Your Emotional Investment

[Sens92]

Daily lurker, but a rare poster.

Over the last year the organization has struggled to say the least. Our owner has declared us a 'budget team', we lost our longest serving captain, we are on the verge losing his replacement, and the organization has made some questionable decisions (Most recently: The Greening/Phillips signings, and trading assets for Hemsky, a player who was expected to play with a player who now rumoured to be on the move).

Because of the way this organization has been managed over the last year, and our owners commitment to remaining a budget team, I am struggling to find the strength to renew my 21-year commitment to the team. Why would I want to emotionally invest in a team that doesn't seem to be commited to winning? Evidently, the direction the team is headed and the way assets are being manage, has led me to develop a certain resentment to the organization.

I'm curious as to whether other fans feel the same way...Are you losing interest and the will to emotionally invest in this team?

(Note: I've been a fan since the day I was born, and I only miss about 5-10 games a year - I consider myself a die-hard)

Click to read more...

 

[Proust*]

Alfredsson leaving and management/ownership has put me close to the brink.

As you get older, other (more important things) will start filling up your life... family, work etc.

 

[Sens92]

Absolutely... Honestly if this organization was headed in a different direction, I wouldn't even have thought about this. After watching the LA Kings and Chicago duke it out in the WCF, I couldn't but get the feeling that those teams were in a different league... On a budget close to the cap-floor, we will not be able to compete.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

....

I'm curious as to whether other fans feel the same way...Are you losing interest and the will to emotionally invest in this team?

....

Not at all. Despite not making the playoffs, I found many of the games entertaining and certainly the games I attended I felt I got my moneys worth.

I don't believe the team is likely to contend for the Stanley Cup any time soon, but I haven't believed that for awhile anyway.

As long as their is a steady stream of young players coming thru, they will still be entertaining.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Nope. I love hockey, and spending the first two decades of my life rooting for teams outside the city and desperately wishing Ottawa had a team to root for, it's just not possible for me not to have an emotional investment in the hometown team.

 

[John Holmes*]

This is pro sports. If you're not committed to winning, what is the point?

We know Melnyk is full of ****.

Why should anyone invest their time and money in a team that won't allow itself to compete?

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

We stopped our large package of seasons when the team hit rock bottom (the rebuild time). We've since got smallish ticket purchases (Flex 10 or 20) and sometimes just individual game tickets.

My emotional investment is at an all-time low at the moment. Storied captain leaving, most recent captain leaving, promising forward with chemistry leaving, owner cheap as all get out, GM passing around Kool Aid telling us every prospect is a budding Hall of Famer.

We need a change at the top. A real change would be Melnyk selling, but just an outside hire for a GM would be ideal.

 

[The Fuhr*]

I felt like that a year after BM took over... Now I don't even care... I follow the team cause I have since 95 when I started watching hockey but emotionally I don't really care about them.

I'm sure when BM moves on the passion for the team will be rekindled

 

[John Holmes*]

Murray sucks enough when he has free reign.

With his pockets empty, his suckitude is immeasurable.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

As long as the team plays hard I can stomach ownership giving us the finger

That's why this past season was especially hard: the team just plain sucked. Not that didn't have enough talent: they were just continuously out-worked by the opposition and that's not fun to watch

I'm managing expectations: I was super pumped for this season after the shortened season and was completely crushed. Now I expect the team to be horrible and, if by some miracle they don't, I will be happy about it!

Ownership is a real drag for sure but I'm still hoping that this is going to be temporary: I'll give Melnyk some more time to show that's he serious about building a competitive hockey team

 

[Ice-Tray]

I love my Sens, and realize that there are cycles for teams. Many forget, or weren't old enough to watch, but we've been one of the most successful franchises in terms of play off appearances in the last 15 years or so.

We finally decided to rebuild and so it will be a process to get back to consistent winning (even though we've made the playoffs twice in our rebuild so far).

Patience and an understanding of the overarching situation allows one to be passionate and emotionally invested in the team, without freaking out at every loss, and scapegoating players with hate and vitriol.

We're not supposed to be winning a ton of games right now, nor are we supposed to be spending a ton of money. Both of those will come once our young haul from the rebuild draft years blossom. So for now expectations should be set lower to a more reasonable level.

Instead, so many expect a winner, a cap team, and the moon with whipped cream, and are justifiably disappointed over and over again. Rampant speculation becomes fact, and then the lore on which opinions are built.

I guess with age comes a smidgen of wisdom, and when applied here leads me to never jump to conclusions based on rumours, not to get emotional over situations I can't control, and not to expect players to be something they're not. Finally, the media's job is to produce and disseminate rumour and conjecture to whip up fan frenzy, and to drum up readership and conversation, NOT to provide fair, balanced, and calm discussions on factual issues.

One thing this board does a good job at illustrating, is the diverse set of opinions of the team. How there can be some many passionate fans of a team that view it and it's peripherals so differently. So many stances defended on so many issues, it's fascinating. We can have such disdain for each others' views sometimes, or in general, yet we're all supportive of this team and the vision we have of its success.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Everyone who posts on the Sens board has an emotional investment with the team...whether you guys want to admit it to yourselves or not.

People saying I don't care is just another way of saying how hurt/angry/disappointed/perplexed they are in what's happening with the team right now.

The way things are trending right now really sucks and there's nothing we can do about it. But, we still have some good kids to watch and nothing beats having an NHL team in the city.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Everyone who posts on the Sens board has an emotional investment with the team...whether you guys want to admit it to yourselves or not.

People saying I don't care is just another way of saying how hurt/angry/disappointed/perplexed they are in what's happening with the team right now.

The way things are trending right now really sucks and there's nothing we can do about it. But, we still have some good kids to watch and nothing beats having an NHL team in the city.

Agreed

 

[Alfie#11]

Alfredsson leaving and management/ownership has put me close to the brink.

As you get older, other (more important things) will start filling up your life... family, work etc.

Sort of agree with this. As I get older, hockey matters less overall.

That being said, right now my investment is high as I am super po'ed at the state of my favourite team.

If we continue to be a budget team going forward (by that I mean bottom 5 type spending every year), I imagine I will lose interest.

I have no desire to re-visit the Bryden years. If this market can't financially support a competitive team then move it. I won't cheer for a team that can't win just because it's from my home town.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Everyone who posts on the Sens board has an emotional investment with the team...whether you guys want to admit it to yourselves or not.

People saying I don't care is just another way of saying how hurt/angry/disappointed/perplexed they are in what's happening with the team right now.

The way things are trending right now really sucks and there's nothing we can do about it. But, we still have some good kids to watch and nothing beats having an NHL team in the city.

Excellently said. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be here EVERY DAY telling us how much you don't care. Despite claiming you cheer for the Coyotes.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Good thing you're not a Cubs fan.

I have no problems staying emotionally invested in the team, as you get older things do get in the way where maybe you cannot watch as much, but the emotion is still there. Everyone is all doom and gloom on here and I just find it funny more than anything. I just hope people aren't as negative about life as they are about the Sens on here; it makes for a pretty crappy existence.

Maybe give it another year or two of being a non-playoff team before you lose your commitment. Besides building from the expansion era, this is really the worst downside we've had for our franchise, that ain't too shabby actually.

 

[The Fuhr*]

Excellently said. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be here EVERY DAY telling us how much you don't care. Despite claiming you cheer for the Coyotes.

I spent more time posting on the Sens board then actually watching the Sens this past season... Cause the team is so painful to watch

 

[John Holmes*]

Making the playoffs and then getting slapped around like children 12 of 15 times is supposed to make me feel lucky?

Sorry, that is not success, regardless of how you spin it.

 

[Samsquanch]

This was the first year in 10 years that I really took a bit of a step backwards as a fan of the team and hockey in general. 10 years ago I wouldnt have missed more than 1 or 2 games all year. I missed a few dozen by the time this season was over.

Im sure getting older has something to do with it (almost 29 now), but truthfully it all boils down to the fact that I cant stand watching something that depresses the hell out of me.

The Sens have unfortunately become akin to that Leprosy commercial; I'd rather just switch the channel when it comes on the TV. Its just easier that way. Sounds awful but its true.

My job is stressful enough as it is, and hockey is no longer an escape from thoses daily stresses for me.

I'll always be a Sens fan, and Im sure my interest levels will eventually go back up again, but gone are the days of me blowing off friends/family/events just to get the game in. Hockey has taken the back seat to my life, which is probably a good thing

 

[John Holmes*]

If Melnyk is going to operate a cap floor team, he may as well move them.

 

[Johnny Hanson]

I watch every game because I love hockey and who doesn't want to see their home team do well? Having said that, a sens loss doesn't affect my mood negatively or Murray trading a 3rd and a 5th for a short but sweet Hemsky stay doesn't make me want to cheer for the predators instead.

I know alot of posters here are young and might not remember the team not being here. Enjoy what we have because you don't know what you have til it's gone. 29 teams a year don't win the cup. Murray is not a magician. Some gambles haven't paid off. The direction this team is going is great and I can't wait for October. Until then, though, ill be cheering for those blue jays

 

[Busboy]

You get what you want out of the experience.

If all you care about is winning and spending big then cheer for another team and move on.

Our team on average has performed better than many in the league.

We have a young core and one of the most exciting players in the league.

If you can't find anything to cheer for and instead want to dwell on the realities of a small market club then that's your choice.

 

[Suiteness]

My interest dipped when Bryan Murray was handed the keys to the rebuild. Thought we would finally free of his mismanagement, patchwork crapfest and that a few painful years would lead to sweeter days in the end.

With Murray still fully in charge, the organisation is still a poster child of mismanagement. Improvisation is still the guideline for this franchise, no hint of long-term planning it's a big pile of throwing s#$% at the wall and see what sticks.

The worst part? Murray is GM for life, no hope of the owner finally clearing the deck and bringing fresh faces in. We sit and we wait sadly.

 

[John Holmes*]

You get what you want out of the experience.

If all you care about is winning and spending big then cheer for another team and move on.

Our team on average has performed better than many in the league.

We have a young core and one of the most exciting players in the league.

If you can't find anything to cheer for and instead want to dwell on the realities of a small market club then that's your choice.

Oh nice...the cost per point argument.

Our team has been a gigantic disappointment for almost its' entire existence.

Everybody cares about winning. What kind of fan says something like that?

Nobody on this board has ever advocated "spending big" either.

The reality is we're not a poor, small market team. We are just being run like one because our owner has either watched Moneyball too many times, or is punishing the city for not giving him what he wants.

That's the casino thing.

I don't suppose you are employed by the team in some capacity?

What an odd series of sentences to come from a fan.

 

[Flip_4]

I was a Montreal fan before the Sens came to town...I NEVER EVER thought there was a chance that Ottawa would get a franchise.

There was no doubt in my mind that I would become a Sens fan as soon as I found out Ottawa was trying to get a team. Then it happened and I was ecstatic.

I've been a HUGE fan ever since the day we were awarded the franchise and that is not going to change at any point.

Yes, they have disappointed me on many occasions, but what fans can't say that about their team? I'm not enchanted by some of the decisions or happenings around the team, but that's certainly not enough to convince me to drop the team I've been cheering for for 20+ years.

I understand the arguments ppl are bringing forward, but they just aren't anywhere near enough to convince me to not be emotionally invested anymore.

Sure, I don't watch ALL the games, but I have season tickets and rarely miss a home game...I'll drive in from Orleans even in bad weather.

I might drop the season tickets (due to financial reasons), but never the emotional investment. I would hate to see this team leave the city.