True fans deserve recognition, chance to shine
by Nick Nance, Managing Editor

    Last weekend saw a multitude of achievements throughout the sporting world. Kevin Millwood of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched the 2003 baseball season's first no-hitter in a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants ... exactly one year after the last no-hitter pitched.
    Basketball fans watched as the Mavs, Magic and the Lakers rolled through with a few victories.
    Soccer-well not much news worthy really happens in soccer.
    In professional tennis, old man Agassi proved he still has game as he beat rising star Roddick in a match in Houston.
    Oh yeah, and the NFL had that draft thingy ... the annual guessing game as to what player can perform in the NFL.
    The first few rounds went by relatively smoothly. We saw the Bengals draft another quarterback with the first overall pick. The Cowboys drafted another cornerback sticking to their traditional first round scheme.
    Surprisingly, the Kansas City Chiefs drafted a running back. The Chiefs have arguably the league's best overall rushing threat in Priest Holmes. It's hard to see the logic in picking another runner in that situation.
    Detroit and Houston both took big gambles with their picks, both selecting wide receivers.
    Draft day is usually a guessing game for fans. I can only imagine what the thought process must be for owners and coaches when picking these players.
    Putting a ranking system on these players is arguably the best way one could handle the plethora of players available at draft time. The list would probably contain criteria such as how fast the person is, how tall is he, how well he runs routes or defends routes. All are good, reasonable questions.
    However, draft day puts all the focus on the player and not the paying fan. I think it is time the fans get a little recognition for their efforts throughout the up-coming seasons of pro sports.
    Therefore, I have developed a top five list on how to tell a real sports fan from a pretender.
    Number five: A real sports fan always dresses in matching team colors. This is the person who even dresses in the team's color scheme at work to show his real loyalty.
    Number four: No matter how well someone else's team is playing at the moment, a true sports fan will always remind everyone of the bad days. For example, these people would remind someone when the Cowboys are 10-0 and dominating the league that just last year they got beat by more than 40 points in a few games.
    Number three: True fans barbecue for three days prior to a big game. Now this is dedication.
    Number two: A true fan will wear the championship shirt he got the last time his team won the big game, even if it was in 1985.
    And finally, number one: A real sports fan names his kids after his favorite players.