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Always been a fan of the Washington area sports teams... haven't known anything else. I never did get into the Orioles (or baseball for that matter) so I kinda just cheer for the Nats. I wanna go to every team's game at least once... been to a Caps game way back in the day, been to a Mystics game, still gotta make it to a Wizards game, Nats game, DC United game and Redskins game.
Some days I sure wish I was a Baltimore fan though hahah.
Even the Washington (NFL Team with a Racist Name) is going through a decline in terms of fan support.
lifelong skins fan here, and i completely, 100% disagree.
washington *loves* the redskins. absolutely loves them. always will. they're a part of the city. but they're tired of daniel snyder and his endless b.s., from terrible personnel decisions, to overspending on has-been free agents, to ridiculous ticket/concession prices, to charging fans to watch PRACTICES in ashburn, to suing a little old lady who's been a season ticket holder for 50 years. her only crime... she could no longer afford the tickets. (article: Washington Redskins React to Fans' Tough Luck With Tough Love). when you see those empty seats at fedex field, you're not seeing the departure of fair weather fans, you're seeing the departure of people who despise the owner and hitting him in the one place it hurts - his wallet. i'll bet you any sum of money that those fans are watching the game at home or a bar and singing hail to the redskins when they score.
The Redskins have a pretty strong fanbase that extends way outside just DC. I'm from Hampton Roads which is wayy South Virginia and most football fans claim the Skins. I'm sure people get tired of losing and lose interest in the middle of the season but they don't hop on another teams bandwagon.
The Wizards on the other hand are a different story. The Verizon center is always filled with Jerseys from the opposing team.
It's always been a bandwagon town, I remember when I was a kid and went to see the Bullets play the Bulls, most of the crowd was behind the Bulls, myself included. The arena would be empty except when big teams like the Celtics of Bulls came to town.
The area is even more transient now, it's the only NFL market where more people root against the home team than cheer for them so it's not really "other than the Redskins", they are definitely not like the Ravens where Baltimore is solidly behind them. It was even that way when I was a little kid and the Redskins won the Super Bowl, there were still almost as many kids in my class who were Cowboy fans. I think it's also that DC is a very well educated area, they don't have a lot of the blue collar illiterate type sports fans whose lives revolve around rooting for pro sports. DC is easily the worst sports town in America, the teams do well just because the area is such a huge market they can find enough fans, but those fans are a minority in their own area.
Depends who you talk to when it comes to sports. I'm not a huge sports fan, but I like going to the events because of the energy that the fans bring. I'm really itching to go to a caps or wizards game since I personally have never been to a game. However, the wizards are some crap.
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Originally Posted by user8
lifelong skins fan here, and i completely, 100% disagree.
washington *loves* the redskins. absolutely loves them. always will. they're a part of the city. but they're tired of daniel snyder and his endless b.s., from terrible personnel decisions, to overspending on has-been free agents, to ridiculous ticket/concession prices, to charging fans to watch PRACTICES in ashburn, to suing a little old lady who's been a season ticket holder for 50 years. her only crime... she could no longer afford the tickets. (article: Washington Redskins React to Fans' Tough Luck With Tough Love). when you see those empty seats at fedex field, you're not seeing the departure of fair weather fans, you're seeing the departure of people who despise the owner and hitting him in the one place it hurts - his wallet. i'll bet you any sum of money that those fans are watching the game at home or a bar and singing hail to the redskins when they score.
Not a football fan, but I agree with this. It doesn't matter if the skins are some bullcrap, most people I know who are into football are always going for the skins. But yes, management behind the team is screwed up beyond recognition.
I should also add that soccer fans here will as usual root for the DC united, the DC united soccer team just recently brought in a soccer player from UMD. Wanna know who he is? He is the only local in the team. His name is Ethan White and he played in my high school soccer team winning states twice. I'm glad to see a local face there. He deserved it.
The Skins have good support in DC. They haven't been good in a really long time, but they are for the most part still coasting off that success 20 years ago, although their support base is finally starting to erode after such a protracted length of mediocrity.
But the bottom line is that pretty much all cities/fans love a winner. There are a handful of exceptions here and there, but for the most part teams that struggle on the field struggle at the gate (Cubs may be an exception), and teams that do well on the field do well at the gate (Rays and Marlins may be exceptions). Look at the Phillies. It was quite easy and inexpensive to get tix to a Phillies game in the late 90's and early 2000's. Then they got a new park and (more importantly) started winning and now the games are all sellouts. The Braves were incredibly popular in the early and mid 90's when they first got good, but over time that support has dwindled and now they are kind of middle of the pack.
That being said, I think DC is even more of a front-runner town than most cities. Maybe it is b/c DC has so many people who are not originally from the area. (All cities have that, but it seems to me DC has even more than other large cities). Maybe it is b/c a lot of DC people are more career oriented. But for whatever reason, I think DC really, really embraces winners.
I think the Nats are going to be a lot better this season and if that happens you will suddenly see tons of Nats gear around town. The Wizards and Skins have both been bad for a long time, and the Caps have a ceiling on their fan support b/c hockey just isn't as popular. DC is hungry for a winner and if the Nats can provide that then they will be a pretty high profile team. DC is one of the biggest markets in the country and the bandwagon will get very large if they can turn the corner.
At least take pride in the fact that they beat the Giants twice in a row this season.
The last matchup game was just humiliating for the Giants.....home game in MetLife, redskins had nothing to play for (actually had more motivation to lose that game), Giants were battling for a playoff spot, and the Giants get CRUSHED at home (score was like 23-2 at one point).
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