TORONTO (Nov. 11) – There has long been a train of thought in this town that the Maple Leafs are simply immune to failure. That no matter what product they foist upon the public, a devoted throng of worshippers – seemingly resistant to punishment; evolving from one generation to the next – will forever remain loyal. This presumption has lots of mileage behind it. It is nearly impossible to argue that fans of the Maple Leafs stand arm-in-arm with followers of the Chicago Cubs as the most abused, resilient and utterly marvelous in all of professional sport.
But, the question remains: Is there a limit to this phenomenon as there is to practically every trial and tribulation in life? Until very recently, I’d have answered with an unqualified “no.” Any corporate enterprise operated as shabbily as the Leafs would have gone belly-up decades ago. Somehow, this violation of public trust has withstood economic recession; near-constant heartbreak, and the unremitting bloom of entertainment options in the past 20 years. Marriages dissolve at an alarming rate of 50 percent, but nothing can apparently shatter the undying fidelity of a Maple Leaf loyalist.
I’ve often wondered if the tall foreheads on Bay St. realize how truly blessed they are. It’s a subject I discussed on THE FAN-590 morning show Thursday with host and colleague Andrew Krystal. Andrew counts himself among the most impassioned supporters of the Blue & White; he stomps around with an unnerving scowl when the club lapses into a prolonged funk. The sudden appearance, in studio, of this month’s Playboy playmate wouldn’t have brought a smile to Andrew’s mug the morning after his favorite team got blown away in Sunrise Fla. – its 1-7-3 collapse of the past two weeks the overriding sports topic in our city. A stream of e-mails on my lap-top indicates a similar disposition among countless other Leaf partisans.
This is delicate territory the hockey club is wading into. In each of the past two years, fans of the Maple Leafs have been promised a team that won’t necessarily win the bulk of its games, but will vigorously toil with its opponent each night; will be a physical load to contend with, and will challenge for a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The message has been delivered persuasively by a man that has developed into an iconoclastic figure in pro hockey circles. Brian Burke came to town with a championship pedigree and a well-honed aversion to mincing words. Leaf supporters desperately wanted to believe him; to assume that his mettle and moxie would halt the club’s interminable decline.
They still want to believe him… and perhaps should. Burke hasn’t yet fulfilled one-third of his contract as general manager. He requested a six-year term from Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, likely because he considered such leeway essential to the task. To portray him an abject disappointment at this juncture of the assignment would be accurate… but arguably impulsive and premature. Burke never implied the job would be anywhere near completion in less than two years. Neither, we’d assume, did he imagine the relentless free-fall of the Blue & White since late-October.
And there’s something I consider uncommon and disquieting about the current slump. It involves not the fair-weather fan – the person that will abandon and renounce the hockey club when it is failing, only to reappear giddily when the outlook improves. Every team has such hangers-on. Instead, I’m beginning to perceive a genuine lack of trust and belief among the predominant faction of hockey enthusiasts in this region – the die-hards… the people I jokingly refer to as "Kool-Aid" drinkers; the undaunted optimists that keep coming back for more; that refuse to stay down for a 10-count after absorbing the harshest, cruelest blow.
If, as I suspect, the “message” is starting to lose credibility with these folks, the Leafs are in a world of hurt they don’t even realize…
*When a kid is suddenly embarrassed to wear his blue and white jersey around town; or to pester his mom and dad for one of the new duds as a Christmas gift.
*When those that monitor viewer-ship of Leaf telecasts notice an unmistakable decline in numbers.
*The threat of fan reaction in and around the Air Canada Centre regressing from anger… to acceptance… to apathy.
None of this is beyond comprehension anymore. The Leafs have been so bad and so unreliable for so long – under the direction of so many people – that a paralyzing form of indifference is bound to emerge. Human nature dictates such a reaction. And, nothing could possibly do greater harm to the parent company or the franchise.
If the die-hards begin to fall by the wayside, even in small numbers, the Leafs will encounter a complication without precedent. Selling out the ACC for hockey games is hardly a feat in a moneyed city this size; nor does it set the Leafs apart from their rivals. A number of NHL teams play before full or near-capacity crowds. What gives this hockey market uniqueness is an astonishing capacity and willingness to bear disappointment, and to stubbornly maintain faith in the absence of reward. No one has been able to adequately explain the phenomenon. We only know that it exists.
What we also know is the Leafs cannot ever afford to ravage this element…
*The resolute, seemingly-indestructible admirer that spends time and money maintaining a website devoted to the hockey club – such as "Pension Plan Puppets" or "Maple Leafs Hot Stove"; my press-box pal, Rob Del Mundo, who diligently operates and tends to "TMLfans.ca."
*The rabid, emotional believer who rolls out of bed with an ache in the pit of his stomach the morning after a loss.
*The multitudes that flock to chat-rooms, message-boards and blogs to commiserate before, during and after games; that scream bloody-murder in defense of the Blue & White when media figures offer blunt criticism of the team (or try to poke fun at their own foibles).
THESE are the people that have built and maintained Leafs Nation… not the sushi swallower that waddles back to his Platinum seat eight minutes into the period. Or the businessman that finagles a pair of tickets every so often to impress a client.
God help the Leafs if they’ve called the bluff of their most ardent followers one time too many. The way I see it, the threat of such a revolt has never been more real.
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