We all know that one guy. You know, the guy who’s “favorite” sports team is somehow in the Finals every year. The guy who gets extremely defensive when you ask him how long he’s liked the team he can’t stop tweeting about. I’m talking about that huge bandwagon fan.
I recently returned home from a trip to Milwaukee, WI with my baseball team. The Twins happened to be playing the Brewers at Miller Park so we all got tickets to go to the game. In case you didn’t know, the Brewers are one of the worst teams in baseball. I was absolutely amazed from what I saw when I got to the field. In pure Wisconsin fashion, the parking lot was filled with tailgaters having a great time. My first thought was, “There is no way we’d ever see this in Minnesota – especially if we were the worst team in the majors!”
The majority of Minnesota sports fans are always hopping on and off the bandwagon. No if, ands, or buts about it. I love seeing the constant change in emotion from when a team is doing bad to when a team is doing good. It seems like whenever this happens, all of a sudden everyone has been a lifelong, diehard fan of that team. This makes me proud to be a Cleveland sports fan who stuck with the Cavaliers when they were down and sticks with the Browns year in and year out. *Waits for all the Cleveland jokes to ensue*
This bandwagon sports fandom got me thinking about the sneaker world and how there are tons of sneaker bandwagoners. I’ve seen it time and time again. A new shoe or colorway is announced and everyone hates on it. The sneaker pages on FaceBook and sneaker Twitter are all filled with people talking about how trash this shoe is. I’m not saying this happens all the time, but it usually seems that those same people are the ones who can’t stop talking about how they “NEED” that pair come release time. More times than not it’s a limited release.
The shoe that sticks out in my mind the most where people had this sudden change of heart is the Kobe 9 Flyknit High. The hate was definitely real with that shoe. “It’s way too high.” “So ugly, I’d never wear them.” “It’s a boxing shoe.” And so on, and so forth. Then comes the Prelude Pack ending with the Masterpieces. Boom. Instant sell-out. Where did all that hate go?
Some of it could’ve died due to the fact that it was limited. Some of it could’ve died due to the fact that it’s actually a dope shoe. Whatever the reason, the Kobe 9 Flyknit High was a hit.
This begs the question: Do people actually buy what they like now or do they just follow popular opinion?
Don’t be a sheep. It sounds corny but buy and wear what you like. Stop letting other people influence you. Also, don’t judge a shoe before you haven’t held it in hand, felt the materials, and tried them on. Some shoes that you hate at first might become your new favorites after you get the chance to try them out.
Most importantly, stop being a bandwagoner. Sports, sneakers or whatever else it may be, nobody likes bandwagon fans.
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