Hurricanes @ Leafs - Feb. 22nd, 7:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[Kin]

I give it an eight out of ten. The lunch didn't have a vegan option and the coffee was bitter.

Both of those things were also analogies. For our lack of human agency and the terrible conditions for coffee farmers in latin america. 10 out of 10.

 

[Arn]

Well there goes trading Barrie.

It?s almost comical being a Leafs fan.

Took a while to build up to reading through this thread, but this post was oddly prescient 

 

[Manson]

Just one thing though is that when I'm talking about him being a symbol of embarrassment that's as much about the organization as it is the players.

Now, I think there are two ways to react to last night. Get angry or be rational. And, as a lot of people have said, rational is the better choice. It's just a game, sports aren't the end of the world, no use being mad about something you can't change and so on. And I think I've tended to preach that this year and I don't really get mad about things that happen with the Leafs.

Problem with that though is that every time I get a reminder like last night about how I should be more rational and less emotional...I get more rational. And when I'm rational about the Leafs, I remember that they kind of treat their fans badly. Charging us the highest ticket prices in the league for an often middling product and so on. As a result, personally, I don't go to games anymore and I don't spend money on merch.

Now, unrelated to last night, MLB.tv just changed their blackout policy which means that watching Baseball this year is going to be more expensive for me. Which already had me thinking about how much I spend on streaming sports services. Right now it's more than 60 bucks a month and two thirds of that is because the Leafs split their games between two lousy overpriced services. I could be kicking 40 bucks more a month towards retirement or donating it to a food bank or whatever.

So if I'm being real rational about last night....eh, I don't know I'm getting great value for that money either and so, players aside, I don't know if MLSE wants me to get too many more nudges towards putting sports in their proper perspective.

This is what being a Leafs fan does to people.  This is what it does to their fans.  It makes them contemplate their life choice.  It makes them contemplate whether or not being a fan is worth it at all.

 

[Chris]

Ayres was just on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Leafs made the big time with their "performance" against Carolina. Congrats!

 

[Arn]

I've waited a while to comment on this.

First up it was outright embarrassing from the Leafs point of view in terms of their performance and effort, not much debate to be had about that.

But actually I kind of enjoyed it. I think it's a great story and the guy deserves the attention. I also really respect the fact he's using his opportunity to support a charity (kidney foundation) that is obviously close to him personally. He comes across as a really good, humble guy.

I loved the story about his wife and her reaction and the reaction of the fans around her at the game (not just her tweet which was also great!).

While I wouldn't say I was supporting him AGAINST the Leafs, I was kind of hoping that he did well but maybe lost by a goal rather than letting in 10 shots on 12 shots or whatever.