For decades, I’ve been to Hawks games and seen half-empty Philips Arenas and Omni’s filled with fans of the other team. Now, with the Hawks winning 17 games in a row and being the predominate team in the Eastern conference, all of sudden the die-hard Lakers fans that “have been fans since the Magic era” or the Bulls fan that “saw Jordan in their high school years” are posting Instagrams of Korver, Teague, and Horford. They are now Hawks fans. This is ok…and actually good.
Three truths:
1) Most Atlanta Hawks fans are band wagon fans.
2) Winning trumps everything. When the W’s come in, old memories erase and new allegiances form.
3) It’s ok to be a band wagon fan. As transient as a layover in Hartsfield-Jackson airport, there is zero prejudice against a band wagon fan. Hop off a 6-hour international layover, grab the Northbound MARTA line, walk from Five Points, and snag a scalper ticket to the next Hawks game (grab a jersey on the way out).
If Atlanta is ever going to turn a weakness into a strength, we’ll accept transients as fake fans, embrace their money, and leverage the new found loyalty. We’re winners and who doesn’t want to be around winners.
I do.
We will not always be winning, but when we are, let’s grab everyone we can and ride this tsunami to the Finals.
We welcome you.