Now that the NFL preseason has kicked off, it's come to mind that once again I will be a Jacksonville Jaguars fan in New England. That's just as bad as it sounds. Try as I might, I can't completely hide my fandom from everybody. More often than not, it becomes a topic for ridicule.

I'm really not sure which is worse: Being a Jaguars fan or being a Phillies fan. The only time I really got heat for being a Jaguars fan was last year when the Jags and Pats played on September 27. By "played" I mostly mean the Patriots dominated and scored 51 points. Not the most enjoyable game I've ever watched. I had one "friend" (using the term lightly on a Patriots fan) on my dorm floor who liked to ask me how the Jaguars did every Sunday. Nine of those 16 inquiries were acknowledged by a glare of some sort.

Not surprisingly, WPI would have viewing parties for the Patriot football games. It goes without saying I avoided them, but what I couldn't avoid were the annoying flyers that appeared in the dining hall prior to the game. The temptation to rip one or two up was hard to resist, but it wouldn't have accomplished much. Although they were close, the Patriots didn’t quite make it to the Super Bowl last season. I have a feeling I might not get so lucky over the next three years.

The Phillies and Red Sox are in different MLB leagues, so they hardly have any impact on each other. Yet, some people like to remind me of their losing record, their 10,000+ losses and other negative statistics that can be found. I’m often reminded in a sarcastic way: “When was the last time the Phillies won the World Series? Oh, 2008? Well, the Red Sox won in 2013.” There is also the fact that the Red Sox have eight World Series wins compared to the Phillies’ measly two.

Due to the fact I don’t have much basis for an argument on overall team performance, I’ll now resort to discussing the mascots. Hands down, the Phanatic and Jackson DeVille are better than Wally the Green Monster and Pat Patriot (seriously? I had to look it up to be sure … that’s lame.) This isn’t completely biased either. Just take a look here and see for yourself.

This writing piece is all for fun and not meant to cause any hard feelings. I know I support some pretty mediocre sports teams. I know I’m not the only one who has gone off to college in an area with a different sports affiliation. I’ll be sure to refer back to this when one of my teams does something noteworthy!