Even though my beloved Yankees got eliminated from the playoffs this week, I'll survive (there's no need for the 24-hour suicide watch like in '04). After all, as long as Boston is still in the playoffs, I'll have someone to root for: whoever is playing the Red Sox.

Sports fandom is an interesting thing. The casual fan usually stops caring when his team loses. I never quite understood this behavior: are you a fan of the sport or your team? I would think the game of baseball is far more important than whether or not my team wins or loses. But then again, I am more sophisticated than the average fan (I've never used the 'we' word when describing my team's success).

I know the television stations always wanna see big markets go at it in the championship. Apparently when New York plays Los Angeles, the ratings are higher because more people watch. The NBA's television ratings have been dismal the past couple of years 'cause San Antonio keeps advancing. When I was a kid, I didn't understand this reasoning. I knew I was gonna watch the World Series no matter who was in it. I did it because I was a baseball fan. I've watched every World Series ever since I was old enough to know what baseball was (except '04--I simply couldn't stomach it). I remember Bill Buckner in '86. Kirk Gibson in '88. Jack Morris in '91. I watch because it's the World Series--you never know when an instant legend will be born.

But that's the difference between a true fan and those who pay attention 'cause it's popular (I call them the American Idol Clan). If you like the sport and the game, it doesn't matter who's playing. Unless it's the Pirates--then no one wants to watch.

I've always found sports loyalty to be an interesting phenomenon. What draws a fan to a certain team? Proximity is always a factor, but I've always been curious about those who follow a team from a different region. What starts the love affair? Is it the colors? The players? Or do people even know?

When I was a kid, I loved the Cleveland Browns. Even though I had no ties to the Cleveland area, I found myself pulling for the Browns. I think what drew me in were their fans. I remember watching games on TV and how much the Browns fans stood out. Many of them wore dog masks and waved bones at opposing players. The end zone was called the Dawg Pound. I might've been too young to understand football...but I certainly knew how to dress up for Halloween. It took one game--maybe two. Yelling in the stands while wearing a goofy dawg mask looked like a lot of fun--how could I not be a fan of that?

Everyone has a story--I'm sure. My brother--a sissy boy who knows nothing of sports--follows the Jets, the Nets, and the Mets (I think he's just into monosyllabic teams). The Girlfriend likes the Red Sox (shudder). No one seems to know why they follow the team they do...they just know they're loyal to the core.

I hated USC as teen--and that hatred stays with me today. I remember this evil witch of an English teacher I had...she was a big SC fan. Her classroom was covered in USC propaganda. Posters, pennants, banners--all promoting the Trojans. And because I hated her, I found myself pulling for UCLA when the Bruins played USC in their annual rivalry game. I wanted to see SC lose because I hated everything about that teacher; to me USC was just an extension of her. Out of that hatred, loyalty was born. I became a UCLA fan and hated USC for the next decade (how's that for a teacher inspiring a student). It all seems so foolish if you think about it: I hated a school because of one person--a horrible teacher who's probably dead by now. Yet from it, two definitive sports opinions were born: a love for powder blue and a hatred for the men of Troy. Eventually my opinion changed; when I went to college, I realized it was foolish to root for a school I didn't go to...and hate a school that wasn't my rival.

College sports is big business with lots of fans. Out of all sports loyalties, this is the one I find most fascinating. For some people, loyalty is obvious: you root for the school you went to. It seems like everyone has a school they pull for (witness male behaviour during March Madness). What I don't understand is how can someone end up pulling for a school they didn't ever go to. That makes no sense to me. How can you cheer for a school you have no ties to? It can't be a childhood loyalty thing. After all, if you liked Big State so much as a kid, why didn'tcha go there? There's something else. I can't tell you how many college graduates I know live and die with USC football...even though none of them have ever even set foot on USC's campus.

And that's the thing about sports loyalty. You never know where a love affair can be born. But those childhood experiences end up shaping your adulthood--they define who you root for. Because once you love a team, you'll stick with them until the very end--no matter how much they break your hearts.

Just ask a Cubs fan.

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