I was supposed to go to this past weekend’s game in Carolina. But then my old man said, well that he was too old to drive down there and back. Then my buddy Ryan, who lives in Delaware and drives down to DC for every home game, said that he would not be able to go because his job wouldn’t give him Monday morning off which would mean that he would get home at around 2 am after having been on the road since 4:30pm. So, I didn’t end up going to the game.
But a lot of other Redskins fans did. So many that the Charlotte Observer talked about it extensively the day after the game. I did however go with my old man to the game the Redskins played in Carolina two years ago and wrote about this same phenomenon on this blog. Two years ago, like last Sunday, the place was about 35-45% Redskins fans. There are two explanations for this: 1) a lot of Redskins fans commuted down from DC; 2) There are a lot of local Redskins fans who were fans of the team before Carolina came into existence and they did not switch their allegiance. This was the case two years ago when me and my old man were hanging out with other DC fans in the parking lot before the game. And I think it’s safe to assume that is the same explanation for this year’s Red Invasion as I like to call it.
This is the case for most teams who “travel” well and the Redskins are one of those. Sure they don’t get the press like the Steelers fans, but at most away games, you can see on TV noticeable amount of Redskins jerseys. A lot of it can be attributed to fan dedication and fans who like to travel and a lot of it, like here in DC when we see other teams fans in the stands, are because people live here.
Now there has been a lot of talk recently about the quality of DC Fans. Some people have used the word “bandwagon” fans which is disgusting and wrong. Mike Wise had some scientific words in yesterday’s paper which amounted to us being self-preserving while Tracee Hamilton had something about us being loyal, but not crazy.
None of these are true. I will put true DC sports fans up to any other city’s sports fans. New York, Philly and Chicago. When people say these names, they usually say in sort of an incredulous voice: “Oh DC has got nothing on these sports towns. They live and die sports”.
Really? How come when I lived in Chicago from 1997 – 2001, every year aside from 1997, I could walk up to the United Center box office and buy tickets to games when the Wizards were in town because no one was going to watch the Bulls when they sucked, even though they had just won 6 (did your read that SIX) NBA Championships? Or, how about how I always bought Cubs tickets the day of the game. ALWAYS!
How about when I bought 2nd had tickets below face value with a parking pass thrown in to a Giants/Redskins game on Sunday night at Giant Stadium when both teams were fighting to make the playoffs. Should we make an excuse for the Giants fans or just criticize them like we do the Redskins fans who tend to not show up for games late at night as much as they do for daytime games.
How about when I bought tickets the day of games to see the Nats play the Phillies BEFORE the Phillies starting winning division titles. Or how about how the Sixers rank way below the Wizards in attendance. Or how about when the Linc in Philly was occupied by 50% Redskins fans on the last game of 2005 because all the Eagles fans had jumped shipped when their season was in the tank? I was there, I can tell you all about it.
People have said that Washingtonians will follow a winner and that somehow makes us weaker than the so-called great sports towns of Philly, NY and Chicago.
All towns follow winners.
NY is supposedly a great baseball town and Citifield was just as empty, if not emptier, whenever the Nats played the Mets this year than Nats park.
Redskins fans, Caps fans can stand up to any group of fans in the country. Wizards fans and Nats fans are strong, but not numerous because the teams are not doing well. If Redskins fans flooded Carolina’s stadium and will be very present at this year’s away games at NY and at Philly, as we always are, and we have been losing for 20 years, imagine what we would look like if we actually won something? Would anyone care or would they just turn a blind eye because somehow, DC is not a great sports town.
