Teeswater News – Online!

No More Koolaid!

By: Mark W. Law (May 7, 2010)

This article originally ran on Digital Twilight and is partially ‘to blame’ for Digital Twilight now being followed by the Versus Network, official network of the NHL in the United States. Although the article relates to the Vancouver Canucks any long suffering Leafs fan can relate.
- Mark

* * * * *

39 years and 208 days is a long time.

I’ve watched through the years when the team was hardly AHL calibre let alone an NHL contender. I’ve seen the agony on the face of  warriors like Trevor Linden after the heart breaking loss to the Rangers in game 7, the towel waving Roger Nielsen rallying the troops in an improbable run.

I have listened to Jim Robson when CBC decided to broadcast yet another Leafs game on Saturday night and felt the hair tingle on my arms when Bure picked up speed in the neutral zone.

I started watching before I was a teen, before my parents split, before I lost my first close friend and before I even considered serving my country in the Middle East or asking a girl out on a date.

I try to explain to my wife this passion for a team that has broken every fans heart year after year – why a normally quiet and lovable husband becomes a snarling, LOUD fanatic at the first drop of the puck in the Garage.

They say “Vancouver Canucks fans are not hockey fans, they are Vancouver Canucks fans”

And it’s true.

Who else but a Canucks fans would buy a Gary Lupul sweater and wear it as proudly on the street as if it were the Rouge, Blanc et Bleu of a Roy, a Lafleur or Belliveau? Who else but a Canucks fan believes that the game is REAL – more than just ‘entertainment’ and a steady revenue stream for owners who may or may not even understand the difference between a Lemaire trap and Sather’s Run and Gun Offense?

Every year for the first game of the season I lovingly take out my Canucks jersey (the maroon Orca third jersey btw – my all time fave!) that Lori looked all over the lower Mainland for a few Christmas’ ago, and wear it to watch exactly one game, then put it away again for fear I will so much as slop a drop of coffee on it or snag it on a door latch going to the kitchen at the intermission.

Yes, I have drank the Koolaid, the Blue, Green and White Koolaid to be exact, for 39 years and 208 days.

But tonight was different. My Canucks lost to Chicago 5-2. I yelled and scared the dog, as usual. I ranted back and forth at the incompetence of  Alberts, the lack of ice time for big body Bernier, the OVERABUNDANCE of ice time for McWellwood and the Burrows brainfarts that really cost them any chance at winning (not sure if he will get a suspension out of that but time will tell). I watched Hansen being ripped apart and still digging while his line mates circled, letting him do all the dirty work.

And then the game was over…

Really over.  My wife went to bed, I fired off a few spleen-venting Twitters and then as I sat drinking my last coffee of the evening I realized something.

I don’t care!

Why should I if the players on the ice don’t? Hell, if they earn millions of dollars and don’t care why should this 52 year old  gimped up sorry arsed excuse for a person care?

So no more Koolaid…

You want to advance to the next round, then play like you do. You want to win the Stanley Cup, then play like you do. Quit reading your press clippings and start playing like the team that scared the hell out of every other team in the conference throughout the year, the team that lead the league in comeback wins and had a perfect record when leading into the third period.

And if you want me to believe that you are more than just millionaires  thinking about their new house at the lake or where to take their family on holiday, show me.

After 39 years and 208 days I, and every other Canucks fan, deserve at least that.

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Mark W. Law has been a writing and journalism fanatic since he was first tagged to write a 3 act ’shadow play’ – in Grade 2! Originally from the wee hamlet of Oyster Bay, BC, Mark has worked in many parts of the world, including almost all of the Canadian provinces, the United States, Europe and even a sand-filled radio station in North Africa. During that time he has written for military and local newspapers, served as editor for a number of online magazines as well as publishing his own popular ezine for new writers and artists – The ThinWire Journal. Mark has also penned more than 100 poems and essays and is an internationally known digital artist. And for anyone who lived in Northern BC during the 1980’s and 1990’s, Mark was the ‘morning weatherman’ on CBC Radio. Opinions expressed in ‘the View’ are his own and do not necessarily reflect Teeswater or Teeswater.Ca.

Filed Under: Sports, The View
Tags: Digital Twilight, NHL, Vancouver Canucks, Versus Network