What are your "rules" & reasons for your sports team fan-ships?

[loogodude90]

1. Don't be a fan just because of a big signing. (Prince Fielder and Peyton Manning)

2. Don't be a closet fan until a team is good. Too many Lions fans have done this.

Tigers too in this area.

That could be said for every team that's existed in the history of humanity.

[evanmaldonado]

My rules are:

1) Don't hop from team to team as your "favorite" just based on their recent performance.

2) Cheer for the local team even if they aren't your favorite team (I'm so tired of Columbus residents just ripping on the Jackets and suddenly having family in Pittsburgh. Seriously, so many people I know suddenly had family in the 'burgh once the Steelers and Pens were both good)

3) Have a reason to cheer for a team.

Now I figure I'll share my reasons as to why I cheer for the teams I do:

NHL:

1) Columbus Blue Jackets - I live in Columbus. The team sucks but I absolutely love this team and what they've done for the city and for me.

1) Colorado Avalanche - They were the first hockey team I had ever heard of and Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, etc were some of my childhood idols.

3) Nashville Predators - they're a huge rival of the CBJ, but I've always admired their ability to field consistently good teams without a ton of star power. And I'm a huge fan of the goaltending factory they have going on.

4) Philadelphia Flyers - Partially due to my love of the color orange, but mainly I love their toughness and resiliency.

Soccer:

1) Manchester City - I didn't really know much about soccer before this past season, but I saw them play a friendly against the LA Galaxy and instantly fell in love.

2) Paris Saint-Germain - I loved their uniforms when I visited France haha. Lame reason, but hey what can ya do?

3) Columbus Crew - They gave me good memories from ages 5-10. Their players were all class acts and hosted many camps around the area. Also, they're local.

NFL:

1) Cincinnati Bengals - They're an Ohio team. My friend got me into them and football really around 2002.

2) Denver Broncos - When I became an Avs fan I also fell in love with the city of Denver and thought you had to cheer for teams all from the same city/state.

3) New England Patriots - First football team I had ever heard of, and I just became a fan due to Bill Belichick.

MLB:

1) New York Yankees - They were playing the Astros in the first baseball game I ever watched and I fell in love with the pinstripes. They got no hit by like six pitchers (which is cool that the first baseball game I saw was a no-hitter), but ever since then I've just been a huge fan.

2) Cincinnati Reds - They're local, and I've had the pleasure of attending their fantastic ballpark. No other reason really.

3) Chicago Cubs - I was born on the northside of Chicago, so I gotta cheer for the Cubbies (no matter how dreadfully and historically awful).

NBA:

*1) Miami Heat - I'm really just a LeBron fan, so I followed him to Miami and ended up liking Bosh and Chalmers too, so there's that.

2) Los Angeles Lakers - I liked Kobe, and their yellow at home/purple on the road look. The white alternate sealed my fandom.

NCAA:

1) Ohio University - I'm currently a Bobcat, so Bobcat pride!!

2) Ohio State University - It's sacrilegious to live in Columbus and not be a Buckeye fan haha.

So there are my reasons. Some of them are kind of dumb, but I'll always be loyal to my teams no matter what they go through.

[charger77]

1. Don't be a fan just because of a big signing. (Prince Fielder and Peyton Manning)

2. Don't be a closet fan until a team is good. Too many Lions fans have done this.

Tigers too in this area.

That could be said for every team that's existed in the history of humanity.

It was a Detroit specific response.

[Chawls]

When determining fandom, one of my general rules is never rooting for a team with a successful history....

...Even though I've only been a Saints fan since 2004, at the time, they were going through a mediocre phase with Jim Haslett. A couple of 8-8s, 9-7, 7-9. My fandom was never tested more than in the lost season of 2005. Despite everything, I made sure to stay committed to those Bless You Boys and I've been a fan ever since.

Okay, help me connect the syllogism here....

...I can understand rooting for the hapless underdog, i.e. your logic behind being a Lions fan, and yet you've only been a Saints fan, the team right in your backyard, and that had all those hapless seasons, since '04?

What'd I miss?

Storytime kids! Gather 'round!

It was around the week leading up to Super Bowl XXXVII. Early 2003. I was in the 2nd semester of my 8th grade year. I didn't give 2 shiits about sports up until this point, but there was a lot of talk about the upcoming game. A lot of the kids around school were talking about the Raiders and that other team. From what I was overhearing from my schoolmates, most people were favoring the Raiders, although there were a few kids that liked the other team's chances. Let's not forget, this game was featuring the league's #1 offense vs. the league's #1 defense so statistically, this was the ultimate match-up of strength vs. strength. The buzz was so strong for this game that I couldn't help but become interested. Still, I couldn't understand what the big friggin' deal was. I missed the game, but I remember listening to the Tom Joyner Morning Show with my momma the next morning on the way to school (she was an employee, so I rode with her). Tom was enthusiastically talking about the game and how 21 was only good in blackjack, because as I'm sure you remember Buc, the Raiders lost 48-21.

Fast forward to the 2003 regular season, I had DirecTv which at the time had exclusive rights to this new network called the NFL Network. The NFL Network nourished my mind with an endless supply of NFL knowledge from past to present, all needed to give me proper context about the history and relevance of football. I remember almost every week, I'd cut out the box score from the newspaper that listed each team's record by division. This helped me to learn the divisions

by heart

within the 1st quarter of the season. I spent the 2003 season primarily learning and loving the game more and more. Though it wasn't necessary, I tried aligning myself with various teams to keep myself interested. The Vikings and Dolphins come to mind, but neither team stuck with me. The season was capped off by an exciting Super Bowl between the Panthers and Patriots. By then, I was fully aware of all 8 divisions, and though I thought it was cool that the NFC South represented its conference in the Big Game in back-to-back years, I also remembered there was one team that had never even been close...

The Saints were easy to root for because their games were on FOX every week, they were local, and other people around me liked them...A LOT. It was easy to become swept in the fandom of black and 5 shades of gold. Also, the way they teetered on mediocrity at the time was the type of stuff that would make a Seattle Seahawks fan jealous. Being right on the heartbreaking cusp of a playoff spot every week really enthralled me the most. And even though...

ended our playoff hopes for the 2003 season, I really understood the thrill of following a sports franchise for the 1st time and I've been a fan ever since. So even though the incident above took place at the end of the 2003 season, I don't count 2003 as the start of my Saints fandom because I wasn't there for the full duration of the season, hence why I call myself a Saints fan since 2004.

[Sport]

My rules:

The local team should always gets the first chance to gain your fandom. If your family sways you to another team outside the local market then that's fine too, but if you're using your mom's great aunt's ex-husband from Pittsburgh as your excuse to be a Steelers fan then that is not acceptable. Keep it within your immediate family. If you live somewhere without a local team, go with the one that's broadcasted the most.

Also, keep it within the same city. If you're a Steelers fan, you don't also get to be a Red Sox fan. In this age of major TV coverage and the internet I'm seeing more and more people cheering for teams all over the map. It's "Lights outsy" and feels insincere. I just can't trust your fandom when you don't have the same city or region bonding all your teams together. I don't understand how you can be all-in with a city's hockey team, for example, but then hate that same city's baseball team.

If you're constantly switching teams and suddenly start pulling for the best most exciting team you will lose all my respect and you're a hollow shell of a person who needs to look inside and find some character within.

Also, the only true fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are also diehard Pirates fans.

I never consciously chose to be a Reds or Bengals fan. There's never been a time I can remember where those weren't my teams.

I did make the decision at age 13 to become a Blue Jackets fan, but that was a love at first site situation. I was at the inaugral game and the place was electric. I still have yet to experience anything even close to that at a sporting event.

[OnWis97]

I never consciously chose to be a Reds or Bengals fan. There's never been a time I can remember where those weren't my teams.

I did make the decision at age 13 to become a Blue Jackets fan, but that was a love at first site situation. I was at the inaugral game and the place was electric. I still have yet to experience anything even close to that at a sporting event.

Same here for the Twins and Vikings (and North Stars, until they moved). For me it was easy as a Minnesota native...I like the home teams. Soon as the T-wolves (and later, the Wild) started, they became my team too. When I went to the University of Wisconsin, getting season tix for football/basketball/hockey, I was set for college. Easy.

What never worked for me was "choosing" a team. When the North Stars moved, I "chose" the Red Wings...they were becoming good, but had yet to win a Cup in that era, and, well, I'd always loved their uniforms. But it did not stick. I was not particularly excited when they won. So I cannot say that "my" team won the Cup. I did not have a team...until the Wild.

So my "rules" are: I like my school and my home teams. I usually am "pulling" for someone else once my team is eliminated (which is almost always early). That may be because a Wisconsin player is on the team, some other veteran I'd like to see win a title is on the team, or even that they are playing a team I hate. But I do not act like a crazy person over that team and I do not claim them as my own. This year, I kind of want Miami to win, just to spite the haters (though Boston does have a former Badger riding its bench), but I am not going to be excited/upset, regardless. And in the NHL, I am pulling for the Kings, since they've never won a cup. But again, my team was not even in the playoffs.

Edit: A note on the North Stars. I don't think there are "rules" when you team moves. I cheered actively against the Dallas Stars. It was definite "sour grapes" when they won the Cup. My friends ranged from happy to see them win it, to indifferent, to upset like me. I've seen reference to the Rams or Sacramento Kings moving, and I guess there is no right or wrong. I dumped the (North) Stars, but if someone wants to continue to follow a relocated team (forever or until the players start moving on), that's fine. By now, my bitterness has worn off. Minnesota has a team that's been around for over a decade. I'll never love 'em like I did the North Stars, but we have the NHL and that's the key. Plus, they've already won a Cup. The Dallas Stars have sort of drifted into being just another NHL team to me. I guess if they make a run, I'll probably be cheering against them, but not like I did in the 90s.

[Gothamite]

My "rules" are intensely personal. I don't necessarily apply them to anyone else's experience.

I too always go for the local teams. I grew up in New York and Milwaukee, and those are my teams. Brewers and Packers, with a rooting interest in the Yankees (they were my team before my five-year-old self fell in love with the True Blue Brew Crew). Failing those three, I'll always fall back on barracking for the local teams by default. Failing that, I like to see Rust Belt cities or upper Midwest clubs do well.

If the NBA hadn't killed any interest I had in basketball, I'd be a huge Brooklyn Nets fan now (hell, their gorgeous new logo almost did the trick alone). My son is; he's very excited about them starting next year. I don't much care for hockey either, but I'm trapped by the Rangers; if I could choose based on my city-preferences, or uniforms or anything like that, I'd gladly be a Penguins or Sabres fan. But I've never been to Pittsburgh or Buffalo, and I'm never going to go, so it seems forced and phony. As I said: stuck with the Rangers if at all.

I really agree with you about "choosing" a team, OnWis. I just can't do it. Not in my nature.

Soccer is another example. I'm an Arsenal season ticket holder, but my wife is from North London, so they're her local side, and now mine. I've never had an MLS team to call my own, originally because the MLS was so bush league it wasn't worth my time, and later because I live in a market without one. I originally wanted to root for the Philadelphia Union, because I love their fanbase, and I love their logo set. But then they turned out to be Bimbos, and I'm not really a Philly guy anyway. So I thought about the Portland Timbers; I went to school in Oregon, and I had been to games from their predecessor clubs. And although they bungled the crest, the rest of their identity is pretty damn perfect. But again, I'm never going back to Portland, and it seems terribly disingenuous to claim them as my own. So I'll just have to wait until the Cosmos start playing.

[bosrs1]

My rules:

Also, keep it within the same city. If you're a Steelers fan, you don't also get to be a Red Sox fan. In this age of major TV coverage and the internet I'm seeing more and more people cheering for teams all over the map. It's "Lights outsy" and feels insincere. I just can't trust your fandom when you don't have the same city or region bonding all your teams together. I don't understand how you can be all-in with a city's hockey team, for example, but then hate that same city's baseball team.

See I can't agree with this. There are tons of legit reasons why someone would root for teams from various locations based on when they started rooting for a team in a particular sport as well as circumstances of geography, fanbases, etc...

I know for me personally the first team I was ever a fan of was the Oakland A's. Yet through circumstance the Raiders were an LA team in my formative years (plus they'll never be forgiven for coming back and destroying the Oakland Coliseum). And being an A's fan means I'm diametrically opposed to all things San Francisco which rules out any of those teams (which included the Niners) which is why I eventually developed into loving my grandparents team in New England (that and I liked watching Bledsoe because he always looked stoned). So while in theory I had a local football team to root for growing up, they're an enemy team despite being closest, and the Raiders came back after I'd developed as a Pats fan.

Same goes for basketball. Didn't follow the sport until college and got caught up in rooting for the Sacramento Kings in 2001-2 with a good friend. Until then I'd had no interest in basketball and the Golden State Warriors despite playing 50 feet from my baseball team. It would seem a worse crime to jump ship to the Warriors just because they're 100 miles closer to where I grew up when the first team I ever cared about were the Kings. Especially since the Warriors themselves are about to jump ship to San Francisco and would thus be in violation of my "Screw all things San Francisco" rule anyway. Loyalty is the most important thing.

[Kramerica Industries]

My rules:

Also, keep it within the same city. If you're a Steelers fan, you don't also get to be a Red Sox fan. In this age of major TV coverage and the internet I'm seeing more and more people cheering for teams all over the map. It's "Lights outsy" and feels insincere. I just can't trust your fandom when you don't have the same city or region bonding all your teams together. I don't understand how you can be all-in with a city's hockey team, for example, but then hate that same city's baseball team.

Then you'll have to consider the possibility of teams not yet existing as a possible exception.

Had I been born more recently, I probably would've become a Rays fan. But when I was growing up, at a time when the Lightning were brand new but the Rays were not yet conceived, my father's allegiances plus the Yankees strong presence in the Tampa Bay area (George Steinbrenner did a ton for the community) pushed me in that direction, and thanks to the Rays being a huge threat every year to the Yankees' chances, I've developed a pretty solid hatred towards them, even though I retain strong allegiance towards the Bucs and the Lightning.

I've also come to realize I can never possibly like two different teams at once, because the teams I root for I follow quite closely. And I can't follow multiple teams closely. I couldn't possibly just "dump" teams either. Once my allegiances were set, I could never let go.

[IceCap]

The Kitchener Rangers are my literal home town team. So I'll always root for them.

Most of my other teams are local. The Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays, and Toronto FC are just the top teams in their specific leagues from the region I'm from. With the exception of the fairly recent Toronto FC I grew up liking these teams because they were the "local" teams.

With the Tiger-Cats, well I could either be an Argos fan or a Ti-Cats fan. I went with the Ti-Cats once I started really paying attention to CFL football. They're my outlet for "Southern Ontario That's Not Toronto" "pride."

For the non-local teams I draw on family or ethnic connections. My dad was a Chargers fan, and that seemed as good as reason to adopt them growing up in a market that doesn't have a NFL team as its own. My mom's from London, ON (where I'm living now) and grew up supporting the Lions, but I never really latched onto them. Nice to see them starting to do well, but I don't claim to be a fan.

I support the Rangers FC in the SPL because my family from the British Isles were historically Protestant Unionists, so that connection drew me to the Rangers.

I support Tottenham in the Premier League because of the Jewish connection. I figured I had my mom's side covered with the Rangers. So when I started to develop an interest in soccer I chose Tottenham to follow because of their traditionally notable Jewish following to cover my dad's side. A bit arbitrary, but hey. It would have been just as arbitrary no matter who I went with.

Ultimately I guess my only "rule" as it were has been the one people have mentioned a few times already. It doesn't really matter why you cheer for who you do, just that you stick with them once you choose them. Like Tottenham. A bit arbitrary. I'll stick with them though.

[ElwoodCuse]

I don't get complaints about people being fairweather or bandwagon fans. I don't believe fans have a duty or obligation to stick with a team that sucks or is being mismanaged or whatever. The only way fans have any voice is to vote with their wallets.

If a team is putting out an inferior product, why should you pay big money to go see them? So you can be a "true fan" and say you were there all along when they get good? F that, save your dough. No sports team cares about you as an individual any further than as a source of income. They don't deserve your blind devotion and your money just because they exist.

[OnWis97]

I don't get complaints about people being fairweather or bandwagon fans. I don't believe fans have a duty or obligation to stick with a team that sucks or is being mismanaged or whatever. The only way fans have any voice is to vote with their wallets.

If a team is putting out an inferior product, why should you pay big money to go see them? So you can be a "true fan" and say you were there all along when they get good? F that, save your dough. No sports team cares about you as an individual any further than as a source of income. They don't deserve your blind devotion and your money just because they exist.

That's all fine. As a Twins fan, for example, I understand why people are shying from going to games right now. But anyone that says "I am now a Rangers fan" is just sad. How exciting can it be watching "your team" win it all when you just pick 'em off the top of the standings in the newspaper?

[loogodude90]

I don't get complaints about people being fairweather or bandwagon fans. I don't believe fans have a duty or obligation to stick with a team that sucks or is being mismanaged or whatever. The only way fans have any voice is to vote with their wallets.

If a team is putting out an inferior product, why should you pay big money to go see them? So you can be a "true fan" and say you were there all along when they get good? F that, save your dough. No sports team cares about you as an individual any further than as a source of income. They don't deserve your blind devotion and your money just because they exist.

You are mixing up spending money on a team with being a fan, which are two totally different things.

It's not a money thing, it's a "being a fan" thing.

I consider myself to be a huge Wizards fan, the biggest one I know. But I only go to like one game per season, if that. That doesn't mean I'm not a big fan of theirs - I watch almost every game on TV. I know about all of the players, the team's style of play, etc. You don't need to spend gobs of money on a team to be a big fan of theirs.

Conversely, I could buy all the Lakers crap in the world, rock a Kobe jersey wherever I go, wear a Lakers hat, etc. but know nothing about the team other than like 3 players. That doesn't really make me a real Lakers fan.

[Arts11]

My "rules" are intensely personal. I don't necessarily apply them to anyone else's experience.

I too always go for the local teams. I grew up in New York and Milwaukee, and those are my teams. Brewers and Packers, with a rooting interest in the Yankees (they were my team before my five-year-old self fell in love with the True Blue Brew Crew). Failing those three, I'll always fall back on barracking for the local teams by default. Failing that, I like to see Rust Belt cities or upper Midwest clubs do well.

If the NBA hadn't killed any interest I had in basketball, I'd be a huge Brooklyn Nets fan now (hell, their gorgeous new logo almost did the trick alone). My son is; he's very excited about them starting next year. I don't much care for hockey either, but I'm trapped by the Rangers; if I could choose based on my city-preferences, or uniforms or anything like that, I'd gladly be a Penguins or Sabres fan. But I've never been to Pittsburgh or Buffalo, and I'm never going to go, so it seems forced and phony. As I said: stuck with the Rangers if at all.

I really agree with you about "choosing" a team, OnWis. I just can't do it. Not in my nature.

Soccer is another example. I'm an Arsenal season ticket holder, but my wife is from North London, so they're her local side, and now mine. I've never had an MLS team to call my own, originally because the MLS was so bush league it wasn't worth my time, and later because I live in a market without one. I originally wanted to root for the Philadelphia Union, because I love their fanbase, and I love their logo set. But then they turned out to be Bimbos, and I'm not really a Philly guy anyway. So I thought about the Portland Timbers; I went to school in Oregon, and I had been to games from their predecessor clubs. And although they bungled the crest, the rest of their identity is pretty damn perfect. But again, I'm never going back to Portland, and it seems terribly disingenuous to claim them as my own. So I'll just have to wait until the Cosmos start playing.

Funny you should mention your soccer fan situation. Despite my previously stated intention to want to follow the Cosmos, if they should gain entrance into MLS, I wonder if that's a good idea. There's a very, very slight chance I could move back to New York in the coming years, but I'm not holding my breath, so that'll make following them just a little harder since I won't have that really personal link to them, and like you, I would feel a little disingenuous since the only tie I had to them were old, second hand (and half-forgotten) stories from when I was a kid. I keep wondering if I should wait until I finally "settle down" in one place (I've been, and will be, on the move for the next couple of years) and follow the local team, but then again, Ive kept my old New York team fanships going from afar (having not lived there in over a decade now), so the Cosmos thing hopefully won't be much different. But if that fanship take off, I just hope I'll be in a place where I can actually watch and follow them consistently.

[DaytonBlue]

Interesting article, though it's a couple years old:

Bill Simmons sports fan rules

Here are a couple I liked:

12. After your team wins a championship, they immediately get a five-year grace period: You can't complain about anything that happens with your team (trades, draft picks, salary-cap cuts, coaching moves) for five years. There are no exceptions. For instance, the Pats could finish 0-80 over the next five years and I wouldn't say a peep. That's just the way it is. You win the Super Bowl, you go on cruise control for five years. Everything else is gravy.

***I'll definitely admit there are Cardinal fans who should try to follow this a little better.

19. Your team moves to another city. All bets are off when that happens. In fact, if you decided to turn off that sport entirely, nobody would blame you.

15c. If one of your best friends loves a certain team that has a chance to win a championship, and your team is out of the picture, it's OK to jump on the bandwagon and root for his team to win it all. That's acceptable. Like Temporary Fan status. (I do this almost every year if my team is out; I enjoy the championship rounds much better if I have a team to pull for. But I usually have reasons...e.g. dislike the Thunder because of how the owner screwed Seattle, dislike the Heat because of Lebron and I have lots of friends from Cleveland.)

6. When your team wins a championship, it's your civic duty to purchase as much paraphernalia as possible. Don't be ashamed. Hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, videos, cards, magazines, books ... there's no limit. Gorge yourself. (I am usually not a terribly materialistic person, except for after Super Bowl XXXIV, 2006 World Series, and 2011 World Series.)

[mjrbaseball]

I have no specific rules. My teams just kind of "happened". But I stick with them.

BASEBALL: People accuse me of being a bandwagon fan because I root for the Yankees. The truth is, I became a Yankees fan way back in 1967 when I saw my first game at the old ballpark, and Mickey Mantle hit a monster home run. For an 8-year-old, that was enough. The Yankees were, of course, pitiful in the late '60s, but I stuck with them, as I did during the '80s. I am certainly no frontrunner.

BASKETBALL: I like the Celtics because my high school basketball coach played one season for the Celtics back in the '40s. Our team's uniforms were the same color and style as the Celtics (probably due to the coach's influence), so that's another reason. Simple as that.

FOOTBALL and HOCKEY: I don't watch these sports enough to have a favorite team. When I do watch, I hope for something unusual to happen, such as a major comeback late in the game, or quadruple overtime, or some such thing.

SOCCER: In the Premier League, I cheer on Tottenham Hotspur. That is because the Spurs were the favorite team of a character in a book I read as a child (84, Charing Cross Road), and they were the first soccer team I ever heard of. No favorite U.S. team, although I did like the Philadelphia Fury back in the NASL because they were the hometown team while I was in college in Philly, and they had a cool mascot, "Furious Fred," a soccer ball on fire.

COLLEGE: Of course, I go with the two schools I attended, Division III King's and Penn of the Ivy League. In years when Penn does not make the NCAA tournament, I will back whatever Ivy League team is in. As for Division I, although Penn State is the closest school and nearly everyone I know pulls for the Nittany Lions, I never saw the attraction. My best friend at King's grew up in New Jersey and was a huge Rutgers fan, so I kind of adopted them.

[maz]

My city, my teams. Pens, Bucs, and Steelers (although I have recently started to almost dislike the Steelers. Yes, even to some native burghers they are annoying.)

Then in the case of secondary favorites, I usually associate those with good memories or favorite players. Like how I've liked the Giants since they ruined the Pats' perfect season, or the Saints because of Drew Brees, or the Blackhawks because of Kane and how I used to destroy everyone I knew with them in NHL09, or most recently the Kings for Scuderi, Kopitar, and Quick.

As for bandwagons, more often than not it's because they're the underdog. Sometimes because I just hate everyone else who is left.

[dbadefense1990]

After your team wins a championship, they immediately get a five-year grace period: You can't complain about anything that happens with your team (trades, draft picks, salary-cap cuts, coaching moves) for five years. There are no exceptions.

So let's see: using this rule, both the Anaheim Ducks and the San Antonio Spurs' grace periods will expire (although the Spurs can renew theirs this season). In MLB, it's the Red Sox whose period ends if they don't win the 2012 World Series, while in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts enter the Andrew Luck era with their SB title period now gone.

Makes logical sense.

[dbadefense1990]

I disagree about "bandwagoning". I think that, the more people involved, the better the experience is as a fan.

If you're a diehard, unfortunately, you are going to be lumped in with the bandwagoning frontrunners who don't know what they're rooting for, but are doing it because it's the latest trend. It's happening with the Kings; all the diehards are being pushed aside by these elites who don't know what the sport of hockey is to begin with, and who can only name the player most mentioned on the news and say that he/she has been a fan since such player began playing.

[Gothamite]

It's happening with the Kings; all the diehards are being pushed aside

How, exactly? Are you talking about being priced out of Stanley Cup Finals tickets?