Three years ago this Saturday, Boston Red Sox fans shared a beautiful moment at Ithaca College.

Following their team’s curse-breaking World Series win, hundreds of students jumped in a pool that was previously reserved for graduating seniors or a hippie on a Tuesday afternoon trip.   

It was a magical night as they swam, cried and rejoiced.  

Fast forward three years, and the Red Sox are back on baseball’s biggest stage but under slightly different circumstances.

No longer are they baseball’s sweethearts, the team that overcame 86 years of chasing a World Series like a silly rabbit chasing a bowl of Trix.

The glow has worn off, at least a little bit. With another World Series appearance and the second highest payroll in baseball, the Red Sox aren’t exactly everyone’s favorite underdog anymore.

“I don’t like them at all,” senior Yankee fan Mike Mandy said.

Yeah, and two plus two equals four. But there might be something there, even if you don’t root for a team whose left side of the infield is worth a bazillion dollars.  

Not only have the Sox stolen the mystique of October invincibility that once belonged in New York, but they have also created Red Sox Nation, a fanbase that has become more annoying than George Steinbrenner without a nap.

Just look around campus at the green Kevin Youkilis jerseys and the pink Manny and Ortiz T-shirts. Add the Masshole factor, and the picture becomes even clearer.

Like the fat kid who gets skinny and turns into a jerk, Red Sox fans are winners now, and they’ve multiplied like fruit flies.

Ithaca College offers a cross section of Red Sox and Yankee fans, with Boston six hours away and New York City within a four and a half hour drive. Both teams are well represented, but it appears that there has been a power shift.

“There have been a lot of fans that have jumped on the bandwagon since 2004,” senior die-hard Red Sox fan Tom Halkin said. “But it is nice to have hot chicks at the games now, even if they don’t know anything.”

The rest of the country is finding it harder to root for the Red Sox over the Yankees, and that undefeated, sign-stealing football team isn’t helping.  

“They’ve basically become the same,” senior native Philadelphian Mike Fiore said. “But when you add the Pats, there’s an unheard of arrogance to Boston fans.”

The Red Sox may not be the Evil Empire, but they’re not Luke Skywalker anymore.

This week, the Rockies will have plenty of fans, from the Rocky Mountains to Cayuga Lake, and a lot of places in between.