Pittsburgh Penguins: 5 Tips to Avoid Being Called a Bandwagon Fan

Are you new to the whole ‘Pittsburgh Penguins’ thing and want to prove you aren’t a fan just because you feel like it? Well, you’re in the right place. Us Penguins fans love any and all Pens fans, and we aren’t afraid to give you some tips on how to seamlessly blend in.

One of the many flaws of general society is an innate desire to bring down those around us who seem happier or more fulfilled, brought on of course by deep, dark and very powerful personal insecurities. One way in which this manifests is through the malicious accusations of fans of successful teams being ‘bandwagoners’.

Pittsburgh Penguins

While mean spirited, the use of this term is of course true in almost 100% of cases, even as most of us stubbornly and obliviously think otherwise. I certainly in my heart of hearts know that if Pittsburgh truly sucked, I wouldn’t have painted my bedroom black and yellow, or flown to see a Penguins game with my mom for my Sweet 16 or write on an unpaid, volunteer basis for a low-level Penguins blog site.

With that being said though, no one wants to be discovered as a bandwagoner, there’s literally nothing more humiliating. As fans of a team that has won back-to-back championships, we are prime targets for this type of accusation. Therefore to combat this, I’ve gathered together the top strategies to utilize to convince/trick your peers into believing you are a true, actual Penguins fan:

1) Don’t be Unbearable

This is almost certainly the hypothetical most-effective strategy, attacking the problem upstream so that it never actually becomes a problem. The basic premise is that people are generally only triggered into called someone a ‘bandwagoner’ if they’re acting obnoxious, over the top or in your face, especially when celebrating their team’s successes or insulting other teams’ failures.

If you can cut out that part of your persona, then you should ideally be in the clear. However, that is essentially the entire fun of being a sports fan.  I’ve never once met a single one that doesn’t act exactly like that so this likely isn’t an option for the overwhelming majority of you.

2) Talk About Pittsburgh Penguins Prospects:

The great thing about casual NHL fans as a whole (if I may make a gross generalization) is that the majority of their hockey knowledge is pretty much whatever nonsensical and poorly researched topic the crew at NBC Sports (CBC Hockey Night in Canada for Canadians obviously) discussed on the broadcast that night. Due to their very limited ability to talk about things that aren’t in line with this narrative, if you can discuss anything outside of that, you can quickly prove you’re a real fan, and mentioning prospects is a great way to accomplish this relatively easily.

Examples you can use include “Daniel Sprong really lit up the Q last year, I wonder if he’ll get a shot with the big club, his release is quite impressive” or “Man, Teddy Blueger and Adam Johnson are really having a great training camp, I really like their hockey sense and fresh legs, I think they can do some big things” or even “Zach Aston-Reese reminds me of a young Chris Kunitz, I love how he gets into the corners and does the dirty work, really helps to open things up on the ice”.

Bonus: if its a serious hockey fan, you get to have a fun conversation about Penguins prospects, its a win-win!

3. Post a Fake Family Throwback Pic:

One of the surefire ways to prove you’re a real fan is seeming to be carrying on some long-held family tradition. However, if your parents are anything like mine their interests have nothing to do with Pittsburgh and are dumb and completely unrelated, like car shows or watching golf or volunteering, all of which is useless to you.

However, even just a cursory Google search of penguins + mother/father + son/daughter or penguins + grandma/pa + grandson/daughter reveals a plethora of very cute and believable images you can steal and post on your social media. It’ll prove your family has been proud supporters of the Pens for literally their entire existence.

***Update: If you actually search that it just gives really cute pictures of actual penguins, so- be more specific. I can only search so much.

5. Support other Pittsburgh Teams

If someone tells you their favorite teams are the Penguins, Golden State Warriors and New England Patriots, its almost obvious they’re a fake fan. And that if you’d have asked them 4 years you could swap out Penguins for Blackhawks and Warriors for Miami Heat (and still the stupid Patriots cause they’re always so damn good, God I hate them).

BUT, if they say they’re a Penguins, Pirates and Steelers fan, that sounds a lot like a through-and-through Pittsburgh fan,  true or not. Again, similarly, if you choose other teams that are objectively horrible and boring (Pirates, Pittsburgh University Men’s Football + Basketball, etc.) its going to work all that much better.

Next: 3 Expectations For the Pens this Season

In closing, I’d just like to say that I’ve never actually been called a bandwagoner.  This is more of a hypothetical topic ,to me, I guess, so I’m not sure how relatable this post is. However, I’m sure that these tips can be helpful to any new Pittsburgh Penguins fan. I won’t tell if you wont.

Welcome to the team.