Yesterday my friend called me and, in place of a greeting, she responded to my "hello" with a shriek of "we're going to the Super Bowl!"

Now, since I don't really care about football unless I've got money in a pool, I took this to mean she and her husband had somehow scored tickets to the game. When it turned out she didn't, all her "we" talk got me thinking about the whole group mentality thing sports fans tend to get themselves into.

Allow me to wax psychological for a moment here. The concept of Social Identity Theory is a collection of ideas that have been formed to address why people tend to naturally associate themselves with groups and behave like other members of said group. It all has a lot to do with evolution and self-esteem and other brain-y motivations, but for this purpose, that's all you need to know.

The only part of it that ever really cemented in my head -- and the one I was reminded of when my friend "we"-d me into this Packers victory -- is the Us vs. Them verbiage used by sports fans. Simply put, fans are generally quick to say "we won!" when talking about their team on a good day, but switch to "they lost" if things go south.

Again, the psychology of this gets into explanations why disassociating oneself from the group preserves the fan's self-image and whatnot, but my point is it's entertaining to watch people rally behind a team's accomplishment, only to throw them under the bus if things don't go well.

Obviously not everyone is like this and there are die-hards out there (especially in Wisconsin). But if you think of fair-weather fans, for example, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

So, while most people are anxiously awaiting the big game, I'm just looking forward to counting the number of people who verbally jump ship should the Pack lose. And because I'm simply apathetic and not a hater, yes, I knocked on wood.