Fan vs. Fan

Fan vs. Fan

By Norm Stachulski

 

 With the NHL Playoffs approaching fast, the bandwagon fans are coming out of every dark corner of the watering hole. The generic 21 year old blonde yelling for the home team at the bar has already begun. However, this isn’t about them. It’s about a different group of fans. The fans that believe there isn’t another good player in the league besides who currently plays for their team.

 I’ve been a Detroit Red Wings fan for as long as I can remember, but I own t-shirts to a dozen other teams. I’m a Hockey fan at heart. Sure I root for my team, but I root along with my friends when their home team plays their rival. I’m often referred to as “Not a real Wings fan” over the fact that I wore a Predators t-shirt, or that I went to a Blackhawks vs Colorado game.

So my question is this- Can you be a fan to a team and still be able to watch other games? As far as I can tell, the answer overwhelmingly comes out “No.”   This is why fantasy hockey leagues aren’t as popular. I joined a team this year with some friends but everyone picked players off their own roster.

 What gives, folks?? Where are the hockey fans? I’m going to assume here in an original 6 city, we are bound to be covered in Bandwagoners, but is it like this everywhere? Tampa? Edmonton? Dallas? Anyone have an answer?

At the end of the day, I stop arguing with the “ home team only” fans who try to put me down. Why bother? You can have a favorite team without having blinders on to any other team or player.

But then again, What do I know?