With the Super Bowl coming and going, there was an element to the game that really bothered me, besides the fact that the Raiders got whooped. That element is the number of bandwagon fans in this area.

I’ve always known that the people in our state have been notorious for jumping on and off the bandwagon of the teams having the most recent success in the major professional and college sports.

Just last year, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing someone wearing a Chicago Bears jersey, mainly due to stud linebacker Brian Urlacher. Where are all those people at now?

I’ll tell you where they are. I work at the mall and there is a whole rack of them hanging on the wall in our store. The same can be said about the Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper jerseys about three years ago.

My roommate is from Minnesota, although we call it Canada. Anyway, he bought a Culpepper jersey a couple years ago, and would wear it every now and then. That was until last season, when the Vikings lost to the Panthers, and the Bears, in the first two weeks of the season. I haven’t seen it since.

I called him on this the other night, when thinking about doing this column, mainly because he picks on Iowans about not having a pro team to cheer for. His reason for not wearing his jersey anymore: “Because I don’t wear jerseys, dude.”

Yeah. That’s it. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Vi-Queens have gone 11-21 the last two seasons.

Back to the Super Bowl, though. During the whole week before the game, when I was at work, we had people coming into the store and calling us, asking if we had or knew where to find any Bucs or Raiders stuff.

Bucs OR Raiders? I can understand one or the other, as some true fans of these franchises may want some new gear to wear during the game. But these people asking for both really irked me. It takes the meaning of bandwagon fan to a whole new level.

For those of you who don’t know you are a bandwagon fan, or maybe you are just in denial, I’ve come up with a few guidelines to help you come to terms with your condition. Keep in mind that I am omitting the Super Bowl fans that I have already mentioned.

Number one. If you have never said the phrase, “Wait until next year,” you are a bandwagon fan. If I had a dollar for every time I heard this phrase when I was in Iowa City for the Iowa State-Iowa football and basketball games, I would’ve been able to pay my own tuition without a student loan. If you don’t care that “your team” had a bad season, or even a bad game, then you obviously don’t care too much about the team.

On a related note, if I had the same amount for every time I said this while talking about the Chicago Cubs, I wouldn’t even have to go to school because I would be the richest man alive.

Number two. If you are like my roommate, and haven’t pulled your jersey out of the closet since the last time your team was in the playoffs, you are probably a bandwagon fan. Pull that thing out of the closet, dust it off and where it with pride. When your team finally does come around, it just gives you that much more enjoyment when it’s your time to gloat, even if they end up getting thumped 48-21 in the Super Bowl.

Even if your jersey is purple.

Number three. If you can’t name more than five or six players on the team, you are not a fan. Another friend of mine is from the St. Louis area. Three years ago, the Rams won the Super Bowl, then last year, they at least got to the big game. That’s all she could talk about. Then the Cardinals became good, and that’s all she could talk about.

We got into a discussion about this during the game Sunday night. This friend also took the angle that at least they have pro teams to choose from. But when I asked her to name off the starters for either team, she couldn’t get past the obvious, like Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk.

When she talked about the Cardinals, the only thing she could tell me was that she liked to drink beer at Busch Stadium. Yes, that is fun, but how does that make you a fan, other than being from the same state, or calling St. Louis “The Loo.”

Number four. This college football season saw the brief rise to success of the ISU football team. Merchandise was flying off the shelves, and Ames was flowing with Cyclone pride. Then, the conference season hit the team like a ton of bricks, while the Iowa Hawkeyes were plowing through the Big Ten. All of the sudden the ISU fans were crawling back into the closet, and popping back out with their black and gold on.

This is your example of the halftime switch. “Fans” bail on their first team when the going gets tough, and jump ship to the team who is still making moves. Weak.

Moving on, whatever happened to all the Chicago Bulls fans? Did they all just disappear when Michael Jordan retired for the second time? No. I’ll tell you where they all are. They never really existed. They only became fans when the Bulls started winning championships.

Here is where I come clean. I cheered for the Bulls during the dynasty, but only because of Jordan. I wasn’t a Bulls fan, I was a Jordan fan. How can you not be a fan of the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of sneakers?

Hopefully some of you will benefit from these guidelines, and pick a team and stick to it.

Remember, the first step in overcoming a problem is admitting you have one.

Rick Kerr is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Des Moines.