Friday, October 9, 2009

The Greatest (Fair Weather) Fans in the World

St. Louis, filled with a million or so great sports fans. Well, great fans as long as their team is doing well. Just ask the Rams. Greatest Show of Turf? Sellouts every week. Going through a couple rough years? Forget it. No way we're supporting the team. And I get it, in theory. You don't like what the organization is doing, you stop buying tickets, because they then have to put a better product on the field to win the fans back. It does make sense. But here in St. Louis, that's not why fans do it. They aren't making a statement. They aren't trying to change things. They are simply fair weather fans. They "Bleed Blue". As long as the team is doing well. They wear "Bruce" and "Holt" jerseys. As long as the team is doing well. Even the Cardinals, the signature franchise of the city, suffers from fair weather fans, only coming out to the ballpark when the team is in the thick of the race. Because the couple years that they haven't been, attendance takes a bath the second half of the season. Seats go empty.

Being a fan is more than just cheering for the team when they are winning. It's about supporting that franchise even when times are tough.

Believe me, I know. I had Bulls season tickets AFTER Jordan retired (for the second time). I used to go to Cubs games even when the team wasn't doing well (which just happens to be for the entire time I've been alive).

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