Tavares
- Thread starter Kin
- Start date
bustaheims
Active member
Joe S. said:
Same. The only time I've ever run into a Leaf - or even a former Leaf - that wasn't at an event where they were publicized to be part of has been at the ACC. It's much easier for them to stay out of the spotlight than people like to play up. I mean, I like to think of myself as a pretty serious fan, but, truthfully, I wouldn't recognize most of the team out in the real world - and, even some of the more prominent players wouldn't be instantly recognizable to me. We don't really get much exposure to them out of uniform - or, even, just without their helmets on - and that makes it harder for them to be instantly recognized. We also don't really hear that much about the players outside of the context of the team and the game. Stuff from their personal lives really only get reported on when it seems to have an impact on the team or their individual performance (with some exceptions, of course - but, it's not like the "media fishbowl" extends outside the rink very often).
And, honestly, outside of some of the top handful of guys in the league, I'm not sure I'd recognize too many hockey players (or other athletes) out in the real world, in general.
Kin
New member
Joe S. said:
Well, sure, but I don't think anyone was accusing you of harassing these guys. But they do go out into the world. And the most famous guys on the Leafs are pretty recognizable. Especially if, as is frequently mentioned, they're going to start doing a lot of commercial work to capitalize on the fame.
That said, I don't think it's really an issue of being harassed on the streets. To be honest I'm not really sure who said that was a thing.
hockeyfan1
New member
I've met a few Leaf players over the years and honestly, no one on the streets knew who they were. And even if people did recognize them or thought they did, they didn't bother them for the most part.
Anonymity may be a factor for Tavares living here (re: in the Summers ) but truly, come to think of it, if he valued this anonymity stuff, he wouldn't even have bothered to meet with the Leafs brass. It's apparently that Johnny T.'s priorities lie deeper than worrying about peace and quiet.
I don't believe he's crossed out the Leafs on his list just yet. If he doesn't re-sign with the Islanders but with some other, then he will have had a host of other reasons for choosing to finish his career elsewhere.
Anonymity may be a factor for Tavares living here (re: in the Summers ) but truly, come to think of it, if he valued this anonymity stuff, he wouldn't even have bothered to meet with the Leafs brass. It's apparently that Johnny T.'s priorities lie deeper than worrying about peace and quiet.
I don't believe he's crossed out the Leafs on his list just yet. If he doesn't re-sign with the Islanders but with some other, then he will have had a host of other reasons for choosing to finish his career elsewhere.
LuncheonMeat
New member
Nik the Trik said:
When I lived in Portland (OR) my wife and I had dinner one night 2 tables over from Robert Redford. Not a single person approached the table in the couple of hours we were there. Unless you're in LA - where people call their PR people to let them know where they'll be, rather than attempt to be anonymous - I'm not sure celebrity mugging is much of a thing.
hockeyfan1
New member
A summary so far...
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[tweet]1012450286449946625[/tweet]
Nik the Trik said:
I don?t know if anyone here explicitly said it or it was implied in some of the comments. In reateospect I think I?m reacting more to what I?m hearing in the radio about the athletes want for privacy and that will be compromised in Toronto.
I learned through the last week that Tavares lives here in the off season - I had no clue. And it seems most had no idea. Unless a player decides to live in the heart of downtown and maintain a public persona on the streets, then I think you can disappear easily in this city.
Anyway - not just kind of throwing a bunch of thoughts out there. That?s all.
Kin
New member
Joe S. said:
No, I think you make a fair point that the sort of day to day on the street stuff isn't likely to be a big deal. Hockey player or no, the wealthy have done a pretty good job of insulating themselves from the rest of us. Like you say, you and I aren't likely to be going to the restaurants or bars that hockey players do and the people who are there are probably the types to get pretty bored pretty quickly with guys like that.
That said, I do know people who've worked at bars/restaurants like that and they do tell stories. I don't think I need to go into specifics to point out that many a Leafs' extra curricular activities have then become fodder for local gossip in a way that it might not in cities where they weren't such big deals.
I also think, for what it's worth, that we're sort of limited in our scope of discussing this because it's been a long, long time since the Leafs really had a super popular player and even then they've never had a real top of the league-type superstar probably in the last, oh, 80 years? How would a Crosby/McDavid like player be treated here? Especially if they won a cup? Would they be the most famous person in the city? What would it be like for them on social media? Or on their families' social media? These are questions we really don't know the answer to(although, as I mentioned re: Phaneuf, there are indications that it wouldn't be great).
hockeyfan1
New member
A logical summation...
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[tweet]1013134335921283072[/tweet]
WAYNEINIONA
New member
Maybe someone should call his mother. ;D