The Written Word: Rafe Mair April 27th
By Rafe Mair
I watched part of the Vancouver Canucks first game with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (how could any team be named that?) and I started to wonder what prompted one to be a fan. After all, virtually no player is from the place they represent and though many teams, very much including the Canucks, do good community work that still doesn’t explain why fans will paint themselves, wear funny clothes and wave banners as it a world crisis would end with a Canuck victory.
I was once that way with the Montreal Canadiens starting just after the War and continuing until Guy Lafleur, the last of the “real” Habs left and ultimately joined the New York Rangers. I mean I was a fan! When they won, which was often, I took it as my victory and when they lost, I was devastated. But looking back at my own days as a rabid fan and looking at fans today I find myself this question: Was it the game that I, and fans today, love so well or was it the result?
I often eat at Ya Ya’s Oyster Bar in Horseshoe Bay who’s boss man lives and dies with every move made out on the ice when the Canucks are playing. And I asked him this question – if you were on a desert island and the genie out of the bottle said, “I have a game you can watch the players and teams in which are utterly unknown to you but the game are all superlative - Would you watch a hockey game? A football game? A baseball game? A soccer game? A round of golf? Chris was puzzling for an answer as was I when I asked myself the same question.
I opted for baseball as did Chris.
It left the question unanswered, however – is it the game or the result that has us glued to the TV? If the answer is the game, how come TV sets across the land were switched off when Anaheim made it 4-1?
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When you were a dedicated fan of the Montreal Canadians, don't you remember how your heart used to pump with anticipation? how alive you felt when the team skated onto the ice? you might have been sitting in your living room, but man oh man - remember how it sure felt like you were right there with them?
People who love sports choose to participate in the sports they love. Some people have good writing skills and they love to write, others are good with kids and love to teach, still others just love to play hockey and they are good at it.
Fans are much the same in their love of a sport, they just prefer to watch and maybe "dream".
Surely you have heard some of those dedicated fans sitting on the sidelines saying "wow, I would not have done that, I would have done this", or "that sure was the right move to do there". It may sound bogus to anyone listening, but to the person saying it, it means everything, he is sincere.
His heart is in the game, and his connection is the players.