They are what all true sports fans hate the most. They're always around to enjoy the best of times, but never around to suffer through the down times. Despite how loyal a team's fans seem, without a doubt, they exist.
They are bandwagon fans.
Basic psychology suggests that disappointment can be followed by feelings of denial, anger, or depression. Fans blamelessly experience a wide range of emotions after each game.
The real fans get over it before the next game.
Bandwagon fans get over it after the next win.
This theory will undoubtedly be evident after Michigan's 47-21 thrashing of Notre Dame in South Bend Saturday.
Team Bandwagon, my nickname for the Fighting Irish, is consistently over-hyped early in every season until loss number one is etched into the standings. Shortly thereafter, what seemed to be the most popular team in the country, or at least on campus, has more critics than supporters.
It's easy to fall into the Team Bandwagon trap. Because of their exclusive television package with NBC and their alumni scattered across the country, Notre Dame annually receives far more hoopla than they deserve. The more people talk about the Irish, the more popular they become, which adds to the number of "fans" hopping on the Bandwagon Express.
To Notre Dame's credit, the first two games this season were impressive. Their hard-fought 14-10 victory in Atlanta against Georgia Tech gave fans the impression that the defense had improved since last season's debacle at the Fiesta Bowl in which they surrendered 617 yards of total offense to Ohio State.
After beating up on Penn State in their home opener, Notre Dame had everyone brainwashed into thinking that this was their year. Lucky for the Irish, they put Penn State out of the game early, which allowed them to run the clock with Darius Walker and sit back in coverage against an inexperienced quarterback. More importantly, a game like that enabled Notre Dame to mask a huge weakness: protecting Brady Quinn.
All it took was a highly motivated Michigan squad to come into South Bend and ruin the hopes of thousands of Bandwagoneers.
When a quarterback is running for his life every time he drops back to pass, bad things happen. Bad things like throwing touchdowns to the other team and turning the ball over five times.
This just in - Michigan has scored again.
The "Play Like a Champion Today" sign that each Irish player smacks on his way out of the locker room could have been written in Braille and been just as motivational Saturday. George "the Gipper" Gipp and Knute Rockne were turning over in their graves after each Wolverine score. Rudy Ruettiger and Regis Philbin were digging theirs.
For fans of the Irish nation, this coming Saturday's contest with Michigan State is about the only thing standing in the way of the Irish traveling to Southern California in November with a 10-1 record. If Charlie Weis' squad can escape East Lansing with a victory, beware the second coming of Bandwagoneers talking national championship, only to be let down again.
Following shortly after that, expect to see a mass denunciation of Notre Dame allegiance while the Irish battle Boise State in the very prestigious MPC Computers Bowl.
But fear not, everyone will be back on board come August 2007.
Danny Davis is a junior journalism major and writes 'You know what really grins my gears' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Danny at dsdavis@bsu.edu.
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