Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Leafs


The going concern of Canadian hockey is and always will be...the maple leafs. Toronto controls our media and money so it should come as no surprise. I am not here to rehash these facts. I simply ask the question "Why are their fans such dickwads?"

I recently went to my first leaf game. Don't get me wrong, I have seen the leafs play more times than I would care to remember. After all, one has only to turn to channel 3 on any Saturday from October to March to be assaulted by their particular brand of mediocrity. No, this was my first LIVE leaf game and to say it was a leaf game is a bit of a misnomer. It was in fact a Canuck game versus the worst team in the NHL. The leafs.

The leafs have been near the bottom of the pack for 4 seasons now. Missing the playoffs, but never being low enough in the standings to acquire a blue chip prospect. They have cleaned house in both management and coaching. They have professed a commitment to rebuilding while trading away top draft picks for unproven talent, finally opening the door for true failure. Even the faithful CBC has revisited its unwavering support due to the unwatchable embarrassment on the ice.

So what's with the attitude? I can respect fans sticking with their team through the lean times. Hell I'm a Canuck fan. That's what we do. But these guys (and gals) are just loudmouth pricks! Is it just a case of over-compensation? Are leaf fans the short guy in the Ford F450 with the huge mudders and truck-nuts? Are they the fat girl with the sarcastic jibes that wears all black, attacking so they don't get hurt? Or are they just too stupid to know anything different?

I attended the game with my wife and 6 month old girl and I must admit it gave me a very different perspective on the afternoon's events. Had I not had my family in tow, I would have fully engaged in verbal jousting with the idiotic eastern throng, but having your daughter strapped to your chest has a way of calming you. I smiled in disbelief at the number of ignorant but vocal leaf fans amongst the Canuck faithful. It wasn't until an altercation in the beer lineup that my blood truly began to boil.

Being a fully attended game (sell out means nothing anymore) the concourse was packed between periods. Most everyone was courteous and respectful of the baby strapped to my chest but it was several leaf fans that bumped into me, shouted in my daughters face and scared her into bawling her eyes out. Some fat bitch actually asked me if I wanted to fight her after I told her to "watch the baby" as she steamrolled through the lines. Rude, obnoxious, self righteous, loud mouth pricks.

I, as a hockey fan and Canadian, refuse to discuss the leafs anymore. They are irrelevant. They do not deserve our love or hate. They deserve only disdain and indifference and their fans deserve even less.

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