Fair weather fans

As an avid sports fan (just read my Twitter bio), there is one thing I hate more than anything: the fair weather fan. Despite my hatred for all Boston sports teams, and everyone inside the state of Massachusetts, I can at least respect their decision to be a fan of their hometown team -- or the one their dad grew up loving.

The fair weather fan, however, is a different story. Growing up in the Tampa Bay area, I have witnessed their activity as a part of everyday life. For the first ten years of their existence, not a single person showed up to school in a [Devil] Rays shirt; yet as soon as the team played well in 2009, every Tom, Dick, and Harry was showing up in Rays tees or posting Facebook statuses about players they didn't even know. I cannot begin to stress how awful this is as a sports fan to witness. We live in a world where Chicago Cubs fans stick with their beloved team, through thick and thin (mostly thin), despite not having won a World Series in over 100 years!

The storm has calmed a bit now that the Rays have come back to reality a bit, and of course the "fans" have scattered -- almost assuredly bound to resurface the next time the team is in reach of a playoff spot. Probably around Game 157.

Full disclosure, I am a New York Yankees fan and damn proud of it. I watched my first game at 5 years old because it was the way I was raised; and because my dad, his dad, and so on we're Yankees fans. I absolutely hate the Boston Red Sox more than anything, but I respect the passion their fans show and the fact that they stood behind their time for so long between World Series victories.

I don't mean to call out Rays' fans, but it is the easy example for me as I've witnessed their atrocities many a time. I understand there are (very few) real fans of the team, and I respect them, but in a see of fair weathers you can never tell. So I write this is as a plea to all you fair weather fans out there (and you know who you are). For the sake of all the true sports fans out there, I beg you to give up on sports forever [my personal opinion] or become an actual fan -- learn the players' names, watch more than 6 innings total this season, wear your shirt after a loss, and don't claim you've been "following the team for years" -- we all know you haven't. Please take this warning seriously, so every true sports fan out there (including myself) won't want to beat your head in the next time they see post a status about the team's first victory in a week.

Sincerely,
Every real sports fan

P.S. NO MORE COWBELLS RAYS "FANS"! ... more on that later