I don't hate The Montreal Canadiens...does that make me a bad Leafs fan?

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have pretty much always been a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.  From my personalized license plate (Leaf logo with FAN4FR), to my dark blue painted recroom that is full of Leaf paraphernalia, I just LOVE my Leafs. I can't remember exactly when the cruel, painful fandom began, but I assume it was as a small child, being around my mother's side of the family. My grandparents, and especially my grandmother, Christena, were HUGE fans of The Buds, as were all of my uncles on that side. If there was ever a Leafs' game on during a big family gathering in Sylvan, ON, you knew that, a) it would be on for the duration of the game, and, b) you didn't walk in front of the tv, make too much noise, or cheer for the other team if you wanted to remain in the good graces of the family.  When Toronto was doing well, it was a wonderful place to be. Everyone would be in a good mood, lots of laughter, raised voices, table pounding, and very little swearing.  If on the other hand, they were losing...well...let's just say it wasn't as nice.  The good news is, win or lose, when the game ended, it was over, and everyone moved on. At this point, my dad and uncles would usually end up starting a marathon euchre game in the kitchen where the laughter, raised voices, table pounding and a decidedly greater amount of expletives (as Grandma wasn't present, now) would begin again and continue well into the wee hours. It was great, and I loved being there.  So yeah...this was the beginning of my love for The Leafs.

 

When asked who my favourite all-time player was, I can, without hesitation say Wayne Gretzky. Not Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Doug Gilmour...all good candidates, all Toronto Maple Leafs, but no, it was #99.  Watching him play was incredible. He looked as though he belonged in a different, better league, except, that league didn't exist. He would have been the only player had they wanted to start such a thing.  All I ever hoped, though, was that he would wear the blue and white. If he only would have played for Toronto...who knows, maybe I would have seen them hoist the Cup in my lifetime by now.  Actually, In 1996, right after his one year run with The St.Louis Blues ended, The Leafs were on the verge of signing Gretzky who really wanted to play in Toronto, it was his dream to finish his career there, and he was ready to sign for around two or three million. He’d even passed on an eight million dollar offer from Vancouver because he was so eager to play for the Leafs. Gretzky told Cliff Fletcher (Toronto's GM) he’d do whatever it took to get it done, but the big bosses decided they wanted to cut back on payroll and use any extra money toward the building of the Air Canada Centre.  So Gretzky signed with the Rangers instead*.  Nice play, suits.  Just another example of the historically bad decision making that 'my' team is famous for.

 

With every good team, there is a good rivalry, and it can be argued that the Toronto Maple Leafs - Montreal Canadiens rivalry is second to none, in any sport, ever.  So by default, as a Leafs' fan, I am supposed to hate the rival Habitants, right?  But I don't hate them. Don't get me wrong...I am not anywhere close to being a fan of theirs, but I'd be lying if I said I have never cheered for them. My standpoint has always been to cheer for The Leafs first and always, but then, basically hope for any other Canadian team to also do well. I guess I'm nationalistic when it comes to cheering on sports teams.  The Canucks, however, make it pretty tough for me to keep my philosophy intact due to the 'Vancouligans' that come out, win or lose and trash the city, but still, when they are up against most other teams, they have my support.

 

Maybe I'm just not a true fan if I don't hate the other teams. After all, the term 'fan' comes from the word 'fanatic', and I would think that any fanatic of one team should despise any, and all other teams, right?

 

I don't know.

 

What I do know is this...as I write this blog entry, the Leafs' are currently sitting in 6th place and could potentially make the playoffs this year for the first time in far too many years, and, in order to have any chance of winning the The Stanley Cup, you must first make it to the playoffs.  I suspect whether they make it to the playoffs or not, I'll be yelling the all too familiar battle-cry for all of us Leaf's fans out there:

 

"Maybe next year!"

 

All for now,

 

G'night.

 

 

 

* Info about Gretzky not signing with Toronto comes from the Damien Cox/Gord Stellick book – ’67 The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire.

I Was Tragically Unhip, or, How Not To Meet A Canadian Rock Icon.

After writing my last post about meeting Stompin' Tom, it reminded me that I have met quite a few recording stars in my life, either on purpose after a show, or merely by chance.  I think this number is pretty respectable considering I'm not, nor have ever been in the 'music' business.

This is one of those chance meeting stories, which I know a lot of you have already heard, but for those who haven't, here's my humiliating story of meeting Gord Downie, the lead singer of 'The Tragically Hip'.

I was introduced to 'The Hip' in the early nineties while attending Sheridan College for the advertising program. It was the band's 1991 album, 'Road Apples' that really tweaked something in me.   Yes, I knew about them before this album as they had some big hits from their previous cd, 'Up To Here' such as '38 Years Old', 'Blow at High Dough' and 'New Orleans is Sinking', but as a complete, song for song cd, I give the edge to 'Road Apples'. 'Long Time Running', 'Little Bones', 'Twist My Arm', 'Fiddlers Green', 'Last of The Unplucked Gems'...so many songs that are so good. Anyhow, I had become an official fan.  So much so that  for one of their future cd releases ('Trouble At The Henhouse', I think...), I was one of the ones waiting outside our local record store here in Woodstock for the special midnight opening when it went on sale.  They were a HUGE band here in Canada in the early/mid nineties and I had totally bought into them. 

So, if I remember correctly, it was May of 2002 when I got the opportunity to go to a Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators playoff game. I jumped at the opportunity to go watch my Buds continue their dominance over The Sens when it came to the playoffs. By the way, this was the third straight year they met in the playoffs, and the third straight year that Toronto would end up putting them out. (I smiled the entire time I wrote that last sentence).  We drove down to the game and decided we would wait until we got to the Air Canada Centre to get a bite to eat, which ended up being a quick burger from the McDonald's kiosk under Union Station. I finished my dinner and was standing waiting for the others to finish and watching people walk by. Most were walking in the direction of the ACC and were decked out in their jerseys, blue and white face paint ('Gotta support the team" - David Puddy), home-made signs, banners and big, foam fingers in hand ready to cheer on the boys. 

As I'm watching this sea of blue people quickly go by, I turned my head to the left and I spotted someone who I instantly recognized. He had long, black, poker-straight hair that went down to his waist, a black mustache and beard..it was..it was..the lead guitarist from The Hip!!! I had no clue what his name was (apparently I wasn't THAT big of a fan), but damned if it wasn't him! But wait...who's that walking right beside him, head shaved looking straight at the ground, coming right toward me? It was Gord Downie, the lead singer of 'The Tragically Hip'.  Now his name I knew. I excitedly looked around to see if the rest of the guys I was with were seeing this happen, but they weren't. They were still chomping away, or throwing out their trash, or whatever. Actually, based on who I was with, I doubt any of them, except maybe Ricky Love, would have recognized or appreciated this as much as I did. I was a huge fan!

As he was quickly walking by where I was standing (I could have literally reached out and slapped him), I had to say something... get his attention and let him know how big a fan I truly was...say something...I had to...but what...umm...

You have to understand that the entire time span of when I first saw them walking towards me, recognized who it was, and spoke to them took place over about 5 seconds.

He was right in front of me.  I said the only thing I could think of.

"Gord!"

He stopped dead in his tracks, turned to me and looked me straight in the eye.

"Yes?" he said.

I froze. I was star-struck. I had never experienced this before. It was the first time I couldn't think of anything to say, but I had to say something. After all, he had actually stopped walking past me just to hear what I had to say...so what could I say? Hmmm....

And then it happened.  I spoke the only words that would come out...

"You rule."

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is what I said. That was the reason he had to stop. That was the important information I needed to tell him. Not, "I've been a really big fan of you guys for a long time."  Nope. Not even, "Hey, you guys are great!" Nope.  

You. Rule.

I don't say "you rule" to people...that's not how I talk, so what in the hell was I thinking?!?  You Rule?!?   FUCK!!!

Just hearing myself utter these ridiculous words to him made my ears start to ring...now what do I do?

Gord smiled at me, reached up with his right hand and patted me on the shoulder and said, "Thanks, man.", and they turned and walked away.

It was so weird. I was feeling excited, humiliated, happy, angry, all at the same time.  Then I felt bad that I didn't tell the guitar player (Rob Baker) that he also ruled. I mean, that wasn't fair at all. 

The rest of the night, which should have been amazing, was just fine. The game was incredible, close the entire night, the Leafs won in overtime, the place was going crazy, but I just couldn't stop hearing myself say those two stupid words, over and over. You rule.

So there it is. My truly humbling story of an unexpected meeting and an even more unexpected case of 'Starstruckitis'.

This reminds me, I still need to get their newest album, 'Now For Plan A', I hear it's good.

All for now.

G'day.

Bloggin' Tom Connors - The day I met The Legend.

About 15 (or more) years ago, I had the great pleasure of seeing Stompin' Tom Connors play live, and then meeting him after the show. There was a group of about 6 or 8 of us who made the trek to Hamilton Place to see the show. When you're going to see a Canadian legend sing his songs (pretty much every damn one) about Canada, it only seems appropriate that you have some pre-road trip, road trip, and pre-show beverages to get the party started. So we did. We're now all in our seats with about 10 minutes to go before show time, and two of our group (not naming names, Cully and Fully) decide that 10 minutes is plenty of time to get out of the auditorium, across the street and duck into a bar for one more pre-show beer. I warned that they'd never make it, but they countered with, "We've got loads of time for one beer, and worst case scenario, we miss a bit of the opening act." So away they went.

Ten minutes later, exactly on time, the house announcer says, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Stompin' Tom Connors!"

No opening act, and no sign of the thirsty travelers.

About twenty minutes into Tom's set,  there is some minor commotion at the end of my row, and it's the boys, returning from their one (or three) bottles that they had plenty of time for.  Now twenty minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but in the world of Stompin' Tom's music, they'd missed about 6 or 7 songs. If you're not familiar with his music, you need to know that Tom's songs usually clock in at about 2 1/2 minutes long. There is rarely a bridge or guitar solo to be found, and definitely no 10 minute long Gord Downey-like ramblings of obscurity.  It's usually verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse chorus, clap, next.

So after the boys get seated, Cully waits until the current song ends and the clapping stops to lean back in his seat, cup his hands to his mouth (for extra volume) and yells, "PLAY TILLSONBURG!"  Again, for the uninitiated, "Tillsonburg" is one of Tom's many iconic hits. It's about the toils of tobacco picking in a small SW Ontario town not far from our homes in Woodstock.  What a great suggestion...yes..we'd all like to hear that...again.  You see, Tom had just played that song just before the boys had returned from their drinks.  Needless to say, he got shot a few odd, and annoyed looks.  I leaned over and whispered Cully the bad news. He didn't request any more songs that day.

After the show, Fully was insistent that we stick around and see if he was coming out to meet his fans and maybe sign a few things, and I'm glad we did. About 15 minutes after the show, he came out to a small table that was set up near his merchandise, sat down and began meeting and signing.  When it was my turn, I handed him the free program that I received when I entered the hall and said, "It's an honour to meet you Mr. Connors. I've been listening to your music my entire life, my Dad had of some of your albums in our house"  He looked up at me after signing his photo on the front of the program, started shaking my hand and said, "Mr. Connors was my Dad's name, you can call me Tom." It was a simple, yet amazing moment for me. I had heard that old chestnut of "Mr. ____ was my Dad's name..."  many times before and since, but when he said it to me, it felt like he was the man that coined it.  When our exchange ended, I stepped aside and it was Fully's turn. He didn't have his program, he may have left it at the bar across the street, but he needed to get something signed.  He reached into his wallet, pulled out his fishing license and put it down in front of Tom.  Tom looked up smiling at Fully and said, "In all these years, this is the first time I've signed someone's fishing license!"  Strangely, I was surprised by that.

It was a great day, he was a great man, and an even Greater Canadian.

R.I.P, and thanks again for everything, Tom. 

There'll never be another one like you.

All for now.

G'day.

 

More crankiness, or, My ongoing list of things that should stop.

   Since starting this blog back up, I've realized that a lot of things bug me, and that putting them down here makes me feel a bit better by getting them off my chest, so I apologize in advance if you think I'm too critical of far too many things in life, but hey, if you think that, YOU just made the list!

 

    I'm calling today's installment "Audible Annoyances" and is an ongoing list that falls under the "Things I am tired of hearing" category.

 

   In light of today's openings of 3 Target stores in Fergus, Guelph and Milton, I've heard on the radio (CFRB AM1010) no less than 5 times today, someone calling it, "TAR-JAY" (with a soft "J" to make the word sound French). As my wife and I have friends who live in the U.S., we know that they've been calling it "Tarjay" for years, so it's hardly a new, or original idea. The very first time I heard the "joke", I got it, I may have even forced a smile as I had been to one of the stores and I get that saying it that way is a jokey attempt to 'class up the joint'. That being said...the joke is old. Very old. I've been hearing it for years now and it's no longer (or really was never) funny, clever, original, etc.  Now with the retail behemoth beginning it's Canadian onslaught today, I'm sure the joke will reach thousands of new ears for the first time, cause thousands of new half-smiles, but worst of all, cause thousands more to start saying, 'Tarjay', so they can be one of the fun bunch!  Yuck. The name of this American company about to wipe out even more small, independently owned and operated Canadian stores is Target, as in, "Fire one of your many, many guns at the target."  Oh wait, that last sentence just brought up two more HUGE blog topics for another day, so I digress, and will get beck to these topics at a later date.

 

All for now.

 

G'night.