What Has Happened to the Redskins' Fan Base?

[ArtMonkDrillz]

In general the internet allows more people to have a voice than ever before. The majority of fans in the 80's could have been a bunch of slack jawed yolkles but you hardly ever got to hear them because they could only talk with other idiots in the room or call into to the radio after the game. Now we have a chance to read every little asinine thought that enters someone's mind as soon as they think it up.
I think the fan base for every team seems to have been dumbed down because of this.
Plus, if want to hear a bunch of idiots trying to talk about football you should come up here to Baltimore and take a listen to the majority of ravens fans.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by ArtMonkDrillz

In general the internet allows more people to have a voice than ever before. The majority of fans in the 80's could have been a bunch of slack jawed yolkles but you hardly ever got to hear them because they could only talk with other idiots in the room or call into to the radio after the game. Now we have a chance to read every little asinine thought that enters someone's mind as soon as they think it up.
I think the fan base for every team seems to have been dumbed down because of this.
Plus, if want to hear a bunch of idiots trying to talk about football you should come up here to Baltimore and take a listen to the majority of ravens fans.

I was just about to post something similar. In this day of 24/7 instant media coverage, the internet, and sports talk radio... the fans' voice is more prevelant than ever. And that's not always a good thing as we all know.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by ArtMonkDrillz

In general the internet allows more people to have a voice than ever before. The majority of fans in the 80's could have been a bunch of slack jawed yolkles but you hardly ever got to hear them because they could only talk with other idiots in the room or call into to the radio after the game. Now we have a chance to read every little asinine thought that enters someone's mind as soon as they think it up.
I think the fan base for every team seems to have been dumbed down because of this.
Plus, if want to hear a bunch of idiots trying to talk about football you should come up here to Baltimore and take a listen to the majority of ravens fans.

I was also going to say the internet happened.

The internet has enabled stupid people worldwide to be noticed.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Buster

I was also going to say the internet happened.

The internet has enabled stupid people worldwide to be noticed.

Some of the content in this thread is kinda off the wall (The first few pages are solid), but I'll throw my opinion in the ring.

I don't think this "decaying fanbase" phenomenon is exclusive to the Redskins. I think it's going in all of sports and much of society, but I'm not trying to be a sociologist here. IMO a few factors are responsible for what a lot of people perceive to be a less intelligent, less genuine group of football fans:

As Buster and several others pointed out, the internet is responsible for a lot. The blogosphere is massive nowadays. Anyone with internet access and an opinion can be heard- i.e. the "trolls" we refer to on this site.

Also, I think as technology has advanced, so has the "on demand" concept that is evident in every industry and every aspect of life. Everything is about bigger, better, faster, and what can rake in the most $$. We want what we want when we want it, and technology has made it easier to cater to this mindset. So in general people have become more critical, more impatient, and less thoughtful. One immediate way to equate this to football is how quickly we on this site want to jump on every free agent available. And as far as the Redskins, the way Danny in the past has tried to buy every good player available. We're also very fast to criticize.

Couple all of this with The Danny's commercialization of the Redskins brand, and more losses than wins during his ownership, and whammo. You get what appears to be a "dumbed down" fan base. Like I said though, I think you'll find this with a lot of fans in a lot of sports. It ain't just the Skins.