Finding a true fan

When the Huskies play the Beavers on Saturday, people will pack the stadium and cheer and, unlike the last home game, our team has a chance to win.

If the game goes south, expect to see these same people pack up their seat cushions and mosey back to the parking lot.

As soon as they leave, stop and look around you; only then will you see fans.

Like many students who feel they've been robbed with four years of uncharacteristically mediocre football at UW, I'll spend these last few games as I did my first; if the team's on the field, I'm in the stands.

Bandwagon fans really make me tick.

It's easy to support a team when they're winning. Everyone in Seattle was a Mariners fan in 2001; everyone who cared about basketball rooted for the Sonics last season.

But when a team has an off-year, or several, only true fans still paint their faces and proudly wear their team's colors.

Trust me, I'm a Portland Trailblazers fan; some eternal optimists like me never give up. I have never given up on the Blazers. No matter how low they fall, I support them.

I root for a 1-and-however-many-games-we've-lost-now Huskies team because I remember doing touchdown dances with my dad in 1991. I don purple and gold because of Napoleon Kaufman, Warren Moon and Marques Tuiasosopo.

I had to take a trip to the Husky Hall of Fame before the USC game just to remind myself that, at one time, UW football was really good.

But I think the attitude that you won't go to games until the team is "good" again is all wrong.

Who's to say the team won't turn everything around on Saturday? Or the Saturday after that? And what if you're not there to see it?

I'm sick of people who won't make a commitment to our team. If you're a Husky, you sign that contract in purple and gold and, by God, you better not break it.

College football adultery is not okay. Just because your current relationship isn't satisfying all your sports needs, you don't look for that enjoyment elsewhere.

When things go south for Wazzu, their "fans" kick in players' doors and throw beer bottles at them. Nothing beats being booed by someone wearing your colors.

Deserting our team is not an isolated incident. No one gave the Husky men's basketball team a second thought until they started beating Arizona and Stanford two seasons ago. Now every conference game is a sell-out and students camp in tents outside Hec Ed.

And the worst time to be deserted is when you're at your lowest. How do you think the players feel when they see their fans leave to avoid getting stuck on Montlake?

When I was younger, if a game was a blow-out win or loss, my dad would suggest we cut out early to beat traffic.

If you're not a fan, stop calling yourself one. You're disgracing those of us who will brave rain or hail or sleet or even snow to see the team play.

And if you're not ready to make that commitment, don't come. Stay in the warmth of your home, grab some chips and salsa and recline in your Lay-Z-Boy. Bandwagon fans have it easy at home; if you don't like the game you're watching, simply change channels until you find one that suits you.

Real fans never change colors, and I'm never going to stop rooting for the purple and gold.