I know everyone sees it, multiple Cowboys and Eagles jerseys at Fed Ex Field. Steelers jerseys at Ravens games, Penguins jerseys at Caps games, Yankees and Red Sox fans at Camden Yards and a sea of red at Nats park, but its a sea of Phillies red. Unlike other areas of the country, this area seems to have the same amount of fans, from rival teams, as fans of the local teams. Honestly it pisses the hell out of me that in such a populous area that there are so many fans that aren't in the home teams colors. This area has the potential to be one of the great sports towns in the country, but because of all the rival fans it isn't. Look at how loud Verizon Center is for a Caps game, how loud M&T is during Ravens games, the atmosphere at Nats park during Stephen Strasburg's first start last year. All of these have great atmospheres, but it still hasn't stopped people from becoming fans of the hated rivals. I've come up with a list of why there are so many rival fans in the area:
Historic Teams: I hate to say it, but its the truth. The Steelers, Cowgirls and Yankees are all successful franchises and usually win consistently. When a team has a wins consistently, usually fairweather fans appear for the teams. I have seen and heard people admit that they are fairweather fans. For example, at the Super Bowl party I was at, there was a hipster in a Steelers jersey. For those of you that don't know, hipsters hate everything about sports and basically hate everything that is normal in the world. Anyways this hipster is in his Steelers jersey and is acting like he's always been a fan of the team, this guy doesn't even know the difference between a tackle and a left tackle. So in conclusion, living in a heavy populated area there is bound to be plenty of fairweather fans, and unfortunately, most of the area's teams are rivals with teams that have a history winning which means more fans or fairweather fans.
This Area is a Melting Pot: While it's cool to say we in or around that most powerful city in the free world, that is not good for sports wise. Since so many people come to this area for work, that means multiple fan bases are coming to this area and ignore the hometown teams since they are fans of the teams of where they came from. This area is also close and easy to get to for rival teams, besides Dallas and Boston, rival cities are pretty close with Shittsburhg I mean Pittsburgh being the farthest drive with four hours. Philly is only 2 hours away and depending on traffic, New York is about 3 to 5 hours away. So combine a melting pot of people living in this area and rivals being not to far away you are going to see multiple enemy colors at local sporting events.
Lack of Winning: Besides the Capitals and Ravens, the teams in this area haven't been winning to much in the past years. Because of the lack of winning people, that are faint of heart, decide to go to other teams that are not in this area. I've always thought that you cheer for your home teams no matter what, it's where you live you should support the teams of where you live. Again, going back to the melting pot theory, I do understand if a persons parents are avid fans of a team and the child decides to adopt his or her parent's teams that make sense. But if your not a fan teams in this area because they suck, well I think that is also grounds for being called a fairweather fan.
How to Fix the Problem: To me the problem is simple, go to the games and support the areas teams. It pisses me off when Nats fans complain about Phillies fans being at Nats park or when O's fans complain about Yankees and Red Sox fans coming to Camden Yards. If you don't want those fans invading the parks then go to the games. Yes I understand its tough economic times, but it's obviously not for the Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox fans. Another way to fix it is have the local sports apparel shops stop selling rival teams apparel. Walk into a Sports Authority and you will see Redskins and Cowboys gear next to each other. No where else in the country does this happen, I don't see any Caps or Ravens apparel in sports shops in Morgantown, its just Shittsburhg apparel. Also raise your kids to be fans of the local teams, don't let them become a fan of the Patriots or Lakers just because they win with that team on the xbox. Teach the kids that you support the teams of where you live and that's the only way it is done. If we start taking these measures, maybe we can eliminate annoying rival fans from coming to our games and I also won't have to be taken out of the stadium in handcuffs for beating up an annoying Philly and or Shittsburgh fan.
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