Although bandwagons are normally the bane of my existence and one of my biggest pet peeves (I believe in paying my fan dues) I’ve realized recently that there are times when it may not be the worst thing.
Living in Calgary all my life, and in a family who loves sports (especially my mom and sister), I’ve always been aware of the Flames and somewhat of a fan. Now, I’m not a die hard fan, but over the past ten years or so, I have come to like hockey a lot more. I especially love the playoffs because those games are generally more exciting.
This year, the Flames finally made it to the playoffs (for the first time in six years) and made it past the first round (for the first time in eleven). All of the sudden, people who I’m pretty sure have never watched a hockey game in their life were wearing jerseys and the Red Mile was alive again.
When this happened 11 years ago, I hated it, because not being a big fan then, it was really obvious to me that people were just interested in the team because everyone else was.
But this year, I’ve had a different attitude towards it. When the Flames were playing, (and even when they lost to Anaheim on Sunday) there was a true sense of community spirit to be felt. Even though all of the “fans” were not the same fans that I know in my family, they were fans of our city — our home.
Even though it will still bug me when people claim to love a certain band or book just because it’s popular, it won’t bug me anymore when people jump on the Flames bandwagon (or other sport bandwagons). Sometimes it takes things like your home team finally winning games and making it to The Tonight Show Superlatives to realize that you’re pretty lucky living in a city that always supports its victories.
