"You have people who wore Red Sox gear to the first regular-season series in St. Pete and now they go to the playoff games decked out in their Longoria jersey shirt as if they were Rays fans all along," said R.J Anderson, editor of DRaysBay.com, a three-year-old Web site that offers comprehensive coverage of the Rays. "Understandably, it's hard to root for a loser, but this sudden bandwagon appeal is nothing this town hasn't seen before. How many people woke up and decided they were Buccaneer fans in 1979 after ignoring them the first three seasons of existence? Or Lightning fans? Or even USF fans?"

*Speaking of Maddon, he sported a new mohawk of his own today, joining about a half a dozen Rays with the same haircut. Maddon had it cut last night in the name of "unity."