The Term "Bandwagon"

[Economics_Nerd82]

I, for one, think this term should be banned. There is no reason that we should make newer fans feel like they are less important then anyone else. I think we need to be more accepting. Anyone who has visited the WV or Rutgers boards sees how they treat their newer fans. I don't want to see USF or it's fans turn into that. USF has a big tent.  ;D

Anyone else agree?

[bulls96go]

"big tent"...must be the season of politics!

[Matt]

i agree 100%

i made a similar comment about it on the thread that had Greg's article about the bandwagon filling up.

the way i look at it....EVERY fan base has to start somewhere and they arent built over night.  Michigan wasnt putting 100K+ into the big house every saturday back in the 1950s. 

a bandwagon fan is someone who jumps OFF when times are bad.  as far as i'm concerned if you just became a USF fan but well be a USF fan from this point on...you are not a bandwagon fan.

[Matt]

while we are at it...can we ban "trap game"  too?

[Guest]

Sorry, the term bandwagon will be there forever. And it certainly applies to USF.

he bandwagon effect, also known as social proof or "cromo effect" and closely related to opportunism, is the observation that people often do and believe things because many other people do and believe the same things. The effect is often pejoratively called herding instinct, particularly when applied to adolescents. People tend to follow the crowd without examining the merits of a particular thing. The bandwagon effect is the reason for the bandwagon fallacy's success.

The bandwagon effect is well-documented in behavioral psychology and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads clearly do, with "the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have already done so." [1] As more people come to believe in something, others also "hop on the bandwagon" regardless of the underlying evidence.

...

In sports, a 'bandwagoner' is a derogatory term for people who begin flocking to a team after they have achieved success. Fans of successful sporting teams who do not live in the traditional areas of their support are often accused of being 'bandwagon' fans, or if they only show an interest in the team when they are performing well. Bandwagoner's are also often called glory-hunters, frontrunners, or fairweather fans.

You have to love Wikipedia...

[WoolyBully]

Nope...terribly sorry but those are two terms which are at the core of any

sports related discussion. We will retain 'bandwagon' as well as 'trap game'.

The tribe has spoken.

[Economics_Nerd82]

I have used the term before. But I have come to believe that it's insulting to newer fans. Fans we want to keep and not drive away. I think if people want to become bull fans over night that it's perfectly fine. I don't care if they come from UF or from Utah. If they want to cheer on USF then that is fine by me. No reason to apply such adjectives.

[Matt]

then by definition...EVERY team at some point in time has had bandwagon fans.

[Guest]

Not all teams have bandwagons.  Duke? Baylor? etc... they have to have "achieve success" and maintain it... (the way I read the definition)

[BullsOnThaRize8]

logically if the shoe fits your wear it. If the new fans don't consider themself bandwagon fans then they won't feel insulted. If they do, then you get the idea. Every team that goes through this deals with this. The only thing that's upsetting is the fans that you know bad mouthed the team and now jumped on the bandwagon.