Watching Leafs Blow: Why I Love Toronto

So. Hockey. I would watch it over any sport. Hell, any other TV show really. I have lost women over this passion, and frankly I don't care. THe game is the game. And, like all other sports fans, I have a team. It happens to be the Toronto Maple Leafs, widely regarded as one of the most die hard fan bases in hockey; indeed, the Leafs Collective is up there amongst the most rabid groups in all professional sports.

Here's the thing though: The Leafs are terrible. They haven't won the whole pie (also known as The Stanley Cup) since the 1963-64 season. They used to be a force to be reckoned with, but have been known all over as the joke team. They also have huge opposition: if you don't like the leafs, you HATE the leafs. Toronto's sports teams are all owned by the Ontario Teacher's Union, so they don't care if they win or lose as long as the fans keep buying merchandise. So there's a multitude of obstructions as to why any sane human such as myself would ever root for an essentially lost cause, especially as I have been living out on the Wet Coast for 5 years, where Luongo and his men run wild.

The answer is simple; it's in my blood. I am a fan because of all the shitty seasons I have endured. Because whenever we win, I feel elated. I have accepted the fact that the Leafs are very unlikely to win the Cup in my lifetime, and so, when we win, it brings a moment of triumph into our lives. Out here in Whistler, and in fact anywhere in Canada, Leafs fans endure some serious abuse from other fans… As such, we form a bond, a giant unit that meet at Brandy's, or Tapley's, or anywhere showing the game. Through our quasi-masochism of religiously cheering for the underdog of underdogs, we all cry into our beers as a family, and celebrate (less often) as a drunken mob. We are everywhere, cooking your food, making your drinks, cleaning your house, and getting you on the hill. And we all know each other.

That, friends, is why I will bleed blue and white until my dying breath. When they finally attain the unattainable, I will be driving that wagon that all of the Senators, Habs, and Red Wings fans will be jumping on.