[ClintD]

Originally Posted by ClintD

I have a few points in response to this great thread.

First, I have to say that I'm going to make some generalizations, but none that are damaging in my eyes. I know what I say will not apply to EVERYONE in that particular group, so please refrain from the "I am statistically in that group, but I am nothing like that" posts.

I think a lot of the fans that are just signing up on the boards are closer to my age than some of the life-long fans on here. I was born in December of '83, so '84 isn't exactly engrained into my memory (although my mom says if the Tigers were on I was quiet and watching). Before this season the "Glory Years" of the Tigers of my era were the Cecil Fielder, Mickey Tettleton, Tram, and Sweet Lou. I remember Gibson more as a Dodger for the '88 Series HR than I do for the '84 team. The point is, fans in their early to mid 20's are much more hard pressed to have the knowledge some of you "more experienced" guys do. They have to research, can't just "remember the good ol' days".

Second, I think it's great that there are many different eras represented on this board. How many of us watched the '68 team? How many kids idolized Denny McLain until his bout with the law. Those kids are now how old? late 40's? Much tougher to reminisce with these guys for us because we only have 1/3 to 1/2 of the memories.

My third point is an opinion. To me, "bandwagon" fans are guys that are HUGE fans of whatever team has just won a championship. i.e. your neighbor that used to be a huge Patriots fan, but is now huge Steelers fan. If you weren't that into the Tigers before, but you are now, and you're from this area or have some connection to Detroit, you have a RIGHT to jump on this teams momentum wave. Isn't that why Pro Sports Teams are connected to major cities? I would say a majority of the people on this board would call themselves "Die-Hards" because they still care when the teams are terrible. I said CARE, not LOVE. I can't imagine that I LOVED the early teams of this decade, but I cared that they were terrible. That's really all you can ask for. Care.

Now they are an amazing team, we all LOVE them, and the people who used to not care, do.

Sorry for the length. Great Post Yoda

Im not tooting my own horn. Did anybody read this? Why are we still having people address things that I thought I preemptively stuck with this post?