The Bobcat Nation

Okay, I really don't mean to be an arse here, but would someone please explain to me why so many on this board perceive Griz fans to be "bandwagon" fans. What is your definition, and why do Griz fans supposedly meet that definition? Thanks.

GrizinWashington wrote:Okay, I really don't mean to be an arse here, but would someone please explain to me why so many on this board perceive Griz fans to be "bandwagon" fans. What is your definition, and why do Griz fans supposedly meet that definition? Thanks.

Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer. I have been asking that same question for 3 years.

The reason most of us call griz fans bandwagons is because MOST of them are. Of course UM alumni would not be considered as bandwagon but people that did not attend UM and love the griz do so because the griz win and its the cool thing to do. Take ol' Greg Rachac or whatever his name is. He did not attend UM (from what I have heard) but obviously is biased towards the griz. Its the same with all sports, once someone starts winning you see that teams gear all over the place where you never did before. You can even see this with the Bobcats. How many people around the state were wearing Cat gear when they were 0-11? Not all griz fans are bandwagon but there's sure a whole bunch that are.

I can tell you why I feel that way. I don't know how many local Griz fans I know that never set foot on campus for a class, or have never lived in the valley, but it's a ton. We have a local joke in these parts..

Did you know UM has an engineering college?

It's called Burlington Northern!!

Seriously, I just wonder how many of these folks would be Bobcat fans if the team's fortunes were reversed in the late 80's and 90's.

I have no problem with alumni or any fans with ties to the University, including parents of kids who are or were students. Nor do I have a problem with fans who live in the area.

Same goes for Cat bandwagon fans in my book.

Okay. Perhaps I'm an idiot. But do you have to attend a school or live in the area to be a fan of it? How are so many people Notre Dame fans, for example? I live in Seattle, but tend to root more for the Cougs, and attended Montana. Does that make me a bandwagaon Coug fan, but I'm okay as a Griz fan?

It seems to me that by using your definition, 90% of sports fans everywhere would be bandwagon. And if that's the case, then why is it used negatively when referring to Griz fans?

No you do not have to live near or attend a school to be a fan. In regards to ND, there are a ton of bandwagon fans. To be a bandwagon you are a fan of a team because they are good. I'll give another example. How many Colts fans did you see in Billings before they started winning. NONE. It is used negatively towards griz fans because we like to piss you off. Kind of how griz fans say that Cat fans only care about one game a year.

How about another example. I did not attend MSU but started rooting for them the year they went 0-11. This would not make me a bandwagon Cat fan because they were not good when I started to follow them. If I had suddenly become a griz fan after they won their first NC (like so many did around the state) then I would qualify. Any clearer for you?

MM7CAT wrote:It is used negatively towards griz fans because we like to piss you off.

One of the most honest lines I have ever seen written.

Just to have some fun with the logic for a moment...

I happen to have grown up in Montana, and attended UM, but let's pretend I didn't. Let's pretend that I grew up in NY, did all my schooling on the east coast, and moved to Montana for a job....in, say, 1992. And the job is in Butte, just to make it neutral.

Now, during the 1990s, the Griz were very good, and the Cats were, uh, not very good. If I became a Griz fan at that time, am I automatically a bandwagon fan? Or is it possible that I started liking the Griz for other reasons (like the fact that their offense was exciting to watch, or that I liked Don Read, or whatever)? Is it assumed that everyone who starts liking a team when they're good likes them just because they're good?

Hmmm ... I have to go with Grizlaw's logic to some extent ... we must consider the motivation of the fan at the time of their fan-dom assumption. If a person came to like the team because calf scours brown was their favorite color, for instance, then I think they would be excused from "bandwagon" status.

Bandwagon fans like a team when they are good and drop them like a
bad habit when they are bad.

My question: Since the Griz are never bad, how would we know if they have any bandwagon fans? A lot of their fans weren't even born when they were bad.

I don't want to be considered a bandwagon....so, GO YELLOWJACKETS!

I guess I can buy the arguement that if a fan became a fan simply because a team was good. However, I agree with GL and BAC. In most instances, that thinking is just too simplistic. Perhaps a person became a fan because their best friend was. Perhaps they became a fan because they saw them on TV a lot. Perhaps they became a fan because they dated/married someone from that city/state once.

Good teams will always have more fans than bad teams, but there are a number of reasons secondary to being good that likely draw that person to that team. For example, MM7 mentions the Colts, and their new-found fandom in Billings. Is it because they're good, or is it because they are now good, they're on TV all the time and people see them, get familiar with them, associate with them, etc?

Grizlaw wrote:Just to have some fun with the logic for a moment...

I happen to have grown up in Montana, and attended UM, but let's pretend I didn't. Let's pretend that I grew up in NY, did all my schooling on the east coast, and moved to Montana for a job....in, say, 1992. And the job is in Butte, just to make it neutral.

Now, during the 1990s, the Griz were very good, and the Cats were, uh, not very good. If I became a Griz fan at that time, am I automatically a bandwagon fan? Or is it possible that I started liking the Griz for other reasons (like the fact that their offense was exciting to watch, or that I liked Don Read, or whatever)? Is it assumed that everyone who starts liking a team when they're good likes them just because they're good?

You're right, and its all a huge characterization and stereotype, but let's take it one step further. If that same NY native Griz fan is still a Griz fan WHEN the Bobcats AGAIN become the premier program in Montana, then that person is not Bandwagon in my book. Let's see who sticks with em when they have a losing season or two.

Well, in the case of the Colts, the newfound fandom may well be the result of people who are sympathetic to sufferers of Tourette's Syndrome, and thus feel for Peyton Manning and his uncontrollable spasms before every snap. That kid shows a lot of courage out there in the face of his illness, I tell ya.

GrizinWashington,

Every team has bandwagon fans when the team has successful seasons. The Griz are not the only Montana team to experience this "phenomena". Caroll College has seen their fanbase swell to an average of 5000+ per game with 4 straight national championships, when just over 5 short years ago and playing their home games at Vigilante field (shared with the two local high schools), Carroll was barely attracting 1000 fans per game. The reason its so easy to label Griz as bandwagon fans is simply because of their success. The state of Montana really doesn't have a population base to continually support those attendance figures for any other sporting or regularly occuring event. Speaking from a former UM alumni standpoint (89-91), I can attest to the fact that the Griz regularly had about 1000 empty seats in a then 12000 seat stadium. So, basically, through decades of success (and the fact that until 2002 most Montanans under the age of 20 had never seen the Bobcats beat the Griz), people started "jumping on Griz bandwagon". It may have its negative connotations when expressed in comments by certain fans, however, it's just a word that expresses the truth. I know I have joked about Griz bandwagoners in the past but it's also something I've witnessed and enjoyed as a Bobcat fan over the past 4-5 years. I much prefer seeing a sold-out, standing-room only crowd from week to week. In all honesty, if it weren't for bandwagoners at both schools, neither school would be considering stadium expansions in my opinion.

You're right, and its all a huge characterization and stereotype, but let's take it one step further. If that same NY native Griz fan is still a Griz fan WHEN the Bobcats AGAIN become the premier program in Montana, then that person is not Bandwagon in my book. Let's see who sticks with em when they have a losing season or two.

This is precisely my point. How can Griz fans be considered bandwagon when this hasn't been put to a test? I will agree with you that if and when the Griz are no longer the premier program, if a person is no longer a Griz fan, they'd be -- by definition -- a bandwagon fan. But without the opportunity to test that, to call Griz fans that seems silly to me.

WalkOn79 wrote:
If that same NY native Griz fan is still a Griz fan WHEN the Bobcats AGAIN become the premier program in Montana, ....

C'mon now; just because I posed a hypothetical doesn't mean we should abandon all sense of reality here. Let's stick with things that are actually likely to happen, shall we?

It’s easier to define what isn’t a bandwagon fan and there are only three ways to not be one:

1) You aren’t a bandwagon fan if you decided before you got out of high school that you’re a fan.

2) You aren’t a bandwagon fan if, even though you may have been a fan of another school, you became a fan of the college you went to.

3) I exception can be made in rare cases and that’s if you have a close family member brother, dad, or son that gets a scholarship to a different school and you root for blood. This isn’t a real solid excuse, but I let it slide. I think you should still root for YOUR school.

Anything else is a bandwagon fan.

WalkOn79 wrote:

Grizlaw wrote:Just to have some fun with the logic for a moment...

I happen to have grown up in Montana, and attended UM, but let's pretend I didn't. Let's pretend that I grew up in NY, did all my schooling on the east coast, and moved to Montana for a job....in, say, 1992. And the job is in Butte, just to make it neutral.

Now, during the 1990s, the Griz were very good, and the Cats were, uh, not very good. If I became a Griz fan at that time, am I automatically a bandwagon fan? Or is it possible that I started liking the Griz for other reasons (like the fact that their offense was exciting to watch, or that I liked Don Read, or whatever)? Is it assumed that everyone who starts liking a team when they're good likes them just because they're good?

You're right, and its all a huge characterization and stereotype, but let's take it one step further. If that same NY native Griz fan is still a Griz fan WHEN the Bobcats AGAIN become the premier program in Montana, then that person is not Bandwagon in my book. Let's see who sticks with em when they have a losing season or two.

Like thats going to happen!!!

MM7CAT wrote:The reason most of us call griz fans bandwagons is because MOST of them are. Of course UM alumni would not be considered as bandwagon but people that did not attend UM and love the griz do so because the griz win and its the cool thing to do. Take ol' Greg Rachac or whatever his name is. He did not attend UM (from what I have heard) but obviously is biased towards the griz. Its the same with all sports, once someone starts winning you see that teams gear all over the place where you never did before. You can even see this with the Bobcats. How many people around the state were wearing Cat gear when they were 0-11? Not all griz fans are bandwagon but there's sure a whole bunch that are.

Nobody has a bigger percentage of bandwagon fans than the cats. Look at the jump in attendance for their games over the last 6 or 7 years.

MSU = Bandwagon Central

crazycat wrote:It’s easier to define what isn’t a bandwagon fan and there are only three ways to not be one:

1) You aren’t a bandwagon fan if you decided before you got out of high school that you’re a fan.

2) You aren’t a bandwagon fan if, even though you may have been a fan of another school, you became a fan of the college you went to.

3) I exception can be made in rare cases and that’s if you have a close family member brother, dad, or son that gets a scholarship to a different school and you root for blood. This isn’t a real solid excuse, but I let it slide. I think you should still root for YOUR school.

Anything else is a bandwagon fan.

Really???? What if you never attended collage and didnt meet your criteria for #2 and 3 above and have been a loyal fan for say a decade or two, You're still a bandwagon fan?