The Bandwagon Effect

[mike short]

Maybe some of you guys have already come across this situation but I hadn't until recently. I'll set the mood. I'm one of the only Panthers fans in South Orange County and most everyone who knows me knows that about me. Surprisingly, I got defensive about the Panthers. Not about our record, our players, our coaches or our organization. Nope. I got defensive about me being a true Panthers fan.

It all started when I went to a local ice cream shop to get my beautiful wife some tasty treats after we tucked the kids in for bed. When I finished my order, the kid at the counter saw my jersey and immediately struck up a conversation about my team. What irritated me was he had this look on his face, like he thought I had gotten on the teams bandwagon. What! Me!?! Man I got flustered so fast that I rattled off as much info as I could spew out about the Panthers. He just stood there smiling. It wasn't until I got into my truck that I thought....dang I acted like a little girl. How'd I let this former 12th man fan piss me off? Why was I being so defensive? I mean I've been a fan since 2002. I played high school football with DESHAUN FOSTER (a former Panther) at Tustin HS and became a fan when he got drafted. I was there when Dan Morgan was killing teams and when Steve Smith put us on the map. My wife has seen me turn our garage into a Carolina Panthers west coast museum and she's even traveled to Qualcomm to watch our team smash the Bolts. I've been there when we sucked and when we were good. This was crazy....The Panthers have a bandwagon and I have to come to grips with it.

If it wasn't for IGO's post, "New Years resolutions for Panthers Fans," I'd still be pissed at that kid. Now I don't even care about Bandwagon fans. Heck bring em on, we need our Panthers Nation to spread east to west. I've got nothing to be defensive about.

I'm curious though, anyone else have a funny thing like that happen to them this season? 

[JawnyBlaze]

just keep representin' bro.

[RelaxImaPro]

your cartoon wife is pretty hot

[Kevin Greene]

Had the same thing happen Wed night when the wife and I sat at the bar next to a guy. He saw my Panther hoodie and instantly assumed I was on the bandwagon. Morons don't know my hoodie has the old logo, is well worn etc. Whatever, after chatting him up a while he figured it out. He's a damned Viking fan, I told him I thought we had a date upcoming with the Seahawks before he copped to it. Teach him not to represent.

[iamhubby1]

I got nothing. I just wanted to add my two cents. West coast Panther fans all seem to be a little...different. Yeah, that's the word. Must be all that smog. You still have smog don't ya?

[Kevin Greene]

3 minutes ago, iamhubby1 said:

I got nothing. I just wanted to add my two cents. West coast Panther fans all seem to be a little...different. Yeah, that's the word. Must be all that smog. You still have smog don't ya?

Thank you.

[iamhubby1]

1 minute ago, Kevin Greene said:

Thank you.

 

Not gonna lie. I got started, and couldn't find the off ramp.

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

Stood behind a guy at the bank today who had a Brees jersey on. Meanwhile I was wearing a Panthers beanie that his been on my head every winter-ish day since God knows when. He saw said beanie and quipped "Bandwagon's getting a little full, don't you think?". I responded very cheerfully "It sure is! Great time to be a Panthers fan! Say, when the Saints dump their washed up QB, you gonna get a new jersey or just busy out one of your old Cowboys ones?"

 

[UpstatePanther]

27 minutes ago, iamhubby1 said:

You still have smaug don't ya?

And here I though that dragon was dead... lol

[iamhubby1]

18 minutes ago, ItsNotGonnaBeAlright said:

Just now, UpstatePanther said:

And here I though that dragon was dead... lol

 

 

Just by happen stance. I am reading the Lord of the Rings at the moment. Well, not at this moment in time, cuz obviously, I am here on the Huddlez. But, I am in the process of reading it. First time.

 

[scpanther22]

I've been noticing there are bandwagon fans that are only here becasue 15-1 and then there are bandwagon fans that are only here for Cam.

I'm cool with it becasue this team is still pretty young most on here are older than the actual team..All I hope is with all this winning we don't become one of those entitled fan bases like the pats fan base.

One of the things I love about the panthers as an organization is that down home feel to it..I wanna keep that no matter how much the team grows in fans

[iamhubby1]

32 minutes ago, Kevin Greene said:

Had the same thing happen Wed night when the wife and I sat at the bar next to a guy. He saw my Panther hoodie and instantly assumed I was on the bandwagon. Morons don't know my hoodie has the old logo, is well worn etc. Whatever, after chatting him up a while he figured it out. He's a damned Viking fan, I told him I thought we had a date upcoming with the Seahawks before he copped to it. Teach him not to represent.

 

22 minutes ago, ItsNotGonnaBeAlright said:

Stood behind a guy at the bank today who had a Brees jersey on. Meanwhile I was wearing a Panthers beanie that his been on my head every winter-ish day since God knows when. He saw said beanie and quipped "Bandwagon's getting a little full, don't you think?". I responded very cheerfully "It sure is! Great time to be a Panthers fan! Say, when the Saints dump their washed up QB, you gonna get a new jersey or just busy out one of your old Cowboys ones?"

 

 

Kill em with kindness. Panther class shining through.

 

I wear Panther stuff all the time. No one every says anything to me. Hellz, I was at Food Lion on Thanksgiving. Said "Good game" to a dude in a Cowboys jacket. He just looked at me like I was crazy.

 

Course I do live in SC. So maybe wearing Panther stuff isn't such a big deal. I'm going to go now.

[Skydivingcows]

16 minutes ago, UpstatePanther said:

And here I though that dragon was dead... lol

Cam is chasing the one ring to rule them all

Yeah, it was rather funny in Atlanta the other week when we checked into the hotel.  The lady thought I was another bandwagon fan until I pulled out my Panthers Credit Card and showed her my Panther AAA card for discount.  The girl remembered me on gameday and yelled out to her colleagues and the Panther fans  in the lobby that "this guy" was a real Panther's fan.

Also, today I heard murmurs about my hat as I walked past the departure gate to Phoenix and how new the hat looked.   I wanted to ask them if they went to see their team play 10 regular season games this year or if they just turned the TV on when their team was winning but stupid de-icing made me too late to bother.

[Kevin Greene]

2 minutes ago, iamhubby1 said:

 

 

Kill em with kindness. Panther class shining through.

 

I wear Panther stuff all the time. No one every says anything to me. Hellz, I was at Food Lion on Thanksgiving. Said "Good game" to a dude in a Cowboys jacket. He just looked at me like I was crazy.

 

Course I do live in SC. So maybe wearing Panther stuff isn't such a big deal. I'm going to go now.

Kewl, time to go kill some Panther fans who don't live in the Carolinas with kindness, good work.