In the early 17th Century, the astronomer (and philosopher, mathematician, etc.) Galileo produced his heliocentric theory of the earth as it pertains to the universe, which was based on the works of his teacher Copernicus throwing heed to the common wisdom of the day about the earth being the center of the universe.

In effect, Galileo was saying that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but that it moved around the sun.

This, obviously, met with much resistance, especially from the Catholic Church and, under numerous threats of persecution and death for heresy, he eventually, late in his life, recanted in an attempt to save his own life. However, as he was being led away to serve out his days under house arrest at his home in Florence, he uttered the words: "It still moves."

Galileo could be called a lot of things: a visionary, a genius and a man before his time. One thing he could never be called is "fair-weather."

That term takes on a greater meaning this weekend, especially for those of us who will be within five miles of the center of the sporting universe down at the Trans World Dome, er, Edward Jones Dome, which is home to the NCAA Final Four this weekend. St. Louis is about to be invaded by two completely different types of people: the hard-core fans and fair-weather fans. The supposed "hard-core" fans are the ones we laugh at, the ones that amuse us, and the ones which we just can't imagine go to normal 9-to-5 jobs during the regular weekdays.

They are the Irish-American Chicagoans who dress up like Native American warriors, and they are the strait-laced Carolina trial lawyers to get decked out in baby-blue sweat suits, paint obscure slogans on their foreheads and cheeks and pray against the inevitable Roy Williams tournament meltdowns. Neither is all that appealing for the unknowledgeable third party to look at, but I pose you this one question: Are these individuals truly "hard-core" fans, or are they simply mainstream in the grand scheme of things?

My answer is the latter, and for proof I will offer up two examples.

The first is the cult following that the University of Alabama football team has.

The subject of two books and thousands of epitaphs, there is a group of RVers who traipse around the countryside in motor homes worth more than a SLU education (think about it) and tailgate at each Crimson football game, every season. I use the word "tailgate," but it really does what they do no justice. Take, for instance, their game against Tennessee two years ago.

There were literally hundreds of motor homes parked in the designated tailgating lot outside Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on the Tuesday before the game!

Some of these fans even go so far as to name their children after famed Tide coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. There is a story, found to be true, of a couple whose daughter was engaged to be married and they gave her their blessing on the condition that she didn't get married on a Saturday in the fall.

Lo and behold, the invitations come out and she has scheduled it for the last Saturday in October, which "everyone knows is when the Tide plays Tennessee." They didn't make it to the ceremony, but they rushed back for the end of the reception. (It was TENNESSEE!)

There was even one such fan that was flying down to a game against Mississippi State in his own Cessna when he crash-landed in a tree.

The remarkable part wasn't that he walked away relatively unhurt, the remarkable part was that he made it to the game in time for opening kickoff, thanks largely to the kindness of a local country sheriff.

So I would definitely go so far as to say that the fans of Crimson Nation, are definitely pretty hard- core, but they by no means take the cake.

That I am giving to a certain English rugby fan who made a rather outlandish statement before last month's match between his beloved team and that of the usually inferior Welsh squad.

Before reading further, I must warn you that when I first heard this story I had two initial reactions: disbelief and vomiting, and not necessarily in that order.

This fan stated plainly that he would, and I'm paraphrasing, "castrate himself if England lost to Wales." In a cruel twist of irony, that exact thing happened.

Now, if an Illini fan said they would jump off a roof if Illinois lost to Louisville this Saturday, you'd laugh, you'd jest and you'd quickly forget.

When an English Rugby fan threatens to cut off two essential parts of his male anatomy, you would have a bit more concern, probably watch him a little closer, but you would usually again pass his threat off as an idle one. But, you would have been wrong.

This guy goes home, and, in his what I can only assume was an inebriated state, takes out a kitchen knife and makes himself into a eunuch. True story.

But that's not where the story ends. He then, obviously bleeding profusely, returns to a pub where he had been earlier that evening wallowing in defeat, and shows his detached manhood to the numerous bar patrons.

The next event is truly sickening. He dropped his cajones into a pint and took a chug.

He then passed out due to blood loss and was taken to the hospital, where he was supposedly recovering, though I don't think anyone truly "recovers" from a setback such as that.

Idiot. Moron. Unstable. All these words fit. But, again, one that doesn't would be "fair-weather." This guy makes the most die-hard Illini fans look like Quakers.

The overlying point throughout all this is that there is no good reason for anyone to ever be a fan of a particular team, wherever you may be from.

If geography was a deciding factor in deciding fan allegiances, you wouldn't find a single Show-Me State resident who didn't pull for Mizzou, which I can personally attest is not the case.

The absurdity of geographical team allegiances was best enveloped in a headline from the Onion, back in 2001: "You Will Suffer Humiliation When the Team from My Area Defeats the Team from Your Area."

The rest of fans tie their allegiances into childhood memories and family ties or some other such trivial matter, like mascot names or how pretty their uniforms are.

So the amount that a fan vests into their team is all, ultimately, a personal choice.

I am not the one to say where the line is drawn separating fair-weather fans and regular fans.

Likewise where the line is between regular fans and hard-core fans.

However, I can say that, from personal experience, the fair-weather fans are usually the ones who talk the most when their teams are winning and who become recluse when they are losing and visa-versa, the hard-core fans are the ones who miss their daughter's wedding or have near-death experiences directly resulting from their unending loyalty to their teams.

Galileo and heliocentricity aside, I think this weekend we'll be seeing a little bit of both this weekend.