The bandwagons we jumped on in 2016

A very wise friend of ours once said bandwagon fans had it figured out; bandwagoning was shortcut to happiness. No wasting years of frustration and disappointment on teams and athletes who could let you down. Again. Bandwagoners see greatness about happen, buy a ticket for that particular train and ride it all the way to celebration city without all the pain and suffering along the way.

Hello and welcome back to the Yardbarker roundtable where we ask our contributors to discuss the serious (and not so serious) sides of sports.

As 2016 winds down we're taking stock of what we were witness to in athletes this year. Comeback championships, Olympics and the end of curses. With so much happening in 2016 that ran counter to traditional thinking, we couldn't help but find ourselves rooting against our own teams as history was made. While roundly mocked by other fans, there is something logical about being occasionally being a bandwagoner. We all want to be happy about something in sports every once in awhile, especially if we're homers for teams who may never see championships. So we asked a few of our contributors:

Which athlete or team did you suddenly jump on the bandwagon for in 2016 and what was the the moment that brought you there?

Daniel Tran: The Olympics are a great place to jump on a bandwagon, and my butt is firmly on Kate Ledecky's. I was aware that she was supposed to be the the next great American swimmer, but when she basically beat the field by a pool length in the 800-meter freestyle that's when I knew she was going to special for a long time. Her dominance is the distance races netted four gold medals and one fan for life (barring any gas station incidents *cough* Lochte *cough*).

Chelena Goldman: The biggest bandwagon of 2016 was for the World Series this year, right? Sadly I was not part of that one – I might be one of few people that didn't jump on the bandwagon for either team.

But I did get into the bandwagon spirit before the NHL Awards because I wanted to see Shayne Gostisbehere win the honors. I was so impressed with his level of play last season, and he was such a driving force for the Flyers in the second half of the 2015-16 season. Artemi Panarin was very deserving of the award, but I was quietly rooting for the Ghost kid.

Alex Wong: Kevin Love . Sports is just a series of redemption narratives, isn't it? Love's career took an odd turn when he was traded from Minnesota to Cleveland. He went from one of the best players in the league on a losing team to becoming LeBron James' running mate on a championship contender, and the expectations became so high, the questions about his fit with LeBron and Kyrie Irving became so rampant, that it turned Love into a joyless figure on the court to watch. Things hit rock bottom when Love suffered a concussion during the 2016 NBA Finals and the Cavs appeared to be a better team without their starting power forward on the floor.

Then, everything changed. Love returned to action. The Cavs rallied from a 3-1 deficit. Love got the key defensive stop on Stephen Curry in the final minute of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and there he was, NBA champion wearing an Austin 3:16 shirt in the locker room chugging Coors Light and wearing a wrestling championship belt. This season, Love has gone back to just playing his game and the questions of fit have disappeared. Maybe they never should have existed anyways. Funny how a narrative can flip with a single iconic play, and an NBA championship.

Demetrius Bell: Everybody enjoys jumping on bandwagons during Olympic time, and I found myself drawn to none other than Michael Phelps. This isn't anything unique, but I found myself rooting for him not because of his historical pursuit of gold medals or out of pure patriotism. Nope, I was rooting for him because he was being incredibly petty when it came to Chad Le Clos. I know that he didn't come back to the pool solely to put Le Clos in his place, but it sure felt like it from the way that he was staring daggers at the man before they finally went at it.

So, when Michael Phelps ultimately succeeded and defeated Le Clos in the pool, it was easily one of the best sports moments of 2016 for me. We need more petty rivalries and sports, and this was perfect.

Jamie Neal: I was all for the Cubs this year. As an A's fan, we didn't have a ton to cheer for but seeing the Cubs finally win a World Series was phenomenal. I've been on the Cubs bandwagon for a few years since my best friend is a lifelong Cubs fan, but the moment that brought me to that point this year was when Kyle Schwarber got hurt. I wanted that team to win from that moment on.