More than Bill Walton, more than Robin Williams, more than Jesse Jackson, more than Billy Graham, I despise anyone who is a bandwagon jumper.

It’s my biggest pet peeve, even bigger than when someone takes a napkin and wipes the grease off a slice of pizza. Who wants pizza that tastes like a napkin? Just eat the napkin and give me the pizza. And don’t tell me it doesn’t change the taste.

Anyway, everybody knows a bandwagon-jumper. The person who liked the Oakland A’s and Jose Canseco in the late 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s and has since denounced their existence. The person who liked the Chicago Bulls when their ballhog was finally joined by some respectable athletes, the Chicago Bulls after that same ballhog returned after he made a complete idiot out of himself on the baseball diamond. And, finally, the fan who roots for the Colorado Avalanche despite never having watched a professional hockey game.

It’s the person who rides the hot horse — but only until it slows down, of course. Then it’s time to bail and find a newer, faster, stronger horse to strap their saddle to.

I am not a bandwagon jumper — never have been, never will be. I have always been a Milwaukee Brewers fan (just naturally), a Dallas Cowboys fan (because of the star emblem that was attractive to me at a young age) and a Utah Jazz fan (because my parents were married in Salt Lake City).

Since I was four, the Brewers have been my team, and when I was six they went to the World Series. Despite my amazing intelligence at that age (I loved Dick, Jane and Sally), I figured I had made the right choice, I had picked the team that would be the best every year.

By the way, I’m not perfect. I only love two of the threesome today. I have since gotten off the Dick bandwagon, which, in my opinion, is acceptable.

Back to the real issue. Milwaukee has not been the best every year. But it doesn’t matter.

It never changed my loyalty. Win or lose, they were and are still my team.

I’ve always admitted my loyalty to them. I’ll wear a Brewers hat when they lose (often), when they win (even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while), and when their owner forces them to switch leagues.

While my friends ventured from the Yankees to the Mets to the A’s, I held strong. I took ridicule about Paul Molitor being my favorite player while they gloated about Don Mattingly, Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

Now who has the last laugh?

If you stick with your team, it might be you.

I see people my age wearing Mariners jerseys and caps. And I know they are the same people who used to love the Dodgers and couldn’t name three Mariners in history before Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Randy Johnson.

I was a Cowboy fan at the age of six.

And if you don’t believe me, I’ll dig up my little #11 Danny White jersey and introduce you to my best friend. You see, I met him in first grade when he was wearing his #33 Tony Dorsett outfit.

One perfect case to demonstrate my point is the recent increase in Green Bay Packer fans. All of a sudden cheeseheads are running rampant in Dubuque, and even Ames. (I’m not knocking cheeseheads, I own one of those styrofoam wonders and have to avoid impulsive purchases of other assorted cheese items, such as ties and mug holders.)

But I can’t walk anywhere today without running into someone wearing green and yellow. Three years ago, I saw no one sporting these colors.

Either no one liked them back then or no one would admit it. I’m not sure which.

Equally strange has been the fact that I’ve seen only one Green Bay hat worn on campus since Sunday. Where have the true Packer backers gone? Show yourselves!

To me, that’s a problem because my philosophy is “Like them in good times, love them in bad times.”

This is a continuous problem everywhere. People think: this team is only .500, while that team is having a break-out year. I’m going from this to that.

People start team jumping. They stop supporting the struggling team to give their support the up-and-comers, pretending that they’ve been there all along. That is, until that team turns another corner and heads south again. Then these fans decide it is time to turn the other cheek.

Win or lose, I’ll always say I love the Brewers, Cowboys, Jazz and the Cyclone men’s basketball program.

And win or lose, I’ll always admit that I’ve never liked the Cubs, Bears, Bulls or the Cyclone football program.

But if you’ve always loved the Cubs, Bears, Bulls or the Cyclone women’s basketball team, take equal pride. And keep showing it.