COLUMN: The art of bandwagon fandom and why it matters, even in local sports

When my hands shot up above my head in an involuntary reaction of celebration, a couple heads turned and gave me weird looks in the Five Star Stadium press box.

Any sports journalist knows the age-old rule: no cheering in the press box. Everyone in that part of the booth was a Mercer employee or media member, though, so cheering for the Bears would not have been entirely out of line, even if I try to avoid doing
so during games.

But I don’t think it was the fact that I cheered that made some folks glance my way.

They probably turned and raised eyebrows, in fact, because Mercer’s football game that day would not start for another hour, give or take.

I had reacted with my arms in the air instead because Lane Thomas — most casual sports fans are probably saying “Who?” right about now — hit a grand slam in Game 5 of the ALDS. The long ball propelled the Cleveland Guardians to a series win and a berth in the ALCS, where they made a valiant effort but failed to topple the Yankees.

How do I know this? Why was I watching this game in the Mercer football press box before a football showdown despite the fact that I am not actually a Cleveland fan? Well, it’s simple. I love baseball so much that I became a bandwagon fan.

It is a term both nauseating and compelling. I have hated bandwagon fans in some respects — the type of people who root for the Yankees while cheering for the Crimson Tide on the college gridiron, the New England Patriots in the NFL and the Duke Blue Devils in college basketball, for instance.

I’ve been a bandwagon fan myself, however. 

When I was a kid I decided I would was a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals for about a year. I still have no idea why — I think I enjoyed that they used a similar mascot and color scheme to my Clemson Tigers, but regardless, it was a strange choice. (Of course I somehow chose to root for a franchise with a postseason curse at the time that included a cataclysmically dumb postseason loss. Go figure.)

The bandwagoning I like to do now, though, comes during the playoffs. The Falcons have been out of it lately. The Braves, aside from that magical 2021 season, have been making early exits quite often. So I pick a team to cheer for because I enjoy watching the games so much.

This year, that team was Cleveland. A scrappy team headlined by guys like great defender and contact hitter Steven Kwan, MVP-level talent Jose Ramirez and a guy named Johnkensy Noel? Count me in.

But once the Yankees eliminated the Guardians disaster struck. The World Series featured two teams I despise, as New York met the Los Angeles Dodgers in the series. Yuck. Perhaps only Mets-Yankees would have been worse.

So what was I to do? I couldn’t root for those two putrid clubs, teams that have tortured the Braves in the past.

Lucky for me, Macon sports had my back.

The first story in recent weeks that comes to mind is that of Karlee and Karsyn Yates, the two twin sisters who hit home runs in the same inning of a game for the ACE Gryphons last week. If that wasn’t enough, the two girls had torn their ACLS within the same week all the way back in January.

It was a storybook moment that I was lucky to be present for. Remember that rule I mentioned about cheering in the press box? That doesn’t apply when your daughter plays on the team with the Yates twins, as the folks next to me above ACE’s softball field went wild after the home runs, and justifiably so.

That was an easy team to root for as a bandwagon fan.

I’ve also watched the Northeast Raiders play football all season and began enjoying their games, though I obviously don’t root for them while I cover them. Star running back Nick Woodford is one of the most entertaining football players I’ve ever seen in person and up-close.

As I watched Woodford gash the Dodge County defense and help his team more or less secure a home playoff game — it’s still up in the air but should probably happen, I know because I’ve pored over GHSA’s power rankings system all week — I realized that I was not a bandwagon fan.

Local sports have something that the big national leagues don’t, I think: the charm that you can root for nearly any team. 

As a Central and Sugarbear Band alum, it was mandatory for me to hate the rival Southwest Patriots as a student. As an adult, I’ve gotten joy out of hearing about Southwest upsetting Bleckley County on the final play or seeing the Patriots’ third-string quarterback Steve Robinson sling passes, even if their season has not panned out from a playoff perspective.

Just as essential to sports fandom as pride in your professional teams, it seems, is pride in your city’s local ones. Whether it’s Macon’s illustrious high school basketball history, its uniquely — sometimes frustratingly — crowded football scene or even teams like the Macon Bacon and Mayhem, there’s always a bandwagon to hop on and learn about at a moment’s notice.

For folks who can’t get enough of sports, it’s a great bonus. For a sportswriter, it’s a bonafide blessing.