I've heard some people going on about fans jumping on board the bandwagon. I'm sure I speak for plenty of Red Sox fans when I say that, given that the Red Sox are out of the post season, the Phillies are best representing our interests at this time! That's not jumping on a bandwagon, that is just natural to support the team who faces our arch rival.

With that said, I have come across many a fan of this club or that (*ahem* Yankees) who have jumped onto their bandwagon simply because they have a good winning record this year, or because they are winning today. They have no allegiance to place (they're not from NYC (but even if they were they could be a Mets fan - there are healthy alternatives )), they have no history, no experience with the club. They follow because they want to follow the winning record of the day. That kind of bandwagon stuff allegiance is pathetic to say the least and is completely different from fans choosing a team to root for in a particular contest.

I love baseball and enjoy watching games. Pro games, kid games, AAA, whatever. When do watch I often have a tug one way or the other to root for this team over that team. That's quite natural. That's not bandwagon. As a kid I could see the lights of Fenway every night from my bedroom window. Fenway was a second home in the wooden unassigned $3 bleacher / Yaz, Fisk & Evans era (Fisk lived in my town and I met him when he was chilling with his kids in front of his house - I actually tossed a ball to him that strayed onto the sidewalk as I passed by). So in spite of all that deep-seeded Red Sox love, I have no problem cheering on the team that plays locally, the Seattle Mariners, nor do I have a problem picking a side for this World Series. Cheering on the Phillies or Mariners, giving them that case-specific fan support would never eclipse the genetic & experienced passion for my team, the Red Sox. A love for the game of baseball permits a relationship with all the teams, for better or for worse. (I even have a relationship with the Yankees - one of loathing!)

So again, the Phillies are representing RSN in the World Series from my point of view.
"I support the Red Sox and anyone who beats the Yankees."
Standing orders.

Go Pedro!
(for tonight ...)

the nice thing about the bandwagon is you can jump off just in time. I want the Phillies to win but that does not mean I am going to root for them after the series. I think with just about any Red Sox fan you could interchange the Phillies with any other team in the NL and they would get the support against NY. Though guys like this make it hard to root for Phily.

I hear that. And let me clarify - I am NOT on the Bandwagon and my support for the Phillies will end immediately follow the game 7 Phillies win. My support is limited to this series alone and only because my team, the Red Sox, is "not available at this time." If you read my post above I say I"m NOT on the bandwagon, but will concede temporary allegiance. My Red Sox hat stays on and I say Go Phillies from the point of view of a Red Sox fan.

When a season takes a bad turn and ones main team is out, it is only natural for anyone who continues to follow the season to choose a team to support (for that period of time) from the remaining choices. When the World Series ends and we turn the focus to the 2010 season then the Red Sox are back in the field of choices and thus back to receiving full support. But here in the post season, given their untimely death to the Angels, the Red Sox do not exist. There are no Red Sox to support at this time. Thus there is only to choose between Phillies and Yankees - er, ya, I'm rooting for the Phillies! So really what that says is that I AM continuing as a Red Sox fan to wish for the demise of our rival. I am choosing - from the only choices available - a team to support which best represents my interests as a RED SOX fan. I suppose I could root for no one and not care, but that would not really be possible. I like baseball / sports and will choose a side when I watch a game and I will watch to the very end. Ultimately I'm a baseball fan. My main team is the Boston Red Sox and I believe that, given the 2 choices, it is better for Red Sox Nation & baseball in general if the Phillies win

I read the post you reference, but I wouldn't give that person's opinion much weight. That guy relies on shock, foul language and graphic insults to try to make a point where his logic fails. Furthermore, he does a nice job of proving his own hypocrisy as with one hand he castigates "phony support" and with the other embraces it - as he discusses his support for the Yankees in the Subway Series and any team who goes against the Mets, etc. In that small way, he makes MY point (to a degree limited by his overall myopia). That person and his followers are clearly rooted in anger and limited thinking and I will give them due attention: none.

Great points Clyde. With Pedro going tonight I am driving the Phillies bandwagon.