COLUMN: Definitely not a 'bandwagon'

     My younger son Ian recently made an astute observation about his father.

     “You’re the opposite of a bandwagon.”

     By that, of course, he meant “bandwagon-jumper,” the term used for a sports fan who waits until a team becomes one of the best of its league, and then “hops on board” and begins openly cheering for that team. He and his friends misuse the term, occasionally chiding each other by saying, “You’re such a bandwagon.” They’ll get it.

     I may be a lot of things – probably not all of them good – but Ian is right; I am definitely not a bandwagon-jumper. I am a perennial supporter of the underdog in all sports and nearly all times.

     Which means, of course, that I am usually disappointed.

     Maybe this comes from growing up as – and stubbornly remaining – a fan of Minnesota pro sports teams. I looked up an old column of mine, which noted that Minnesota’s four major pro sports teams had, as of August 2011, won two world championships in 158 collective seasons since the Minneapolis Lakers bolted for L.A.

     After the NFC Championship debacle on Sunday, the Vikings’ 38-7 loss in Philadelphia, the count is now up to 184 seasons, and still just the Twins’ World Series titles in 1987 and 1991.

     In a way, Sunday’s game was very reflective of my support of these teams. The Vikings took their opening possession and drove for a touchdown, with not quite five minutes gone. The remaining 55 minutes were largely awful. Everything that could have gone wrong, pretty much did. At least it was easier this time than some of the epic losses of years past. We couldn’t have known it yet, but when the Eagles scored on a “pick six” and tied the game 7-7, it was already over.

     Five minutes is about 8 percent of a football game. So even that is better than the record of cheering for Minnesota championships; two titles in 184 seasons is just over 1 percent.

     The stark exception to all of this is Minnesota’s WNBA team, the Lynx, which has won four league championships in the past seven seasons.

     To be honest, though, I haven’t latched onto the Lynx the way I have with the other Minnesota teams. Maybe I should.

     Or would that make me a “bandwagon?”