Do the Toronto Maple Leafs Even Have a Real Bandwagon?

It is something that has happened for so long here in Toronto, it has started to piss people off.

I can’t take it anymore. Leaf fans have to be more consistent in the way they cheer their team.

After Thrusday's upset over Detriot, fans were riding high.  We thought we had a solid team—but I think I'm the only sane person in the GTA. Just because we got the season off to a good start, beating the defending Cup champs, that doesn't mean anything.

Now we have suffered our first big loss, of what may be many—a 6-1 defeat on the first Hockey Night in Canada. 

This was a major blow to the confidence of of LeafsNation. This can't stop us, though—we will move forward and rise to the challange.

When I say “we,” I mean the Leafs' players and other sane fans.

What I have expreianced as a fan of the Blue and White is that there is no “bandwagon” in T.O. Most of us simply follow what the Lafs are doing. If they lose, we hate them—and complain about how much we suck, blaming innocent people for being responsible.

I once went to a game and the guy sitting to me said I was the reason the Oliers had just scored.  Why did he do this? He seemed to think that, because I had just stood up to go to the washroom, I broke the flow and set off the entire tempo of the game.

I should have referred this man to a doctor. If I ever see him again I will—but at the time I was only 11 years old.  I have never been the same since.

When we win a game, we believe we have the best players to ever put on skates.  We say, “Oh, what a great coach we must have—look what he’s done since our last loss.”

I have witnessed this myself through family members.  Yes, even my family is crazy like this—I don’t know how I got away from it—especially my dad, who is the typical Leaf fan. When they win, he loves them—when they lose, “they f***ing suck!”

However, I know that they won’t win every game, therefore I can accept it when they lose. My team loses all the time, so I have gotten used to it.  I know the feeling they have in the dressing room after a loss. The media is way too hard on them. Even thought I hated Bryan McCabe, there was no reason for them to be so hard on him and drive him out of Toronto.

The Leafs are going have ups and downs all year—just like the rest of the league.  It will be much easier if you don’t make a big deal about every loss.