Agreed, and it creates a tough dynamic. For example, I live in Ottawa. I truly believe that being a fan of the Ottawa Senators means you hate the Leafs first, and love the Senators second. Every mistake the Leafs make gets glorified in the media here. It's a constant bombardment, that even if you don't pay attention to the local media spills out in to water cooler or locker room talk. Even last night, as I was getting out of my goalie gear for my pickup game, there was talk from some of the players that they really wanted to see Marner win so that it would stick it to the Leafs.
It's tough because when the team is poorly run it just adds fuel to the fire. I know that it won't ever change. I know that the comments about the Leafs and their fans are going to be negative, even if they were to win the cup, but when things are bad, it's like we don't even have a leg to stand on.
This is why I find days like the last trade deadline day, or when they lose to the Senators in glorious fashion so tough. It means the next day I am going to be taking some licks from people who just hate the Leafs and their fans. It's like somewhere along the line being a fan of a sport means that we all went to high school together so we can bug people like we have known them our whole life. Well we haven't and quite honestly, I don't like being told I am an idiot or arrogant, or whatever, just because I am a fan of a certain hockey team. I don't like it because that isn't how I treat fans of other teams.
And that has lead to a greater existential crisis, where as I approach 50 ( tomorrow in fact ), I have to question what it says about me as a person that I choose to root or cheer for a team that has been consistently run very poorly. If I am a Leaf fan, and I spend money and time on this team, willingly, knowing that they are probably going to do something very stupid. What does that say about Leaf fans? How do we defend that? It's like we are saying "Sure I would love to buy that expensive car that you have to sell that only has 1 wheel on it. Sign me up. Also, don't just sign me up. Sign me up year after year after year as you keep producing expensive cars that will never run right". That's what we are dealing with as Leaf fans. Over the last 60 years, this team has been run properly for about 10 years. We keep putting up with it. Getting mad at the team doesn't work. They don't care about your emotions or the boos or whatever, as long as you watch. And when a group of fans take it out on the players, the players just leave, which is their right to do.
