Feeling like you’re part of the team
If you know me, or if you’ve had at least one conversation with me, you know I love hockey, and that I would probably die for the Leafs. Seriously, they are so inconsistent that I worry I may have a heart attack just watching them play. There is nothing I love more than hockey (sorry, Mom and Dad).
I have played hockey for nearly half my life, but it wasn’t until high school that I began watching it regularly. I would come home from school and immediately watch hockey highlights before the Leafs game started that night or whatever other NHL game I could find on TV. At the end of games, my parents would ask the result, and without hesitation I would answer “we won” or “we lost.”
Lately, I’ve been wondering why people use the word “we” when talking about their favourite teams? Why do I?
The answer goes beyond words. It’s a feeling you could only know if you’ve fallen in love with a professional sports team. Their successes lift your mood, their defeats crush your spirit. From heart-wrenching game seven playoff losses (if you’re a Leafs fan you know all too well) to stomach-turning rivalry nights to screaming at the top of your lungs when a pivotal play comes to life — it feels like I’m part of the team.
Dedication to a professional sports team is like nothing else. It is never a fully satisfying relationship, but it does come with unrealistic hopes and dreams.
Your team has a huge lead over the opposition? Make it bigger.
Your team won a championship? You want more.
There is simply no end to the desires we have for our favourite sports teams.
When the Leafs ended the 2015-2016 season dead last in the league and landed Auston Matthews first overall in the draft, I almost fainted. When Matthews scored four goals in his first game and went on to score 40 goals that season, I cried. When our fearless coach Mike Babcock led a young team with 10 rookies to the playoffs in the first season of a franchise rebuild…well, there are no words for how I felt in that moment.
No matter what sport you’re passionate about, all fans can relate to the feeling of being part of the team. The rollercoaster of emotions that fluctuate during a long, always dramatic season (unless you like the Golden State Warriors, Tampa Bay Lightning, or New England Patriots) drain us sports fans, but it’s all worth it.
The joy that arises from being a sports fan is incomparable. The way that sports teams invade our minds and consume our thoughts make us truly feel like we are part of the team. We deck ourselves out in merchandise, paint our faces (maybe we wear paper bags if our team sucks that season), and holler for our teams… even if we’re watching from home.
The way I used to feel after my own hockey team won and lost games is more intense than how I feel about the Leafs’ wins and losses. I often cried after losing and danced with joy after winning games I played in. Playing with your own team is a whirlwind of emotions. In saying that, the Leafs have yet to win a Stanley Cup in my lifetime. I am sure that when “we” do, not even a playoff series win from my past hockey career will come close.
Feature photo by Alora Griffiths.