Fair-weather Fans

Fall is here and that means the weather is changing. Leaves are changing colors, skies are getting darker, and the weather is getting colder. Unless you're a fair weather fan that is. Now that MLB Playoffs have started, fair weather fans are appearing everywhere. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out Twitter and Facebook. People everywhere are all of a sudden hardcore (insert whichever team is winning) fans.

This strange phenomenon has been occurring since the beginning of professional sports. I have done an extensive study on fair weather fans and discovered the following:

• Out of every five fans of a team that wins a championship, four are fair weather fans.

• Fair weather fans are the most hated fans in all of sports and yet the most prevalent fans in sports. This means many of them are hypocrites.

• Fair weather fans, as it turns out, started the fire (listen to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire" if you don't know what I'm talking about).

These fans come from two different backgrounds. The first group I would like to address are the people who are only fans of playoff sports. These people don't know anything the whole season and root for whichever team has the most obvious chance of winning it all. This is extremely frustrating to people who followed all 162 games of the regular season only to watch their team lose in the last few games.

The second group is the most hated group in all of the sports. These guys jump on the bandwagon on the team that is most likely to win it all (just like the first group) and pretend to be hardcore fans. They will continue to be fans of this team (usually the Yankees) until their home team is a playoff contender. Once that happens they pretend they have been fans of their home team their whole lives.

One reason hardcore fans want to pick up pitchforks and drive these chumps out of town is that they buy up all the tickets to the games. This isn't that big of a deal unless it's playoff time and they drive up ticket prices. I know, as if they weren't bad enough, they're making you pay shell out more cash. If you're unfortunate enough to not be able to get tickets to your game then check out Stub Hub--especially if it looks like rain. New Stadium Insider claims that when the weather starts turning (the real weather, not the figurative weather) these so-called "fans" will start selling their tickets.

The only thing worse than being a real fan who's been edged out of watching their team play by fair weather fans, is the poor fans who shelled out for playoff tickets early only to have their team NOT make it--and their money not be refunded (I'm looking at you Texas Rangers!).

I must admit I am not a baseball fan. I'll watch playoff baseball but refuse to root for a team (except I will always support whoever plays against the Yankees). Plenty of people watching the playoffs don't normally watch baseball but are watching now. Don't be ashamed; watch and enjoy. Just don't act like you've been following the whole season. And for those of you that have switched teams, shame on you!

Any "real" baseball fans out there? Which team are you rooting for to win the Series? Let me know in the comments and make sure to follow me on Twitter @YasarSavings.