New Fans

In this day and age of the dawning of a new nation - that is a reformed Red Sox Nation, it is hard to seperate both the long been fans (I'm talking at least 7 or 8 years here folks) and the bandwagoners (anyone from 2003 or beyond). Now here's the thing, being a bandwagoner is not a bad thing. If, and only if, you like the team for the right reasons, but you must face the facts and come to terms with the truth that you did start liking the Sox when they were a lot better than they were in 2000.

At one point in time everyone has to be a bandwagoner, because truth is, we all were new fans at some point in time. Yet, for new fans to feel some kind of claim to significance in Red Sox Nation is completely wrong. True, we want as many fans as we can get, but at the same time, learn the GAME and love it.

Now, for some much needed props: my hallmate. A brand new sox fan as of this year. Her interest in the team came not from their victories or their players, but because she had a blast at the game I went with her to and she wanted to learn more. Since Friday, April 7th she has learned about curveballs, sliders, fastballs, knuckleballs, obp, er, r, era, gidp, gp, gs, and every other imaginable stat category of mixed up letters. She supports the Sox, but is not over the top. She roots, she cheers, she listens, and learns. Perhaps even some of us older fans could do the same at times. But I know for sure that the other new fans need to take a page out of her book.