Ready, set…suck! Yup, it’s that time of year again. The time when Torontonians are rewarded with rising seat prices for their loyalty to a perpetually inefficient product. No, I’m not talking about the seemingly annual TTC fare hikes. I’m speaking, of course, of the start of the NHL season for our Toronto Maple Leafs.
Starting in October, die-hard and fair-weather fans alike will once again don their blue and white jerseys and swear to anyone within earshot that this will be the year the Leafs bring home the Stanley Cup; our losing season last year was an aberration, but this year will be different. Leafs fans will point to some new addition to the lineup, or a key trade, or a healthy Matt Sundin as evidence of ensuing glory. Then, when April rolls around and our heroes find themselves out in the cold, the old familiar excuses and clichés will circulate—“we’ll get ´em next year!”—and the cycle of mediocrity will continue, while ticket prices continue to skyrocket.
All of this begs the question: are the Leafs still relevant, or are they a relic of a bygone era, an anachronism in a time when the Raptors and Toronto FC are increasingly capturing our collective imagination? New York has the Yankees, Dallas has the Cowboys, and Los Angeles has the Lakers. A sports team should play a special role in representing the city’s phallic pride and testosterone, especially now that we are no longer home to the world’s tallest free-standing structure. Thanks, Dubai.
Historically, hockey culture in Toronto has played a vital role in pumping lifeblood into the city’s heart, especially during the glory years of the 1940s and 1960s. In the firewagon days of the 1980s, the Leafs sucked, but always played with passion and thus were endearing—a sort of Bad News Bears on ice. These days, with the omnipresence of corporate sponsorship gutting sports culture of its romanticism, when nostalgic names like SkyDome and Maple Leaf Gardens are replaced by the sterile ones like Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre, the Leafs have become little more than a successful business venture. Between 1998 and 2006, the Leafs franchise increased its revenue by 147 per cent, while player expenses increased only 65.3 per cent. Sticking it to loyal fans who will pay to see the Leafs play no matter what isn’t sadistic—it’s good business.
Although Toronto teams like the Blue Jays and Argos have enjoyed recent success, they have never quite dominated our sports culture the way the Leafs have. But the Raptors and Toronto FC offer an exciting alternative to the Leafs, showcasing two sports—basketball and soccer—that better represent the city’s multiculturalism and diversity.
As a die-hard hockey fan, I cringe at the suggestion that some lesser sport will take the place of hockey. However, if all the Leafs have to offer are high prices and certain failure, maybe that isn’t such a bad idea.
