Hello, my name is Rhino, and I'm a Blue Jackets fan. It's been three days since my last game.

After watching yet another losing effort by the Cowopolis Blue Jackets on FSN Ohio the other night, two things dawned on me. The first thing was that I'd watched (not channel surfed, but actually watched) about 20 Blue Jackets games on TV this season. Soon thereafter came my second revelation-- I had somehow become a fan of this awful hockey team.

I grew up a Buffalo Sabres fan, and still consider myself one, but when I check the NHL standings, I find myself noting where the Jackets are as well. When the Sabres are on OLN, I make sure to tune in, but I watch the Blue Jackets three times a week. I even go to the Cowopolis Dispatch to read articles about the team.

Although they've been in a bit of a slump of late, the Buffalo Sabres are one of the NHL's best teams, and are a bona fide contender for the Stanley Cup. The Cowopolis Blue Jackets on the other hand, well, there's just no other way to put it--they suck. They've got some good, established players (like Bryan Berard and David Vyborny), a few rising stars like Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev, and one fading superstar in Sergei Federov. The rest of the roster is pretty mediocre, except for the goaltenders, Marc Denis, who stinks, and Pascal LeClaire , who is a kid.

The Sabres are currently 44-19-5 and guaranteed of a high seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Jackets are 26-40-3 and guaranteed a spot on the beach in Florida as soon as the playoffs start. Under the circumstances, my dalliance with the Blue Jackets is kind of like being married to Jessica Simpson and cheating on her with Janet Reno.

So, the bottom line is that the Blue Jackets are a terrible team in a city I've never lived in and don't even like to visit. Plus, with the possible exception of the Utah Jazz, the Jackets have the most staggeringly stupid name in pro sports. And yet, somehow I find myself a fan. Pathetic.