Fanatic

I do a fair amount of driving on I-90 and Hwy 395 and I see a lot of vehicles including semi-trucks that sport the logos of teams mostly from this area of the northwest.

The ones I see most are WSU, UW, EWU, Gonzaga, Seahawks and Mariners. I also see the folks driving the cars from Oregon with the O in their rear window for the University of Oregon.

I can’t say which ones are the best drivers, although it seems to me that most of the people with out-of-state plates prefer to speed. I’m not sure if they think they are in Montana or if they have an in telling them where the State Patrolmen hang out but they do drive fast.

I’ve often wondered if these people that have the logos on their cars are true sports fans or if they have a son or daughter attending these schools. Or maybe they are really good alumni and proud of the place they received their diploma.

I have EWU license plates on my SUV because I know what it took to get that degree. And yes, I’m also a fan of the football program with a season ticket bought and paid for.

During my travels, I’ll see a car with one of those logos and wonder if they just want to show off the logo because that team has had recent success and want to be part of the bandwagon. You know, like the ones that had never heard of Gonzaga University basketball before 1999, or just found out Seattle had a NFL team when Russell Wilson became QB.

If this is you, I mean no offense by these comments.

It has been a number of years ago but I can remember when the New Orleans Saints were the laughing stock of the NFL. The worst thing that could happen to another team is to lose a game to the Saints.

Fans that had season tickets would wear brown paper sacks over their heads so no one would see their identity. I guess they figured that if someone saw them on TV they would be considered total idiots for investing in the Saints.

You see, that is the fickle nature of sports fans.

But brown paper bag or not they were still New Orleans Saints fans and when their team did good they’d cheer loudly and if they didn’t, well, let’s just say the bag came in handy. And I’m sure the vehicle they drove home had a New Orleans logo in the back window.

Fans become fans for a lot of different reasons and in this part of the country there is a lot of good-natured ribbing that goes on. WSU fans refuse to wear purple. You know who you are.

I also heard a comment from a WSU fan that goes something like this, “I root for two teams each weekend. WSU and whoever is playing the Huskies.”

UW fans aren’t afraid to tell the Coug faithful about the success they’ve had over the years. I’m sure that in some circles a fight could break out, but around here there are too many Cougar fans whose best friend is a Husky.

So I guess a good rivalry can still be amicable.

I’ve actually heard a couple of Husky fans tell me that they have a bigger rivalry with Oregon than WSU because the UW fans hate the Duck fans, but they really can’t say that they hate the Coug fans. How about that!

Beating your rival and bragging about it is the American way. We all know that.

Showing your team colors is important, especially if you are driving a nice car. I can’t imagine that you would see a UW Husky logo on a Yugo in downtown Seattle. Just saying. On a Lexus, you bet!

There are plenty of people that could care less about team logos and sports in general. That is not their forte and they really could care less. And they have their bumper stickers as well and you’ve seen them and to not tick off that group I will not mention what they would say.

This means we can all be fanatics of some sort. Whether it is about sports, politics, our intelligent 5th grader, the climate, farming or whatever the topic for your soapbox our vehicles are rolling billboards and we can be very vocal without saying a word.