OUR FANS ARE THE BEST!

[tBBP]

During the time I've spent dwelling in the most backward city on earth, Pittsburgh, PA (well, actually, just OUTSIDE the city), I've seen just how deep these people's veins run into the Steelers. It's like the whole city lives and dies...attaches their entire EXISTENCE to the fortunes of the Steelers (maybe cuz ain't much else here FOR THEM to latch onto--I mean, come on, let's face it: the Pirates SUCK. And the Penguins? uh...let me not go there.) The Steelers win; it's a party in the streets that night. The Steelers lose...the whole city's dead the next morning.

Anyway, I've seen bunches of surveys, read bunches of stories about the teams who have the best fans, the strongest fanbase--all that jazz.

NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO SOUND OFF...

So what team or teams TRULY has the BEST fanbase in the nation (or world it it gets that strong)?

Let the debating COMMENCE!!!

(BTW this thread also marks my 300TH POST!)

[KevinMcD]

In the US it has to be a NFL team. If a MLB team loses a game who cares there are 161 others to win. But in football one loss may kill your season. The fans care about EVERY game. In some cites like Buffalo, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland it seems like it means more than in larger cities like NYC with the Jets or Giants. They have other things to do like 20 other pro sports teams. The Bills are Buffalo. In Buffalo if the Bills lose people are depressed until the next game. Even if they suck (like now) they sell out every game in a thirty year old outdoor stadium even if there are 2 feet of snow on the ground people come to the game. Now I can't really talk about these other teams, because I havn't experienced them. But I think these four fanbases are the most dedicated (GB, PIT, CLE, BUF)

[Cyclopsis Joe]

mod edit

Please answer the question being asked rather than shifting the discussion completely off-topic

[FiddySicks]

During the time I've spent dwelling in the most backward city on earth, Pittsburgh, PA (well, actually, just OUTSIDE the city), I've seen just how deep these people's veins run into the Steelers. It's like the whole city lives and dies...attaches their entire EXISTENCE to the fortunes of the Steelers (maybe cuz ain't much else here FOR THEM to latch onto--I mean, come on, let's face it: the Pirates SUCK. And the Penguins? uh...let me not go there.) The Steelers win; it's a party in the streets that night. The Steelers lose...the whole city's dead the next morning.

Anyway, I've seen bunches of surveys, read bunches of stories about the teams who have the best fans, the strongest fanbase--all that jazz.

NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO SOUND OFF...

So what team or teams TRULY has the BEST fanbase in the nation (or world it it gets that strong)?

Let the debating COMMENCE!!!

(BTW this thread also marks my 300TH POST!)

Oh come on now. You and I both know that the Tampa Sports fanbase is definately the strongest, in both sports!!!! Oh wait............ They have three teams?

Personally I think that Raiders fans are the best fanbase. Yes theres a LOT of scum at Raiders games, but look at it this way. Al Davis is running the team. hes moved the team TWICE, brought in Geff George TWICE fired hall of faem coaches multiple times, jacked up prices a rediculous amount of times and has put out some teams that are the definition of suck, yet the true dedicated Raiders fans are still there. There still around being the biggest dickheads in any sport, causing all kinds of trouble, even up to killing people. Now I dont care what your feelings are on the Raiders, thats dedication.

[pcgd]

I'm gonna disagree when it has to be a pro football team.

The Red Sox, Yankees, Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers, and Cubs all have very dedicated loyal fans who are all over the nation. For the most part, the true fans of all teams are very intelligent baseball-wise.

College Sports have very loyal fans too. As they should, you are a part of the school most of the time. One of the few ways you can say 'we' without actually being on the team and mean it. For that, pretty much any SEC school, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State all very loyal rabid fans. I'm sure there are others as well. Notre Dame has a rediculous following in Chicago and the midwest. People go to Purdue and Indiana and still root for Notre Dame.

And I know this is just from living here, but Bears fans are right up there. So are Broncos (15 plus year waiting list!) and the aformentioned raiders. But I think the two that take the cake in the NFL are the Steelers and the Packers. The Packers have a entire state worth of fans, plus fans all over the nation. The steelers, walk into any bar in america and try NOT finding a Steelers fan. Its not possible.

If I were to pick a best, I've got to say its one of the southern football schools. I never saw anything like what I saw going to the Sugar Bowl when Illinois played LSU. It was a whole new world of fans.

[HedleyLamarr]

In the US it has to be a NFL team. If a MLB team loses a game who cares there are 161 others to win. But in football one loss may kill your season. The fans care about EVERY game. In some cites like Buffalo, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland it seems like it means more than in larger cities like NYC with the Jets or Giants. They have other things to do like 20 other pro sports teams. The Bills are Buffalo. In Buffalo if the Bills lose people are depressed until the next game. Even if they suck (like now) they sell out every game in a thirty year old outdoor stadium even if there are 2 feet of snow on the ground people come to the game. Now I can't really talk about these other teams, because I havn't experienced them. But I think these four fanbases are the most dedicated (GB, PIT, CLE, BUF)

Bah....you can lose a game, or two, or more, and still win the Super Bowl. Last season's champion lost 6 games last year.

There are no better fans than those of college football teams, especially those in the SEC. You think the NFL is huge in Buffalo or hockey is a passion in Canada? In the South (and ask anyone you want), and college football is a religion, the only true religion. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, each and every day, you'll hear college football talk, around the water coolers or on sports talk radio shows.

[winters in buffalo]

2006 Eastern Conference Finals, and the RBC Center was packed to the rafters... with Sabres fans.

'nuff said.

[Breakwood]

I agree with pcgd. The best fans in North American sports are the College/University variety. I went to a Michigan football game two years ago, and it was the greatest atmoshpere I've experienced, and that was a game against San Diego State. I'd love to see what it is against Ohio State or Michigan State.

I think this is possible because of the student sections. Obviously the students are probably the rowdiest fans, and having a designated section intensifies the atmosphere much like what is seen in European Sports Venues.

[LMU]

Not saying they're the best fans, but I experienced that Spokane, WA would cease to exist without Gonzaga basketball.

[Natsfan36]

....I think that some of the best, most loyal fans are those of Nebraska football. We have a very large fanbase. (Just ask huskeraddict, who lives in Australia) For example, my cousin lives up in Alaska, and there is a group of at least 300-400 people that meet up at a bar/restaurant called the Nut House to watch their football games. Nebraska football can also be referred to as a religion in the Midwest. In the newspapers in Nebraska, whether it is during the season or on the offseason, the sports section is covered with articles about the Huskers. We are also quoted as the "best college fans ever" which is displayed above all entrances to the stadium. WE travel to away games, near or far (remember the sea of red when Nebraska faced Notre Dame 5-6 years ago?). Memorial Staduim has been sold out for a record 355+ games in a row, which dates back to the mid 1960s.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

most new york teams has a pretty committed fan bases. Especially teams like the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers. whether or not they are good or bad fans are pretty committed to those teams. Even the Isles has a committed fan base even though the team has been floating around in Geno the Fishmonger's toilet at the local Wal-Mart on 5th street for a while now.

[infrared41]

Austin, Texas September 9, 2006. 4,000 tickets were made available for Ohio State fans. 40,000 Ohio State fans show up in Austin just to tailgate. Not bad.

My very biased vote for best fan base goes to Buckeye Nation.

[The_Admiral]

most new york teams has a pretty committed fan bases. Especially teams like the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers. whether or not they are good or bad fans are pretty committed to those teams. Even the Isles has a committed fan base even though the team has been floating around in Geno the Fishmonger's toilet at the local Wal-Mart on 5th street for a while now.

True, but if we count the Jersey teams as New York teams, which they basically are, then that kind of drags down the average.

[SabreGuy]

Austin, Texas September 9, 2006. 4,000 tickets were made available for Ohio State fans. 40,000 Ohio State fans show up in Austin just to tailgate. Not bad.

My very biased vote for best fan base goes to Buckeye Nation.

Slightly less biased (or as less-biased as a guy from NY sitting in front of his computer wearing a Buckeyes hat can be), I was going to vote for this as well. I agree that it almost has to be college fans of some sort, almost especially because they have, usually, at least 2 good sports at most major colleges (basketball and football) along with several others.

I would say it's probably a big school... Notre Dame, Ohio State, The school from up north, Florida State, Texas, or something along those lines.

Having experienced the very fringes of the Ohio State experience (was in columbus one weekend once during football season) I'd have to say they have to be it.

[Mac the Knife]

During the time I've spent dwelling in the most backward city on earth, Pittsburgh, PA (well, actually, just OUTSIDE the city), I've seen just how deep these people's veins run into the Steelers. It's like the whole city lives and dies...attaches their entire EXISTENCE to the fortunes of the Steelers (maybe cuz ain't much else here FOR THEM to latch onto--I mean, come on, let's face it: the Pirates SUCK. And the Penguins? uh...let me not go there.) The Steelers win; it's a party in the streets that night. The Steelers lose...the whole city's dead the next morning.

Having lived near PGH during my teens (Indiana, PA, Buc - truly a backward town, but I digress), I can testify to this - the whole area lives and dies with the Steelers, to the point of almost being sad.

Case in point: over Labor Day weekend I was up there to visit my in-laws. I stopped into a place in Johnstown where I go to get their soft-shell tacos (they're about the size of a football). There's about 10 people in the place, and on a TV a blurb scrolls across the screen about Roethlisberger's appendectomy. The entire place except yours truly screams, in unison, "Oh, !" It took everything I had not to bust out laughing.

Ten minutes later, some woman walks in wearing a Steelers shirt. Everyone in the place stops, stares at her for a second, then starts cheering. I thought, "WTF? Is this one of these 21st century would-be celebrities or something?" But no - they were whooping it up over... the shirt. It was kind of like being in a bad "Twilight Zone" episode, but in reality that's the area in a nutshell.

[zig]

Florida Marlins Fans

[Geoff]

from a comedy standpoint: Pensacola Ice Pilots Fans

[tBBP]

During the time I've spent dwelling in the most backward city on earth, Pittsburgh, PA (well, actually, just OUTSIDE the city), I've seen just how deep these people's veins run into the Steelers.  It's like the whole city lives and dies...attaches their entire EXISTENCE to the fortunes of the Steelers (maybe cuz ain't much else here FOR THEM to latch onto--I mean, come on, let's face it: the Pirates SUCK.  And the Penguins?  uh...let me not go there.)  The Steelers win; it's a party in the streets that night.  The Steelers lose...the whole city's dead the next morning.

Having lived near PGH during my teens (Indiana, PA, Buc - truly a backward town, but I digress), I can testify to this - the whole area lives and dies with the Steelers, to the point of almost being sad.

Case in point: over Labor Day weekend I was up there to visit my in-laws. I stopped into a place in Johnstown where I go to get their soft-shell tacos (they're about the size of a football). There's about 10 people in the place, and on a TV a blurb scrolls across the screen about Roethlisberger's appendectomy. The entire place except yours truly screams, in unison, "Oh, !" It took everything I had not to bust out laughing.

Ten minutes later, some woman walks in wearing a Steelers shirt. Everyone in the place stops, stares at her for a second, then starts cheering. I thought, "WTF? Is this one of these 21st century would-be celebrities or something?" But no - they were whooping it up over... the shirt. It was kind of like being in a bad "Twilight Zone" episode, but in reality that's the area in a nutshell.

Indiana, PA. A short drive from nowhere...conveniently located next to nothing.

(You can include California, Butler, Slippery Rock, New Castle, Aliquippa, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Blue Ball, Bird-In-Hand, and Eighty Four with that description. And yes folks--these are ACTUAL NAMES of REAL western PA towns! See what I mean bout this place???)

Dude, I got so many other stories I can include about stuff like what you just mentioned about the appendectomy. Were you around here when Ben cracked his head open in that motorcycle accident? It happened not even a good half a mile from my school downtown--and not even a good ten minutes after it happened THE ENTIRE COUNTY knew about it. It became THE BIGGEST EVENT OF THE CENTURY. This is how bad it is--unfortunate incident to be sure, but PEOPLE LEFT THEY JOBS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL BEN WAS AT TO HOLD A PRAYER VIGIL--SOMETHING LIKE THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE IN A MATTER OF FOUR HOURS!! Some of them stayed outside that place the entire four or five days Ben was in there and didn't MOVE!

Now THAT, my friends, is sad. And TRUE dedication.

Then there's the incident that happened last year, when the Jaguars beat the Steelers in OT up here last year--a game in which Maddox filled in for Ben who was injured at the time. The people here was HOT after that INT return for a TD to end it (I on the other hand had the laugh of my life, since Jacksonville's about as close to a "home" team as I have being from Pensacola, FL, 6 hrs away). This is how bad it was. Several Steeler fans went by Maddox's house and TRASHED HIS YARD AND LEFT THREATENING MAIL (some threatened to actually kill the guy), then his kids got harassed at school the day after it happened. All over a GAME. Truly sad...

Oh, but wait--it gets worse. Kid in i think the fourth or fifth grade went to school with a Broncos jersey on. This was right around the time of Pittsburgh's game against the Broncos. His teacher made the poor little guy SIT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR TO TAKE HIS TEST while all the other kids in the class mocked and made fun of him.

THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED.

Now YOU tell ME if THAT AIN'T PATHETIC...

It's great to be a fan of a great organization, which the Steelers certainly are, but please, folks--GET A DAMN LIFE OF YOUR OWN!!! (stuff like that makes me glad I grew up in a small city by the beach!)

[See Red]

My argument for my Notre Dame Fighting Irish is that, since tickets were so hard to come by for the Georgia Tech/Notre Dame game, what I heard is that some Fighting Irish fans bought Georgia Tech season tickets just to see that one game.

[tBBP]

from a comedy standpoint: Pensacola Ice Pilots Fans

Now THAT is comical Geoffrey...straight comical.

Pensacola speaks out!