WSD is as simple to understand as freshman year psychology

The applicable social psychology terms are BIRGing (Basking in Reflected Glory) and CORFing (Casting off Reflected Failure). BIRGing, simply put, is feeding off success via association. You attach yourself and your identity to a successful person/group in order to enhance your own self-esteem as a member. If you'll notice sports fans talking about the big win the other day, you'll hear them saying "We won! Did you see how we came from behind? We did it!". The key word is the usage of "we", the inclusion of oneself in that team's success. That's also why you will see sports fans wearing their team's jerseys proudly the next day as yet another method of including oneself into the team identity.

On the flip-side, you have Casting off Reflected Failure (CORFing). You dissociate yourself from the failure of a person/group to maintain your self-esteem. If your favorite sports team loses badly, you will hear fans saying "Wow they really messed up, he's been in a slump lately, they made a terrible call." The key word being used is "they". You no longer want to be identified with that group because they failed.

Basically, WSD thinks Cusak is not part of and doesn’t deserve to join his cool group and is a phony. When in reality Dave’s connection to the White Sox is just as arbitrary as anyone else’s.