It's slightly unusual to be posting on a baseball blog when the state of Arizona is currently football crazy (I don't know if you've heard, but the Cardinals are in the Super Bowl), but there's been a lot of talk about bandwagoning recently because of it. You know what I say to accusations people only like the Cardinals because they're winning?
So what? That's what I say. So what?
By that definition, I am a bandwagon jumper. Yeah, you heard me. I'm a bandwagon fan. Definition of one, actually. My foray into true baseball fandom began during the 2007 postseason when the Diamondbacks went to the NLCS and the Red Sox won the whole shebang.
In the 2008 season, I watched all but a handful of the Diamonbacks' games on television, saw three games in person at Chase Field and flew across the country to see the Red Sox at Fenway.
So what's so wrong with the bandwagon? The 2007 postseason put the taste of the sport in my mouth, reminded me how it felt to cheer for something. It flipped a switch.
I love the game of baseball. I love it just as much as I would if I'd been following it my whole life. This is my sport so thank goodness for the bandwagon.
If a succesful team brings people to the sport, then I approve. Some of them may discover a passion. Some of them may just remember how it feels to root for a team and they'll look back on that team fondly. Happy memories are never bad, no matter how genuine some people feel they are. People will remember this Cardinals team well and maybe they'll remember sport in general as well. Maybe if they have free time, they'll swing by Chase and catch a Diamondbacks game or check the Cardinals score in the newspaper next year. Anytime a local sports teams win, it's good for all the others, it's good for improving the reputation of Phoenix as a sports town.
I'll never follow football like I follow baseball, but I hope like hell the Cards win. It's never wrong to have a reason to celebrate.
Okay, now that sanctimonius preaching is over, there is baseball on the horizon. Got the Dbacks Hometown Tour and FanFest coming up and Spring Training is on the way. I'm hoping to post some kind of retrospective/preview in the next few weeks.
Rumours of our death have been greatly exaggerated.
8 years ago
