*O.K., an exaggeration.
Ask any Leafs fan who the team's chief rival is, and they'll say the Canadiens even though we hate the Ottawa Senators more. To go to a game between the Leafs and the Habs, is a big deal (as much as going to a sporting event can be a big deal). The small detail that this game I was going to was on a Saturday night - Hockey Night in Canada - made the game more special.
My friend, who was to meet me at our seats in the Air Canada Centre, was running late. I spent most of the first period a Leafs fan among, Habs fans. This was the first time I've been to a game where the crowd was split in half between cheering for the home team and the away team.
Montreal supporters cheered loudly, and probably louder than the Leafs supporters. One of the complaints about Leafs fans is our inability to get excited. The ACC is a mostly quiet building when the Leafs play. There are exceptions (the best game I've ever been to), but the 39 years of disappointing, non-Stanley Cup years have quieted the crowd.
By the time my friend got to the game, she had missed the two goals the Leafs scored to build their 2-0 lead. In the second, we heard the last cheers from Habs fans this night when Montreal made it 2-1. The Leafs followed with two more goals. The Leafs won convincingly; the game wasn't memorable in terms of statistics.
But for a Leafs fan, seeing the team beat the Canadiens in person is a happy ending. What draws so many people to the team, is a bit of a mystery. The Leafs are a team about to mark a 40-year anniversary to futility. Last week, Dave Feschuk, a columnist at the Toronto Star, wrote on what makes people support the Leafs:
But anyone who understands sports knows the Leafs sell themselves on so many intangibles that can't be artificially reproduced, on memory and tradition and, perhaps most of all, on the hard-to-explain appeal of bang-your-head-against-the-wall masochism.
I'm not sure if what Feschuk wrote applies to my friend and me: We've never seen the Leafs win a cup, and our memories are of mostly spectacular failures. After the Canadiens lose to the Leafs, Habs fans are quick to say that Montreal has won more Cups, and that they saw Montreal win when they were alive.
But my friend said that it's easy to cheer for a champion; the real fans, she said, are the ones who are loyal even when the score is 4-1 for the other team.
1 comment:
"What makes people support the Leafs"
If you lived in Montreal - would you still be a Leafs fan?
I often wonder what makes people cheer for certain teams - let alone the team that plays for their city - even though most of the players themselves are not from the cities they play for!
"Hockey is my favourite TV show."
I have never really enjoyed watching hockey on TV. During the Christmas holidays I went to see the Leafs play Washington. Watching the game made me wish I was a professional hockey star!
Sometimes I just wish I was professional beach volleyball player. To play your favourite sport and get paid for it! That must be heaven. (Good thing I like the news!)
I would not have believed that Ovechkin is as great a player if I had not seen him for myself. The guy is a MONSTER! He was the first player on the ice and the most ferocious one out there.
I am also curious about soccer fans - let alone football hooligans. David Beckham's father was a HUGE Manchester United fan ... and raised his son to play for that team.
It would make an interesting article - about fans - and why the cheer the teams they do - and to what extent.
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