March 12, 2008

Top 10: Hardcore Fans: The following 10 groups of hardcore fans, on the other hand, perform their rituals in stadiums, while the game is being played. Each group has been judged based on its longevity, the size and scope of the organization and the lunacy and originality of their behavior. Hooliganism will, of course, factor into this, since Italian and Spanish clubs have done little to curb the radical elements of their fan bases.

posted by BoKnows to culture at 09:05 AM - 23 comments

Red Sox Nation/The Fenway Faithful (Boston Red Sox) Also called “Chowdaheads,” Chowdaheads?

posted by jerseygirl at 10:44 AM on March 12, 2008

RAAAAIIDDDERSSS. Oh yeah . I knew the Raiders would be on that list .

posted by trrron at 10:47 AM on March 12, 2008

For some reason the fire wall where I work is blocking the link. Can anyone put the web address so I can check it out.

posted by Debo270 at 11:26 AM on March 12, 2008

Here you go debo: http://www.askmen.com/sports/fitness_top_ten_150/157_fitness_list.html

posted by BoKnows at 11:33 AM on March 12, 2008

Chowdaheads? I never heard that either.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:23 PM on March 12, 2008

Chowdaheads? People down here call you guys Chowdaheads. But it's not really used as a term of endearment.

posted by goddam at 12:49 PM on March 12, 2008

I still cant get to the site with the story but steeler fans better have made the list. They travel better than anyone and are truely the stalkers of the NFL

posted by Debo270 at 01:09 PM on March 12, 2008

Nope. The first comment under the article complains about their lack of inclusion actually.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:13 PM on March 12, 2008

But it's not really used as a term of endearment. Shocking.

posted by jerseygirl at 02:25 PM on March 12, 2008

um, not one mention of Canadian hockey fans? Or Rider Nation? hmm ... guess Canada gets left out in the cold yet again.

posted by Spitztengle at 03:07 PM on March 12, 2008

The list is a bit limited, but that's the problem with all lists of this type. No Korean football fans? No Celtic, or Rangers on a 'flag day'? However I take particular issue with factual errors. AC Milan are not 'the most titled' football club in the world - Real Madrid have won the European Cup/Champions League more times, while no-one on any continent gives a rat's arse about the World Club Cup.

posted by owlhouse at 03:35 PM on March 12, 2008

guess Canada gets left out in the cold yet again. Spitz, I'm surprised that the BoSox, Raiders, and Cheeseheads even made this list at all. From my perspective, it's clear that fans of futbol go completely ga-ga over the game and their team. I've never seen anything remotely like the "flares and fireworks" video in the US or Canada. That's just what they do after a win. I'm not sure this is a list that you want to be on.

posted by BoKnows at 03:38 PM on March 12, 2008

People down here call you guys Chowdaheads. But it's not really used as a term of endearment. At least we don't try to pass off some tomato soup concoction as "chowdah". I can't get to the link either (LAN nazis are at work again), so I don't know how they define "hardcore". If it means raucous, rabid, screaming fans, that's not us. The pink-hatters at Fenway and the well-heeled at Foxboro have a tendency to sit on their hands when things aren't going well for the locals. Even the Celtics are becoming prone to this phenomenon. About the only real loud fans left are the hockey fans, and with the Bruins tending to leave an odor, the fans aren't even showing up. There is hope in the college crowd, though. I won't be able to get there, but the Hockey East tournament ought to be fun. If 'hardcore" means buying merchandise, traveling with the team, and so forth, then I can believe we Beantowners are indeed hardcore. Of course, the only reason we travel is because, except for the Bruins, you can't get a ticket without taking out a second mortgage.

posted by Howard_T at 03:50 PM on March 12, 2008

You said "Beantowners". You must be from New York.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:07 PM on March 12, 2008

Sorry Howard T but from that list I believe it is based on how many people your fans accost or how well you can disrupt the game/match at hand.

posted by Folkways at 04:49 PM on March 12, 2008

What about those crazy fans at the chicken fights in the Dominican? I hear they eat the losers! Ghastly!

posted by THX-1138 at 05:29 PM on March 12, 2008

but from that list I believe it is based on how many people your fans accost or how well you can disrupt the game/match at hand Exactly. I forgot to also mention the Turkish football fans at Galatasaray. "Welcome to Hell", indeed.

posted by owlhouse at 06:48 PM on March 12, 2008

Chowdahheads ah roughneck guys from tha Nawth Shaw... not much of anything to do with the Sox. The Fenway Faithful, I grant you, but the so-called "Red Sox Nation" to me, means people that live in places like LA, SF and New York that pretend to be Sox fans, wear the gear, but don't really have that die hard pathos and life long love-hate affair with the Sox that the true fans do.

posted by psmealey at 05:23 AM on March 13, 2008

Shoddy reporting, the average FCB fan, the "culer" may be rabid, but if you are talking about the truly radical factions, that would be the Boixos Nois, who are the equivalent of the Ultra Sur group that supports Real Madrid.

posted by sic at 06:05 AM on March 13, 2008

At least we don't try to pass off some tomato soup concoction as "chowdah". I think that so-called "Manhattan Clam Chowder" was a failed experiment from the 1970s. I remember it from when I was a kid, but have not seen it since. When you ask for Clam Chowder any place in Manhattan, you get the cloudy white variety.

posted by psmealey at 12:30 PM on March 13, 2008

When you ask for Clam Chowder any place in Manhattan, you get the cloudy white variety. Ah! There's hope for civilization in New York City after all. The stuff still exists somewhere in Rhode Island, I think, and it was around long before the '70s. (By the way, psmealey, that's "Nahth Shaw". Nawth Shaw refers to the north shore of Long Island. It's all in the accent.

posted by Howard_T at 02:29 PM on March 13, 2008

Right you ahhh, Howard_T, right you ahh.

posted by psmealey at 05:03 AM on March 14, 2008

not much of anything to do with the Sox. or Boston.

posted by jerseygirl at 06:56 AM on March 14, 2008

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