Monday, November 09, 2009

Hey, hey, hey, goodbye

With the Winnipeg Blue Bombers officially (and perhaps not surprisingly) out of the playoffs, I need to find another CFL team to cheer. I'm leaning towards the Hamilton Ti-cats: the dramatic, late-season turn around; the impressive win over the Roughriders; and the fact that their current starting quarterback, Kevin Glenn, should have never been traded by Winnipeg. On the other end, I could cheer for the Roughriders: my in-laws are Roughrider fans and will likely invite me over to watch the games. For the sake of family unity, maybe that's the way to go.

Should you go with hated rivals who have a good shot at the Grey Cup or the team that put your team out? Or do you just watch as a detached observer, cheering for the game itself? What's the usual course of action for the fan of a losing team? I figure I'd toss this one out there and let people chime in with their two cents. Some of my friends who are Leafs fans and will have had DECADES dealing with this problem might have some interesting insights.

2 comments:

john said...

Well Mike, as a long time Argo and Leafs fan, therefore an expert on supporting losing teams who quickly exit playoffs, I say go with your in laws favourite team and preserve family harmony. Good luck next year.

amphimacer said...

As someone who has lived in Montreal, Winnipeg, and Toronto, you'd think I'd have choices, but I don't. Having grown up in Montreal, I just can't bring myself to root for any Toronto teams except the Blue Jays (and that's been no picnic since 1993). And the Alouettes disappeared, only to come back as the Concorde (which crashed and burned), and then reconstituted as the Alouettes. This is no longer my team, the team of Sam Etcheverry, George Dixon, and their ilk. So I'm stuck with the Bombers, and, like you, looking for a playoff team. I also like Hamilton, since they were so bad for so many years, but are fun to watch now. But I have almost no hope they'll succeed in the playoffs, so I'm really still looking. I'll take it game by game. The Roughriders won it all too recently to be the choice of anyone who loves an underdog, but it's a small league, and true Canadians love 'em all.