As most of you readers may know, I did not get back into Sabres hockey until the beginning of the 2006-2007 season. I had watched games pre-lockout and in fact somewhat remember watching games during the ’99 Cup run but I was so little at the time that they are mostly a blur. I wasn’t old enough to properly understand what was going on within the game. I was 15 when I was getting back into hockey, so I was at the age of ‘oh wow, these guys are really cute but at the same time, this sport is AWE-SOME.’
I will call myself out on originally bandwagoning the Sabres. I mean, who didn’t that season? That was their best season statistically. They were winning plenty of games, of course people were going to be fans. There was something I just genuinely loved about the sport, though. It kept me coming back for more constantly. Honestly, hockey was what I looked forward to every day I came home from school. It was one of the only positive things in my life at the time and it truly made me happy. I couldn’t turn away from it. I guess I’ll always be thankful for walking into my living room one night and deciding to watch a game instead of going elsewhere since it made me a fan for life. I turned into someone who casually watched hockey into a diehard fan.
Now I know there are the diehards since birth that have a problem with the bandwagon fans because they feel like they don’t know enough about the team to be considered a ‘legitimate’ fan. I say that if you know enough about the sport and actually know the players on your team, you’re okay.There are the fans who only know maybe one or two of the players, and then don’t even understand the rules of the game. They base how much they like the team on what the scoreboard says. I know plenty of people who have told me first hand that they only root for the Sabres if they’re on a good winning streak and if they make it to the playoffs. Well, at least you admit it.
Then there are those who think that they know what they talk about, but no, they should really not try to describe a hockey game to me. If you really have no clue what is going on, just ask me and I will try to explain it to you if you’re a new fan. I have no problem with that. Don’t act like a know-it-all when you in fact don’t know anything.
I guess what I’m trying to point out is that there are in fact two types of bandwagon fans – the ones that jump on at a good time but stay on as they try to learn the game, and those who constantly jump off when the team isn’t doing well. I was a part of the former rather than the latter. I don’t regret that one bit. The Sabres have helped me during some pretty dreadful times in the past few years and I think that I have become a permanent fan after that 2006-07 season. If I ever have kids, I’ll be sure to pass down the fandom to them and hopefully they do the same with their kids. Sabres hockey is in my blood, for now and for always.
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