Kin
New member
Admittedly, this is probably all that we're going to talk about for a little while in every thread but for now but there are few things I wanted to say here specifically.
Look, last night wasn't the end of the world. In fact, I feel pretty good about the Leafs season. Nobody expected them to come this far and the fact that they did against a team like Boston is enough for me. In a lot of ways, last night was the best thing that could have happened to this team. People forget this bit Mat Sundin's first year with the Leafs they lost a heartbreaking 7 game series in the playoffs, winning the first two in Chicago before coming back home and blowing it. Did he fold? No. He went on to become, in my opinion, the best player in Leafs history. You think this won't have a similar effect on a guy like Kessel, who finally emerged as a go-to guy when they needed him? Think Jake Gardiner and Nazem Kadri won't take this with them into their summer workouts? In the long and short of it? Last night didn't even hurt. It was just a speed bump. That said...
God dammit, do I hate things about this team. I hate our stupid Captain. 3 points and a -6? I'm glad his wife's show got cancelled. He may want to look across the ice next time they play the Bruins. That Frankenstein's monster? The Guy wearing 33? That's what a #1 defenseman/Captain looks like. All Phaneuf looks like is Phil Hartman from the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer sketch with a shorter haircut. Did he ever inspire faith? One time? During these whole playoffs? It was a three goal lead, for pete's sake. These guys needed to show just the tiniest bit of pride in the city and in the uniform but, of course, they coasted into good enough mode. And, really, what difference is it to them? They get to hop on planes for Europe and pile into the 7 series BMW's on their way to their lake front cottages a little sooner by virtue of turning into complete incompetents in the last 5 minutes. GREAT JOB BOYS! Really did us proud. That said...
We're not powerless in this whole thing. We can effect the positive change we want to see in this team. And no, I don't mean, the whole "MLSE doesn't want to win so if we stop winning they'll try" but I mean in sort of a cosmic, karmic sense. When I stopped watching for three straight games, the Leafs turned into a different team. Was it enough? No. But I was probably alone in it. But if more people did it? If more people decided to turn their back on this team until they'd proven themselves? I can't help but feel as though the universe wouldn't be so inclined to continuously punch this fanbase in the gut. I feel like some of these tough losses are signs from the Universe to care a little less. So if we all sort of did, I really do think that we wouldn't continue to lose in the most ugly ways possible. That said...
It doesn't really matter anyway. You know, I woke up this morning and my problems were still my problems. We can make all the Sturm und Drang about last night if we want but ultimately? It's just a hockey team losing a game. That's the way it goes. Some fanbases, like the Kings, get to remember the game of hockey exists once the Lakers are eliminated, be excited that the team is wearing black and grey again and celebrate a Stanley Cup before remembering to take the tags off their new jerseys and some of us, the ones whose parents didn't have the forethought or desire to make it in the entertainment industry and raise us in Southern California, get to grow up Leafs fans. That's fate. Some of us will never see the Leafs win the cup because fundamentally, the universe is just a crummy place where people who deserve good things don't get them. It sucks but, hey, life sucks for a lot of people. And you know what? The sun will burn out some day and who won the Stanley Cup won't matter. That said...
You know, I woke up today and yeah, my problems were still my problems but the good things in my life? They're still good too. It'd have been great to have a couple more weeks of Leafs hockey but without it? I'll go to the movies more. Have more BBQ's with the family now that the weather's good enough. The city hurts but I still love it here. A couple days or so from now I'll probably be on a patio somewhere with friends, a cold pint of Steamwhistle or two in before trying to decide between El Salvadoran or Guyanan for dinner, and I'll be reminded again that everything that comes with the Leafs and being a Leafs fan...it's really just a part of the fabric of the city that I really, genuinely love. I wouldn't trade the shared heartbreak for an indifferent championship because at least you're part of this big shared heart. You feel it with your neighbours and your friends. It's a civic thing. That shared experience, the kind that we're losing almost daily as our culture grows more and more fractured? That's really what's really, truly meaningful about being a sports fan. The way it fosters a collective identity among so many disparate people and builds, and this word is overused I think, a community. Truly united around a common cause, even if it's as inherently trivial as who wins a hockey game. After a little while, after a few months of getting to enjoy another great Toronto summer and great/terrible Blue Jays season, it'll be training camp again and the whole thing starts over with a clean sheet of ice.
Look, last night wasn't the end of the world. In fact, I feel pretty good about the Leafs season. Nobody expected them to come this far and the fact that they did against a team like Boston is enough for me. In a lot of ways, last night was the best thing that could have happened to this team. People forget this bit Mat Sundin's first year with the Leafs they lost a heartbreaking 7 game series in the playoffs, winning the first two in Chicago before coming back home and blowing it. Did he fold? No. He went on to become, in my opinion, the best player in Leafs history. You think this won't have a similar effect on a guy like Kessel, who finally emerged as a go-to guy when they needed him? Think Jake Gardiner and Nazem Kadri won't take this with them into their summer workouts? In the long and short of it? Last night didn't even hurt. It was just a speed bump. That said...
God dammit, do I hate things about this team. I hate our stupid Captain. 3 points and a -6? I'm glad his wife's show got cancelled. He may want to look across the ice next time they play the Bruins. That Frankenstein's monster? The Guy wearing 33? That's what a #1 defenseman/Captain looks like. All Phaneuf looks like is Phil Hartman from the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer sketch with a shorter haircut. Did he ever inspire faith? One time? During these whole playoffs? It was a three goal lead, for pete's sake. These guys needed to show just the tiniest bit of pride in the city and in the uniform but, of course, they coasted into good enough mode. And, really, what difference is it to them? They get to hop on planes for Europe and pile into the 7 series BMW's on their way to their lake front cottages a little sooner by virtue of turning into complete incompetents in the last 5 minutes. GREAT JOB BOYS! Really did us proud. That said...
We're not powerless in this whole thing. We can effect the positive change we want to see in this team. And no, I don't mean, the whole "MLSE doesn't want to win so if we stop winning they'll try" but I mean in sort of a cosmic, karmic sense. When I stopped watching for three straight games, the Leafs turned into a different team. Was it enough? No. But I was probably alone in it. But if more people did it? If more people decided to turn their back on this team until they'd proven themselves? I can't help but feel as though the universe wouldn't be so inclined to continuously punch this fanbase in the gut. I feel like some of these tough losses are signs from the Universe to care a little less. So if we all sort of did, I really do think that we wouldn't continue to lose in the most ugly ways possible. That said...
It doesn't really matter anyway. You know, I woke up this morning and my problems were still my problems. We can make all the Sturm und Drang about last night if we want but ultimately? It's just a hockey team losing a game. That's the way it goes. Some fanbases, like the Kings, get to remember the game of hockey exists once the Lakers are eliminated, be excited that the team is wearing black and grey again and celebrate a Stanley Cup before remembering to take the tags off their new jerseys and some of us, the ones whose parents didn't have the forethought or desire to make it in the entertainment industry and raise us in Southern California, get to grow up Leafs fans. That's fate. Some of us will never see the Leafs win the cup because fundamentally, the universe is just a crummy place where people who deserve good things don't get them. It sucks but, hey, life sucks for a lot of people. And you know what? The sun will burn out some day and who won the Stanley Cup won't matter. That said...
You know, I woke up today and yeah, my problems were still my problems but the good things in my life? They're still good too. It'd have been great to have a couple more weeks of Leafs hockey but without it? I'll go to the movies more. Have more BBQ's with the family now that the weather's good enough. The city hurts but I still love it here. A couple days or so from now I'll probably be on a patio somewhere with friends, a cold pint of Steamwhistle or two in before trying to decide between El Salvadoran or Guyanan for dinner, and I'll be reminded again that everything that comes with the Leafs and being a Leafs fan...it's really just a part of the fabric of the city that I really, genuinely love. I wouldn't trade the shared heartbreak for an indifferent championship because at least you're part of this big shared heart. You feel it with your neighbours and your friends. It's a civic thing. That shared experience, the kind that we're losing almost daily as our culture grows more and more fractured? That's really what's really, truly meaningful about being a sports fan. The way it fosters a collective identity among so many disparate people and builds, and this word is overused I think, a community. Truly united around a common cause, even if it's as inherently trivial as who wins a hockey game. After a little while, after a few months of getting to enjoy another great Toronto summer and great/terrible Blue Jays season, it'll be training camp again and the whole thing starts over with a clean sheet of ice.
