Leafs ranked WORST sports team?

[Arn]

If all that were true (and it is), you gotta ask yourself why are you still a fan? 

There is such a thing as loyalty.  But loyalty in the face of poor performance is only given to a team that suffers from some sort of grave disadvantage (ie money woes).  The Leafs have no disadvantage to speak of, in fact the Leafs may be the most advantaged team in the world.

And yet (AND YET!!!!) they can't even come close to competing for the Stanley Cup...they can't even make the playoffs anymore. 

It's like the noble barbarian who charges into battle knowing they'll die but at least they'll die with honour.  That can only go on for so long until that honour starts to look more and more like stupidity. 

That's Leafs fans in a nutshell.  There's a fine line between honour/loyalty and foolishness/stupidity.  But Leafs fans have crossed over into the foolishness camp a long time ago.

But greedy corporations love fools

I started following the Leafs by accident. I just happened to be in toronto, went to a game. The Leafs lost but I was hooked. That was 2001 I think. I started following the results via the internet (remember dial up?) back here in Belfast. Next I started listening to the odd game via the stream of AM640 with games facing off at midnight. I came back to Toronto in 2004 specifically to watch some Leafs games. Eventually we got games on TV and now we have every game streamed via Gamecenter.

That's a lot of time invested. In those early days the Leafs were always competitive. But I invested all that time. I read books on great Leafs players and the history. Just cos they're crap now, I can't just start over with Nashville or Boston or something.

I've been very lucky to travel and have seen NHL games in London, New Jersey, New York, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa, Stockholm, Washington. I've seen AHL and ECHL. I love watching hockey, but none of those come close to matching the anticipation of a Leafs game.



(except going to see my home team Belfast, but there's still something extra special about seeing the Leafs due to the higher standard and NHL being the pinnacle)

 

[Highlander]

Sorry but the worst teams are the Argo's and Toronto FC.  Argo's always manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory, once went 32 years without winning the Cup in a 9 team league (Wow) and now do not even have a home.
Toronto FC have a home and great fans but not much else. Their star sniper wants to return to the UK after 7 games healthy.
The Leafs albeit have had a long drought from Cup to Cup in a 30 Team league but historically have the second most STanly Cups in history (only second to the hated Habs).

 

[Bender]

I don't see why there's a debate about why people follow a team. Isn't it generally a personal thing? I don't think arguing about wins and losses really leads to any more of a personal understanding about why we do what we do.

Like others have said, I grew up watching the Leafs. I also believe in rooting for your hometown team. It's a belief of mine that has stuck with me ever since I ran into my first Red Wings (FAIRWEATHER!!!) fan.

I care about wins and losses and I do find management highly frustrating, but so what? I am a loyal fan and always have been and I'm ok with all the pros and cons that come with it.

I find it funny, I wonder what people were saying NYR fans during the 50+ years of Stanely Cup drought. Or the Cubs, who haven't won in over 100 years and haven't been to the final in almost 70 years, or Boston's almost 100 years between championships.