Do you ever get sick of being a TML Fan?

[MJ65]

Over 20 years - sick of maple leafs (never) but I do get frustrated at times

 

[HarryLime]

2001-2002 was the first season I was into it. I was a fan though in like 2000ish but didn't watch if that makes sense.

born in 1993

 

[BozakKadriKessel]

I've been watching the leafs since I was abt 6 years old so that gets me a fan since 1998, but from the time I was born I have been dressed in the blue and white logo anywhere from baby clothes to now having the great leafs of my time pictures, jerseys, memorabilia etc hanging in my shed for everyone to see. With every leafs game my friends and I gather have a few drinks and either cheer in glee, or shout in disgust but nothing changes, we get together no matter the result for the next game and this ritual I love. The team no matter how bad they do I will always love and cheer until I turn blue in the face. The best thing from late was that short playoff run we made against the bruins, my entire town was on wheels and it's just the nature , the fun and the importnace behind supporting and following something u love. Despite the lack of success I am proud to be a leafs fan through good times and bad.

Like I tell all my friends there is not a girl in the world that can break your heart like the leafs can. But in the end it's good having this passion and continue as u get older, It's what I remember having as a kid and keep doing so. Great team, great fanbase.

 

[rojac]

At the VERY LEAST the team should be booed off the ice after every loss. Hell, even after every win.
That's the very least that should be happening.
In the ideal world, leaf fans would simply stop going to the games. Would end their subscriptions to leafs TV. Would stop buying jerseys. Those that do show up would throw MILLIONS of waffles on the ice (not during game play of course).
In fact, I think leaf fans should start a trend of throwing their JERSEYS on the ice. Show management JUST how fed up we are.

Or you know, they could act like adults rather than petulant children. If cheering for the Leafs makes you unhappy, stop cheering for the Leafs. In my mind, it makes no sense to keep cheering for the Leafs if you don't enjoy it.

If you're unhappy in your marriage, wouldn't you consider divorce?
If you're unhappy in your job, wouldn't you consider getting a new one?
If you're unhappy with your religion, wouldn't you consider converting or giving up religion altogether?


'

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

Or you know, they could act like adults rather than petulant children. If cheering for the Leafs makes you unhappy, stop cheering for the Leafs. In my mind, it makes no sense to keep cheering for the Leafs if you don't enjoy it.

If you're unhappy in your marriage, wouldn't you consider divorce?
If you're unhappy in your job, wouldn't you consider getting a new one?
If you're unhappy with your religion, wouldn't you consider converting or giving up religion altogether?
'

If i was unhappy with my marriage I would just boo my wife all the time as she did things around the house until she became a better wife.
Ok... fine. Maybe that strategy wouldn't work well in that situation.

But when Chicago (an original six big hockey city) was run by incompetent ownership/management, I don't think their fans were acting like "petulant children" when most just simply lost interest. And that's what should happen when your team is DISGRACEFUL!!!! And the richest team in the league being the worst over a 10 freaking year stretch... we're well past when we should have lost interest.

I find this entire thread very disturbing.
Everyone talking about how they're such passionate fans and all... yet completely complacent and apathetic about how terrible the team's been.

And that's what really really frustrates me. Because I think that specific fan apathy/complacency as shown in this thread is a MAJOR part of the problem.
If we all actually lost interest like Chicago fans did, maybe it would give MLSE more of an incentive to actually do things PROPERLY without band-aid short-term focused solutions.

But that's not going to happen. So boo them. Throw waffles. Show our frustration in the ways we can. Just please... PLEASE... end the apathetic complacency.

 

[Leafspoison*]

Its a love hate relationship. I love hating them.

ps. MOD

 

[AINEC*]

I'm sick of them usually every spring, but I come around in time for the next season. It's a pretty unhealthy cycle.

 

[Northernguy10]

If i was unhappy with my marriage I would just boo my wife all the time as she did things around the house until she became a better wife.
Ok... fine. Maybe that strategy wouldn't work well in that situation.

But when Chicago (an original six big hockey city) was run by incompetent ownership/management, I don't think their fans were acting like "petulant children" when most just simply lost interest. And that's what should happen when your team is DISGRACEFUL!!!! And the richest team in the league being the worst over a 10 freaking year stretch... we're well past when we should have lost interest.

I find this entire thread very disturbing.
Everyone talking about how they're such passionate fans and all... yet completely complacent and apathetic about how terrible the team's been.

And that's what really really frustrates me. Because I think that specific fan apathy/complacency as shown in this thread is a MAJOR part of the problem.
If we all actually lost interest like Chicago fans did, maybe it would give MLSE more of an incentive to actually do things PROPERLY without band-aid short-term focused solutions.

But that's not going to happen. So boo them. Throw waffles. Show our frustration in the ways we can. Just please... PLEASE... end the apathetic complacency.

... I 100% agree... Well said.

 

[Tak7]

I get sick of other Leaf fans. We are the most hypocritical, worst fan base in pro sports.

And I do get absolutely angered and frustrated being a Leaf fan (who wouldn't after watching 2 decades of what we've gone through?)

But never "sick" to the point where I'm done with the team, although my detest for the organization reached an entirely new level after last season's collapse.

 

[Kb21]

Yes but I know I will never stop supporting them. Just need a break from all the years of losing now and again.

 

[LV*]

I just wanna win

 

[Budsfan]

I do think the Leafs are headed in the right direction, I have been a fan much longer than I think anyone here and have seen some great hockey and some pretty bad hockey but I'm a dyed in the wool Leaf fan forever and that won't change and every year hope springs eternal and that maybe this year is the year my beloved Leafs will once again get their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.

So take it for what is worth, that we may be on the right track with Shanahan.....

Brendan Shanahan has made Maple Leafs bulletproof (Trending Topics)

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...s-bulletproof--trending-topics-210214871.html

Hiring Brendan Shanahan earlier in the offseason to be team president marked a big change for the organization that had previously stood by Nonis and Carlyle's decisions, no matter how questionable. Where before there was little accountability, it's already been made clear that the buck — of which the Leafs have more than any other NHL team — stops with Shanahan, effectively rendering Nonis an assistant GM who gets to put in his input just like everyone else, but doesn't have a ton of say beyond that. Like Greg Sherman in Colorado, he's apparently GM in name only.

Shanahan promised changes would be made, and they came quickly and harshly. All of Carlyle's assistants were fired. Two assistant GMs went not long after that. It was unclear, however, what would come next. And that was Shanahan's real stroke of genius: He hired 28-year-old Kyle Dubas, previously general manager of the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, to be an assistant GM.

Perhaps the most vocal critics of the Leafs' performance over the last few years was the dreaded and long-derided “advanced stats community,†who viewed the Leafs more or less as a living referendum on the efficacy of the believes they'd been espousing for years. About possession, about the usefulness of the enforcers Carlyle insisted on dressing every night, about zone entries and exits, and about forechecking schemes that maximize turnovers before the other team gets to the red line. All the data these people compiled basically said that the Leafs were always going to fail under Carlyle's “system,†and every time the Leafs lost — which was often — there were a lot of told-you-sos flying around. Every time they won, there followed a lot of yes-buts.

 

[IBeL34f]

I think a lot of people here, particularly some of the more negative voices, are confusing the people behind the Toronto Maple Leafs with the Toronto Maple Leafs. MLSE is not the Maple Leafs. Tim Leiweke is not the Maple Leafs. Brendan Shanahan, Dave Nonis, Kyle Dubas are not the Maple Leafs. Nor are Carlyle, Spott or Horachek. Or even Kessel, Phaneuf, Rielly, Kadri, Bernier, Nylander, whoever, really. They are temporary. They will be traded, or retire, or sign elsewhere, or get fired. But the Toronto Maple Leafs will still be there, until there isn't an NHL to be in anymore. The Blue and White will never go away so long as hockey exists. I bleed blue, and always will. My being a fan has nothing to do with who runs the team or who plays for the team, how well or how poorly the team plays. So, while yes, I may get frustrated at the losing, or the coaching, or the players, I can't ever stop being a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

[TheOneArmedMan]

Or you know, they could act like adults rather than petulant children. If cheering for the Leafs makes you unhappy, stop cheering for the Leafs. In my mind, it makes no sense to keep cheering for the Leafs if you don't enjoy it.

If you're unhappy in your marriage, wouldn't you consider divorce?
If you're unhappy in your job, wouldn't you consider getting a new one?
If you're unhappy with your religion, wouldn't you consider converting or giving up religion altogether?


'

You know the Blackhawks used to be so bad before now and people stopped going to their games, buying merchandise because they were bad. Management noticed this and needed to make changes. Look at where the Hawks are now.

Toronto needs to do the same thing to send a message. The team has been so bad for so long.

I don't even think we will make the playoffs next season either. The team has the talent they just need to be extremely consistant. Only thing we have going for us is possibly good goaltending in Bernier. This team hasn't had this quality goaltending since Potvin.

I'm just sick of this corporate bullcrap controlling the team. Richest team in the League and they can't even win any championships.

 

[varano]

I think a lot of people here, particularly some of the more negative voices, are confusing the people behind the Toronto Maple Leafs with the Toronto Maple Leafs. MLSE is not the Maple Leafs. Tim Leiweke is not the Maple Leafs. Brendan Shanahan, Dave Nonis, Kyle Dubas are not the Maple Leafs. Nor are Carlyle, Spott or Horachek. Or even Kessel, Phaneuf, Rielly, Kadri, Bernier, Nylander, whoever, really. They are temporary. They will be traded, or retire, or sign elsewhere, or get fired. But the Toronto Maple Leafs will still be there, until there isn't an NHL to be in anymore. The Blue and White will never go away so long as hockey exists. I bleed blue, and always will. My being a fan has nothing to do with who runs the team or who plays for the team, how well or how poorly the team plays. So, while yes, I may get frustrated at the losing, or the coaching, or the players, I can't ever stop being a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

You have to understand that what you're saying is that you're happy being a complete and utter loser and an embarrassment. Being a leaf fan does not symbolize the things that being a Wings fan, or Habs fan does. It symbolizes being a loser.

Thats why people hate management and ownership. We all work hard and buy merch and support a team owned by people who have no will to put a good product out for us. In essence, The leafs are run the same way that Bell and Rogers run. They try to squeeze every dollar from you for service that sucks, and you have to accept it because theyre pretty much the only game in town.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Personally, no. I've been a fan since 1995 when I moved here. Still going strong.

 

[rojac]

You have to understand that what you're saying is that you're happy being a complete and utter loser and an embarrassment. Being a leaf fan does not symbolize the things that being a Wings fan, or Habs fan does. It symbolizes being a loser.

Thats why people hate management and ownership. We all work hard and buy merch and support a team owned by people who have no will to put a good product out for us. In essence, The leafs are run the same way that Bell and Rogers run. They try to squeeze every dollar from you for service that sucks, and you have to accept it because theyre pretty much the only game in town.

To me, it symbolizes cheering for a losing team. That doesn't make YOU a loser. Because that makes absolutely no sense. Because if that is true, then somebody who randomly picked the Los Angeles Kings to be a fan of would be a winner. And that's just dumb.

 

[rojac]

You know the Blackhawks used to be so bad before now and people stopped going to their games, buying merchandise because they were bad. Management noticed this and needed to make changes. Look at where the Hawks are now.

Toronto needs to do the same thing to send a message. The team has been so bad for so long.

I don't even think we will make the playoffs next season either. The team has the talent they just need to be extremely consistant. Only thing we have going for us is possibly good goaltending in Bernier. This team hasn't had this quality goaltending since Potvin.

I'm just sick of this corporate bullcrap controlling the team. Richest team in the League and they can't even win any championships.

Really, I thought the change in the Hawks management was more a side-product of Bill Wirz's death.

Another spoiled brat who only wants to cheer for a winning team. Wouldn't you be much happier just picking one of the teams each year that is favored to win the cup and cheer for them?

 

[IBeL34f]

You have to understand that what you're saying is that you're happy being a complete and utter loser and an embarrassment. Being a leaf fan does not symbolize the things that being a Wings fan, or Habs fan does. It symbolizes being a loser.

Thats why people hate management and ownership. We all work hard and buy merch and support a team owned by people who have no will to put a good product out for us. In essence, The leafs are run the same way that Bell and Rogers run. They try to squeeze every dollar from you for service that sucks, and you have to accept it because theyre pretty much the only game in town.

Did you read my post? I don't cheer for ownership or management, I cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs. All of the owners or managers or coaches or players are representations of the Toronto Maple Leafs, a revolving door of snapshots in the team's history. Some players and figureheads I like, and some I don't. Some help the team, some don't. There's a difference, or at least there should be, between being frustrated with management and no longer being a fan. A lot of people here, you included it seems, don't seem to get that.

 

[crump]

As I kid I loved watching the Leafs. Especially when they had Roger Neilson as their coach.


Now after watching it. I have to say, overall the league is player for player more skilled, fast and exciting to watch. I haven't seen anyone come close to Orr though. Individuals stood out more back then because you had a lot of plugs that would be in beer leagues today. Still the discrepancy between skill led to exciting play, and some real bonehead play.

I enjoy watching it now because everyone is at least close in talent.

 

[nussell]

We're fans of the one of the greatest sports teams, in the world!

Be proud! Delete this thread!

Agreed. I'm getting sick of coming on hear and seeing all the post about are we sick of being leaf fans. NO i love the leafs and the sport of hockey. All you fans that want to jump ship go now and don't look back because i'm sick of read all you dumbass threads.

 

[hockeyfanz*]

... I 100% agree... Well said.

+1...

I guess people really don't understand the power of the mighty dollar. Stop giving corporations your money and they make change pretty quickly. How long did it take Coke to scrap the "New Coke" when their customers revolted and had a tantrum.

When it comes to the Leafs, they seem to make money pretty well but thats all they seem to do well. Is it really because the people they employ are incompetent fools?

Or is there more to it? The actual philosophy of the organization is rotten to the core. Perhaps their focus has been misguided?

Or are they just jinxed? I don't know but its hard to believe that an organization can be so inept for so long AND still be the most profitable franchise in the union. So we know they are not dumb....thats for certain.

Perhaps only the paying public is dumb?

 

[Pilky01]

You have to understand that what you're saying is that you're happy being a complete and utter loser and an embarrassment. Being a leaf fan does not symbolize the things that being a Wings fan, or Habs fan does. It symbolizes being a loser.

Thats why people hate management and ownership. We all work hard and buy merch and support a team owned by people who have no will to put a good product out for us. In essence, The leafs are run the same way that Bell and Rogers run. They try to squeeze every dollar from you for service that sucks, and you have to accept it because theyre pretty much the only game in town.

Really, I thought the change in the Hawks management was more a side-product of Bill Wirz's death.

Another spoiled brat who only wants to cheer for a winning team. Wouldn't you be much happier just picking one of the teams each year that is favored to win the cup and cheer for them?

Yep. The Hawks turnaround had absolutely nothing to do with fan backlash and everything to do with a terrible owner who finally kicked the bucket.

As far as I am concerned, if being a Leaf fan symbolizes anything it is that you are a genuine hockey fan and that you value loyalty. Ya, real "loser" virtues.

 

[Daisy Jane]

I think a lot of people here, particularly some of the more negative voices, are confusing the people behind the Toronto Maple Leafs with the Toronto Maple Leafs. MLSE is not the Maple Leafs. Tim Leiweke is not the Maple Leafs. Brendan Shanahan, Dave Nonis, Kyle Dubas are not the Maple Leafs. Nor are Carlyle, Spott or Horachek. Or even Kessel, Phaneuf, Rielly, Kadri, Bernier, Nylander, whoever, really. They are temporary. They will be traded, or retire, or sign elsewhere, or get fired. But the Toronto Maple Leafs will still be there, until there isn't an NHL to be in anymore. The Blue and White will never go away so long as hockey exists. I bleed blue, and always will. My being a fan has nothing to do with who runs the team or who plays for the team, how well or how poorly the team plays. So, while yes, I may get frustrated at the losing, or the coaching, or the players, I can't ever stop being a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Exactly. I think a lot of sports now is all about the name on the back not the crest on the front. It always makes me raise an eyebrow when people go "if this player is traded/signed/not kept I will NO LONGER BE A LEAF FAN" as if that's what makes them Leafs, and it isn't. they're like a moment in time.

Like my friend asked me once if I ever wished instead of Mats scoring the goal in overtime if it was Ottawa (because at least they had a cup final, etc etc) and I said no. Never I'm glad Mats scored the goal, I'm glad i sat down and read the history (I may have forgotten a chunk of it) and everything about the team. the Leafs aren't just about the players on the ice - but they're part of the fabric of time. People may hate this certain part of the fabric, but in a few years we'll have a new swatch to work with.

 

[Stats01]

Exactly. I think a lot of sports now is all about the name on the back not the crest on the front. It always makes me raise an eyebrow when people go "if this player is traded/signed/not kept I will NO LONGER BE A LEAF FAN" as if that's what makes them Leafs, and it isn't. they're like a moment in time.

Like my friend asked me once if I ever wished instead of Mats scoring the goal in overtime if it was Ottawa (because at least they had a cup final, etc etc) and I said no. Never I'm glad Mats scored the goal, I'm glad i sat down and read the history (I may have forgotten a chunk of it) and everything about the team. the Leafs aren't just about the players on the ice - but they're part of the fabric of time. People may hate this certain part of the fabric, but in a few years we'll have a new swatch to work with.

I totally agree, it's part of the reason why I don't agree with the whole idea that somehow the Cups won in the "40's and 50's somehow mean less than Cups being won now. People on these forums have said Cups won before you were alive shouldn't be honoured or counted..which is totally wrong IMO. Part of the fabric of the Leafs are the 13 Cups this franchise as won in it's history. It's part of the reason this team is followed by so many people and loved by so many people because the love of this team from it's inception has been passed down from family generation to family generation. The Love has never gone away it's just been mixed in with a lot more frustration over the years. Right now the piece of fabric that is being sown right now is not a good patch but I do remember when there was a very good patch from the late 90's to the early to mid 2000's when this team was consistently making the playoffs (6 years in a row), they were consistently getting to the 2nd round and had a couple of appearances in the ECF. I remember in May 2002, Mats Sundin scoring with 26.8 seconds left in Game 6 of the ECF against Carolina it was the best feeling I've ever had as a fan to this day (I'm 27). Teams go through different types of patches..some are good, some are great, some are bad and some are ugly but it's all part of the history of this team and it's all a part of a glorious, precious piece of fabric that has been worked on from generation and generation.