Jumping on the bandwagon

Go Eagles go.

I despise front runners with a passion like Skip Bayless abhors common sense and a thoughtful opinion. Growing up in small town America — miles away from the closest professional sports franchise — I was surrounded by Yankee, Laker, 49er and Cowboy fans.

They were everywhere. They littered the streets and soaked up the championships like they had anything to do with Steve Young’s scrambling ability or Shaq’s dominance in the post.

And of course I was one of them too. Michael Jordan invariably captured my heart with his tongue-wagging, shoulder-shrugging bald head that screamed at teammates and refused to lose.

But as I’ve grown older (and I’m so much more mature now, just ask my wife) I’ve realized how important it is to support local teams. Other than the occasional bandwagon like 2011’s “Beat the Heat”  — once again, thank you Dirk Nowitzki — I try to watch from a neutral perspective.

(Unless we’re talking about my aversion for all things in pinstripe, blue and gold and anyone with the moniker of “America’s Team.”)

Florida Gulf Coast, though, count me as an honorary Eagle.

The public, space-grant university located in Fort Myers, Fla., throws down so many alley-oops that Chris Paul and the Clippers are getting jealous.

FGCU’s motto is “Truth, knowledge and wisdom.”

Well, the truth is, no one had heard of them before last week, and that includes the Eagles’ first-round opponent, Georgetown.

It’s hard to imagine a school that’s younger than me has developed much knowledge or wisdom. Before Florida Gulf Coast rebranded itself as Dunk City, its most famous alumnus might have been Courtney Jolly — a monster truck driver.

But following upsets of the second-seeded Hoyas and third-seeded San Diego State — may James Franklin’s junior year forever rest in peace, along with brackets everywhere — the Eagles made sure the country had heard of FGCU.

It helped that they did it in style.  Sherwood Brown, a 6-foot-4 senior wing, likes to stick out his tongue after hitting a dagger three — and he had five of those against Georgetown and SDSU — and his shaggy dreadlocks flopping around complete the look.

Point guard Brett Comer — did you hear he played with AUSTIN RIVERS IN HIGH SCHOOL! — has been given a black belt for throwing the lob and, um, in case you haven’t heard, he played with Austin Rivers in high school.     More than anything, Comer, Brown and the crew looked like they’re having fun with their head coach Andy Enfield. The NCAA tournament is a serious ordeal — just ask Temple head coach Fran Dunphy, he’s still scowling angrily — but FGCU has embraced the moment while hogging the Cinderella mantle to a point that we’re all forgetting a 13 seed (La Salle) and Wichita State (a nine) made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Whether Florida Gulf Coast, a program from the Atlantic Sun — the 26th rated conference based on RPI — with losses to Maine, ETSU (who?), Lipscomb (twice) and Stetson can continue playing unconsciously, I have no idea.

I hope they do. Their run represents why sports is truly a place where we can never predict the final outcome. A school, a program and a coach can drag a team into the public consciousness and pretty soon we all learn more than we ever thought there was to know about FGCU.

So, yeah, I’m on the bandwagon. Besides who doesn’t like rooting for a school who’s abbreviation sounds like a nasty way to tell someone off through texting?