Bah!
I go away and spend ONE weekend without cable, and this is how the Hockey Gods repay me?
Fuckers.
I had actually gotten myself into a position where I was hoping for an OT win by the Leafs so that both Montreal and Toronto would make the playoffs.
Why? Well, Montreal making it is obvious: They're my team. But somehow this season I've begun to NOT actively hate the Leafs. I've even stopped doing that (sic) thing to bemoan the fact that the plural of Leaf would be Leaves... but that's neither here nor there, and may or may not be slightly based on laziness.
How is such a transformation possible, you ask? Well, part of it is that DC has gotten me into listening to The FAN 590 (Toronto Sportstalk Radio) in the car, and well.... it's hard not to know about the Leafs under those circumstances, ignoring the fact that I live in Toronto and am inundated daily with Leaf-Hype. Through this, I have actually started to develop strong feelings about how this mess in Blue and White can be fixed. Aside from the obvious "I wouldn't have signed [McCabe/Kaberle/Kubina] to that stupid contract"-type stuff, and having come to the realization that most Leaf fans are so irrational that while they would admit that Sundin isn't the player he was, and even now trading him (a la Ryan Smyth) for prospects and/or draft picks would be selling low (two years ago would have been ideal, and perhaps would have the team back on the right track by now), they'd rather not. They'd rather see him retire as a Leaf, even to the detriment of the team. Whatever...
The point is: The above moves have handcuffed management to the point that they HAVE to do what they should have been doing for years, but Quinn refused to do. That is, play the kids. And you know what? They're not awful. Between the Wellwoods, Stajans and Pohls of the world, I don't see a single "typical Leaf" that I used to hate (see: Domi, Tie or Tucker, Darcy). I can see that Raycroft is just a band-aid solution until Pogge is ready. Despite the fact that they wildly overpaid for them, I don't mind McCabe as long as you pair him with a stay-at-home type (which I don't think the Leafs have - no, Gill does not count - but that's a situation that can be rectified in the off season), and Kaberle is actually playing like he deserved to get a nice contract, but still... not THAT nice...... I can't rationally discuss Kubina, but that was most due to JFJ's untenable situation. He panicked, and he screwed up. Every GM does it now and then, but yikes... send him away, and pay some or even most of his salary to play somewhere else. Get him away before he infects the younger players with his crappiness.
So while I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a Leaf fan (I think I just threw up in my mouth just from typing those words in the same sentence), I'm at least starting to get to the fringes of the "My Second Favourite Team is Whoever is Playing the Leafs" camp.
Okay, now I just feel dirty....
Fuckers.
I had actually gotten myself into a position where I was hoping for an OT win by the Leafs so that both Montreal and Toronto would make the playoffs.
Why? Well, Montreal making it is obvious: They're my team. But somehow this season I've begun to NOT actively hate the Leafs. I've even stopped doing that (sic) thing to bemoan the fact that the plural of Leaf would be Leaves... but that's neither here nor there, and may or may not be slightly based on laziness.
How is such a transformation possible, you ask? Well, part of it is that DC has gotten me into listening to The FAN 590 (Toronto Sportstalk Radio) in the car, and well.... it's hard not to know about the Leafs under those circumstances, ignoring the fact that I live in Toronto and am inundated daily with Leaf-Hype. Through this, I have actually started to develop strong feelings about how this mess in Blue and White can be fixed. Aside from the obvious "I wouldn't have signed [McCabe/Kaberle/Kubina] to that stupid contract"-type stuff, and having come to the realization that most Leaf fans are so irrational that while they would admit that Sundin isn't the player he was, and even now trading him (a la Ryan Smyth) for prospects and/or draft picks would be selling low (two years ago would have been ideal, and perhaps would have the team back on the right track by now), they'd rather not. They'd rather see him retire as a Leaf, even to the detriment of the team. Whatever...
The point is: The above moves have handcuffed management to the point that they HAVE to do what they should have been doing for years, but Quinn refused to do. That is, play the kids. And you know what? They're not awful. Between the Wellwoods, Stajans and Pohls of the world, I don't see a single "typical Leaf" that I used to hate (see: Domi, Tie or Tucker, Darcy). I can see that Raycroft is just a band-aid solution until Pogge is ready. Despite the fact that they wildly overpaid for them, I don't mind McCabe as long as you pair him with a stay-at-home type (which I don't think the Leafs have - no, Gill does not count - but that's a situation that can be rectified in the off season), and Kaberle is actually playing like he deserved to get a nice contract, but still... not THAT nice...... I can't rationally discuss Kubina, but that was most due to JFJ's untenable situation. He panicked, and he screwed up. Every GM does it now and then, but yikes... send him away, and pay some or even most of his salary to play somewhere else. Get him away before he infects the younger players with his crappiness.
So while I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a Leaf fan (I think I just threw up in my mouth just from typing those words in the same sentence), I'm at least starting to get to the fringes of the "My Second Favourite Team is Whoever is Playing the Leafs" camp.
Okay, now I just feel dirty....
posted by Iain @ 9:32 AM
4 Comments:
At 12:30 PM,
Anonymous said…
Don't worry, you will get use to that dirty feeling. It feels better every time you give into your dark side.
At 12:32 PM,
Anonymous said…
Oh yeah.. I am going to warn your as a friend.
Don't be a Leafs fan.
I am one and I hate being one. It's like being in an bad relationship. They promise they will change their way every year. Guess what? They come back with the same old crap that breaks your heart every game.
At 12:49 PM,
The Peach said…
You could always come onboard as a Sens Fan. I find them to be quite a satisfying lover.
At 1:03 PM,
Iain said…
Hm. Let's not get ahead of ourselves....
I'm still a Habs fan, I'm just not jumping off a friggin' bridge because they missed the playoffs (again). It has become old news. But they've still won two Stanley Cups in my life time (one of which I even remember watching!), and went to another final that I also got to watch.
My point was that I don't actively hate the Leafs anymore.
Also, there are inherent issues with being a Sens fan in Toronto. Not the least of which being the fact that most Sens fans hate you due to the mere fact your phone number starts with 416. I used to cheer for the Sens for being the "NotLeafs", but to cheer for them independently would be something I'd have to think about....
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