Nac Mac Feegle
wee & free
- Jun 10, 2011
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As much as I think it's a facile argument, I do wonder how much of this disparity in opinion can be attributed to generational gap. It seems like it's somewhat separated by age groups – those who are old enough to remember a time without NHL hockey in Ottawa seem more likely to think it's a fan problem, while those of us who have grown up with the Sens our whole lives seem more likely to hold ownership more accountable for the team's woes.
Maybe it's just confirmation bias and I'm seeing what I want to see? I don't know. Just spitballing. But there seems to be a level of learned helplessness, of "be happy we've got anything at all" coming from the detractors of the campaign. And on some level, I think we can all agree that having an NHL team is a good thing. Otherwise, we wouldn't be engaged enough to discuss the team's problems at all. But on the other hand, I think the younger generation feels more empowered to call attention to things that are being done poorly and realizing that we do have a voice and we just need to make it heard.
All that said, it's a damn shame that everything always becomes so adversarial. And I guess this is a problem that reaches far beyond hockey. But the notion that we're all Sens fans who just want what's best for the team never seems to enter the equation. It's so much easier to view it as an us vs. them kind of thing with each "side" getting more and more entrenched in its views.
I don't know if age as that much to do with it. We got a team when I was out of high school, so I've lived in the city both before and with the almighty NHL. Quite frankly, I'm getting to the point where I'd rather not have a team at all, than to constantly be called a "bad fan" for not selling a kidney to buy more tickets, and being held hostage by a lunatic billionaire who wants to squeeze us for every dollar we have. Anyone who cries poor while the value of his business quadruples in less than 20 years doesn't deserve an ounce of sympathy.