Semi-OT: Least Deserving Fanbases?
Since the fan base topic went around a few days ago, here's a little more specific one related to it: what fan bases around the country (professional, collegiate, or otherwise) do you consider the LEAST deserving?
here are mine...
1.) Los Angeles/Greater LA Area - This one has to be number one. Watch a Lakers' game; it's the deadest, lamest, most overrated atmosphere in the NBA. Besides being incredibly spoiled, fans in LA (from my experience) seem to love bandwagoning. Few of them could tell you anything about USC before the year 2002. Seemingly, the only team in LA with true fans is the Dodgers, and I have no experience to prove that either way.
2.) Ohio/Ohio State - Bias, but we all know why. The most obnoxious fans that have great teams to cheer on. Thankfully the Blue Jackets, Bengals, and Browns suck (sorry Braylon).
3.) Boston - Mostly because of the Celtics. I don't think any team in NBA history picked up more bandwagoners during the course of a season than the historically decorated Celts did during the 2007-2008 season.
4.) New York (Yankees/Knicks) - Knicks fans seem to be some of the less pleasant fans around. Of course, when you have a team in the NBA experiencing woes similar or equivalent to the Lions, there are lots of reasons to boo. That doesn't excuse the "buy the world; championship or bust" mentality fo the Yanks, though.
5.) Eh. I have a few ideas but they kind of tie for fifth.
Honorable Mention - Pittsburgh, Miami (FL-Hurricanes)
PS no "real" offense is meant to anyone in the fan bases, this is just in fun.
It irked me when the Avs won in their first year in Colorado, depriving long-suffering Nordiques fans a championship.
Notre Dame.
When was the last time they were GOOD or won a game that actually mattered/was impressive? 1993? I'm biased I guess since I live in Benton Harbor, 35 mins. from South Bend.
All I remember of ND since Lou left is Bob Davey (lawlz), Ty Willingham (UW...), and Fat Boy, whose only success was due to a team he didn't recruit.
There used to be a fake 'Bud Light Real American Heroes - Mr. Over-Confident Notre Dame fan' or something to that effect. I'll try to find a link.
No link but...
YouTube(dot)com
Search
'real men of genius - hopeless notre dame fan'
I live in Saint Joseph, so I hate ND fans too.
got 26?
There was a little bit of jealousy by putting NY at #4. Some Yankees fans are pretty bad, though. As a sort of disclaimer, I realize you can't really stereotype an ENTIRE fan base anyways.
Hmmm, what's "least deserving?"
- Deserving of a giant shit sandwich because of how obnoxious and rude they are? MSU fans, because they basically expect their team to suck anyway and don't care as long as U-M does too....so, give 'em what they ask for. And Maryland fans, for being the giantest cocks I've ever met.
- Had more success in one decade than any fanbase should legally be allowed to enjoy? Boston. Their teams need to suck through 2040 to make up for all the success they (very obnoxiously and bandwagoningly) enjoy. I needn't mention that I've lived in New England for over a year now and never saw any Bruins shit til the second round of the playoffs.
- Just apathetic and don't care? Miami, by far.
Objectively, Maryland fans are crude, obnoxious, uncreative, homophobic, and have just a touch of an inferiority complex. But twice a year, I love them deeply.
Like many people, I hate Duke. I would hesitate to say something like "I hate Duke more than anyone has ever hated anything ever," but I really detest the school and its athletic department. Which is why whenever Duke and Maryland meet in basketball (at least since 2002), the game transforms into an awesomely terrible made-for-TV science fiction movie.
"How can we possibly defeat an asshole the size of Duke?"
"With....a bigger asshole."
It's awesome.
of least deserving, I consider the support of the team when it is not good. If fans don't care or show up to the games when the team is bad, they don't deserve (IMO) to enjoy the team's success. By this metric, with no stats to back me, I think of USC fans as the least deserving. I seem to remember a half empty stadium during their down years. That should not happen to a tradition rich team in a city of eleventy billion people. Boston seems to be the opposite. The city seems to support its teams during the lean years.
I would say Boston fans support the Red Sox during their lean years, but they basically ignore the Celtics and Bruins when they're not doing well. The Patriots kinda go 50/50, I think. I was kinda little the last time they really weren't all that good, so it's hard to gauge.
Can't say. Foreign concept for me dislike a team for their "fanbase". I know I am in the minority here, but I couldn't give 2 shits what some asshole Ohio State fan thinks, I am rooting against Ohio State because they are Ohio State. I have many relatives in Ohio and many of them are Ohio State fans, but they are not anything at all like the stereotypes I see portrayed here. I work with huge Buckeye fans and we have fun with the rivalry, I would not want to watch the game with those assholes, but their good people.
Pennsylvania Anything Fans - I don't know about the 'deserving' aspect of it, but it seems like any school in pennsylvania seems to have a thoroughly obnoxious fanbase. I would say 95% of all Penn State, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia fans I've come across over the years all have that same air about them... loud, obnoxious, kinda dumb as far as the sport is concerned, and generally pretty rude. I guess if it makes for a loud stadium, you do what it takes.
'SC' fans are right up there, too.
SI rated sports towns a few years back and Atlanta came out worst, if I recall correctly. Never sell out any venue, including the latter years of the Braves run when the stadium seemed half empty. Is there a more non-descript NBA team than the Atlanta Hawks? NHL than the Thrashers?
I don't really think Atlanta fans can be really blamed. The Hawks, Falcons, and Thrashers redefine suck. The first two have sucked for a long time with tiny little blips of success, and the Thrashers have never been good or given anyone anything to cheer about.
As for the Braves, they spent so many years making the playoffs and falling short that it's hard to fault Atlanta fans for not bothering, especially when that is one of the sprawlingest cities in the country and getting to games through the notorious traffic isn't easy. I think that was the Wings problem last year. They'd reached the point where the playoff runs weren't producing anything and it was getting old. That's the only explanation left, since they managed to sell out the whole playoffs this year. The Braves had the same problem. Bet if they'd made the Series more than once, the next year would have seen a lot more butts in the seats.
I think it's Miami fans that are the ones that define apathy. How many people in Miami are native Miamians who also have enough disposable income to go to games?
The Wings' problem lately has been the absolutely horrendous economy here in SE Michigan. They had a long streak of sellouts that lasted until unemployment in this state hit double-digits. People will still shell out for playoff games, but it's tougher to justify paying for season tickets now.
I don't think this was the problem with Atlanta during the Braves' run. (As far as I know, Atlanta's economy was booming during this time.) If their issue was simply that the playoff runs "got old," that doesn't speak too well of their fanbase. That city just has never seemed to have very loyal fans, in any sport. The Hawks were respectable for most of the '80s and '90s, but didn't draw well. The Falcons couldn't sell out home playoff games a few years ago, which is unheard of for the NFL. And I doubt that the Thrashers will ever draw well, barring a championship run (though in fairness, this can be said of any Sun Belt NHL franchise). I'll grant you that Atlanta isn't quite as bad in fan support as Miami, though.
this probably isn't because they aren't deserving but I love seeing any and all boston teams lose. i think just because i got so tired of the red sox bandwagon and then the celtics bandwagon
For college teams:
LSU - I remember that they were bitching the year after they won the MNC about possibly canning Miles and disparaging the seniors for their "down" play, even though those same seniors had helped win the title the year before. I know football is a religion down in the south, but stupidity should never be tolerated.
Miami - My friend's sister when to "da U", and said that they rarely sell out those games unless they are going against one of the big Fla schools or the team is in the MNC hunt. The weather is great down there, but every other school seems to be able to sell out except Miami on a consistent basis.
USC - As other have noted, the most fickle fans around. I distinctly remember the Rose Bowl being half-filled during some of those leans years (and even then, only .500 teams).
NOT OSU/ND - Sure they are annoying and are mortal enemies, but they get IT, so to speak. The places are always packed, and they stick with their coaches (heck, look at Cooper at OSU) even when they are down. Sure, I want them to lose when they play UM, but I'm okay with fanbases that cares that much and demand that their teams be competitive. And they understand rivalries and passion in a logical way that other places don't.
Least Deserving - Pros
Boston - Outside of the Sawx, they only root for a winner and will turn on a team in an instant. The Celtics picked up a bunch of fans during last year's run, but in 2-3 years that place will be a catacomb like it was a couple of years ago. Plus, the media fawning drives me crazy.
Penguins fans - This team was nearly sold less than 5 years ago, and now they act like they never would have let the Pens go. Say what you will about the economy, but if Detroit can support 4 sports teams, Pitt can support 1.5 (and I'm not even counting the Pirates).
Florida Marlins fans.
The franchise has only been around for 15 or so years and they have two World Series championships. And they never come to the games. EVER.
I HATE that team.
As for LA fans (and I truly, truly loathe LA teams in general), I will say that at least for the Dodgers and Lakers, they show up. They're irritating and late and (in the case of Dodger fans) overly thuggish and pompous, but they at least show up. That's enough for me. It's more than Oakland fans can say, for example.
I hate to say it, but I have to mention the Red Wings fan base here after how they acted last night. I'm not saying that they are not deserving, so this is a little off topic, but the booing after the game ended during the Conn Smythe and Cup presentation was embarrassing to watch.
they didn't boo the wings, they booed the penguins. that doesn't really make them undeserving...
Go back and watch it again. The fans were very supportive of the Penguins when they were skating around with cup. The only time the fans were booing was when Gary Bettman was on the ice. It was no different in Pittsburgh last year.
You're the one that needs to go back and watch things again if you think it was like that in Pittsburgh last year. No one booed in Pittsburgh last year. In fact it was eerily dead silent the entire time after the Penguins left the ice.
It wasn't as vehement, but definitely some boo's in Pittsburgh for Bettman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-n7q5k1RPE&feature=related
You can't inject facts into a discussion with Mr. Beeks -- he owns reality! I also love a discussion of the "classless" Wings fans after Crosby's behavior in the handshake line.
o i get it now. i didn't realize that.
I didn't say they were booing the Red Wings.
I think most of the animosity was directed toward Gary Bettman. I do not like Crosby or the Pens but I would not boo them for a great accomplishment. I would however boo the living hell out of Bettman.
If that's the case, and it was indeed directed at Bettman, than I take it back. The problem with it, however, is that people that follow hockey closely misinterpret it as being against the other team that just beat you then it's going to be easily misinterpreted by causal fans. Which is what makes it look bad. But yes, I get your point. Bettman sucks.
I couldn't take it so I didn't watch the presentation, but I guarantee you the booing was for was Bettman. We hate that guy in Detroit. First and foremost, he has killed, I mean killed, what used to be a great rivilary with Toronto. We play them like twice a year now. It used to be a great road trip and a heated rivilary (Probert v. Domi was sometimes better the game.) We also would much, much rather be in the East. The years when we play two or three west coast teams in the playoffs and half the games start at 10:OO just suck. Half of the games you either can't watch or you have to live on 3 hours sleep. Not to mention the fact that the team has to log hours of flight time while other teams never leave their own time zone. Plus his blantant desire to turn Crosby into MJ while ignoring a host of other and more accomplished players (not just Wings), his foolish expansion away from Canada and into the South and West, and the fact that he is just a douche. The crowd would have booed him if the Wings had won.
Like a lot of other people said: florida team fans
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/FLA/attend.shtml
The panthers don't get any support
The heat did for a while a couple of years ago, but now that shaq is gone, they don't anymore
The hurricanes were a powerhouse in the early 2000s, now they can't even come close to selling out.
the lightning don't get any support anymore, last championship only 5 years ago!
the bucs fans don't give any support, last championship only 6 years ago!
last year, everybody jumped on the rays bandwagon, but since they started kind of crappy, everyone got off
the only teams that get support are the gators and the dolphins
Year in year out its the LA area and just pick a team or a sport.
Living in NC, there was nothing more obnoxious than the explosion of ASU gear after the first National Championship and the second explosion after App beat Michigan. I always liked ASU growing up, but now I cannot stand their bandwagon fans. Applications at that no good mountain hippy teacher college tripled after they beat Michigan. Not just bandwagon fans, bandwagon students.
Oregon Ducks fans. They have a sence of entitlement that borders on delusion. Duck fans actually get offened if you don't include then in the national powerhouse conversations.
it seems like they are always really close to becoming truly relevant in the national picture (BCS-wise) but never manage to quite get there. at least for the last few seasons that is
[especially those who have had more success in the recent term]
Incoherent rambling deleted. This sort of list is usually pretty worthless for the reasons you describe.
that's not necessarily true... teams in MI have had pretty decent success this decade, this isn't really a big jealousy spree.
The rationale behind a lot of the picks is pretty good, too.
The only "fanbase" I'd call undeserving, and it hardly exists, is the Marlins. Fans in Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Chicago, or most places support their local teams - the Marlins have TERRIBLE fan support and somehow have won 2 world series.
The Miami Hurricanes might be even worse. Five national titles since 1983 and they still can't sell out.