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.
No comments:
Post a Comment