Nuveau fans

My brother-in-law Kirk shared this earlier this week and it was too good not to post.

Weeks of Dedication Finally Paying Off for Rays Fans

Tampa resident Jeff Mackey says he has been a Tampa Bay Rays fan for a long time.

“So long that all of the Rays t-shirts I bought four weeks ago when I became a fan of the team have been washed at least once now and the colors are stating to fade a little bit,” he said. “If that doesn’t prove I’ve been pulling for this team from almost the start, I don’t know what would.”

Stories of dedication abound in the now-strong Rays’ fanbase.

“I remember the first time my dad took me to a Rays game. I was 11 years old,” said Scottie Parker. “I am still 11 years old. But I’m only five months shy of 12 now. I have given a month of my childhood to this team.”

The Rays diehards say they welcome all of the new fans who have jumped on the bandwagon in the past two weeks, but know their passion is the most intense.

“We old-timers love to sit back and talk about all the days past,” said Mackey. “I can actually remember when Evan Longoria was on the disabled list. That’s how long I have been a fan. And those were tough times, I’ll tell you. These Johnny-come-latelys don’t have those scars. But I can’t begrudge them that.”

Some Rays fans claims to have rooted for the team even longer than Mackey and his cohorts, but they are met with skepticism.

“Honestly? I think they are just a bunch of senile, old, retired people,” he said. “This one guy was telling me the other day that the team used to be called the Devil Rays and that Rocco Baldelli isn’t a new player. I mean – what kind of insane crap is that? Those people are cuckoo.”

The Rays players say they are just happy to finally have fans at their home games, regardless of how long those fans have backed them.

“I see Rays hats all over town now,” he said. “You used to only see one or two, and those were on homeless guys who got them for free at shelters. And then most of them would just use them for toilet paper."