good dunk Its like having a good relationship, the goal is to fall in love and get married but you wanna go to a few parties along the way.
