BIRD33 Wrote:Pats fans in general who didnt support the team when they sucked(blackouts) are frontrunners.Whats the ratio of Sox hat's worn to Pat's hats worn in Boston?25 to 1?Its a baseball town first and only a football town when your winning.
I'll be the first to admit that it's a baseball town, but that "ratio" is a lot lower than you think. The only sad thing is that the number of pink Sox and Pats hats has skyrocketed in recent years.
There are so many historic franchises here, the natural ebb and flow of winning and losing dictates who is the most popular at any given time. For years the Patriots were the ugly duckling of the Boston sports scene, part because they were terrible but part because the Sox, Celtics, and Bruins were all so damn good. In the early 70s the Bruins were the toughest ticket in town. In the 80s it was the Celtics. The 90s were kind of a no man's land until the Pats landed Bledsoe and fans had something to root for.
The fans were always there, it's just that not everyone is a superfan like me. When there are so many options from which to choose, someone always gets left out in the cold.
My only bandwagon admission is Florida State football, and that was part luck anyway. My grandparents moved there in '92 and sent me an FSU hat back. I started following them, and Charlie Ward did the rest.