I don't usually write blogs on Saturday, largely because I have better things to do. But - in part because I have to work tonight - I need to talk about the nonsense that took place at Rexall Place on Friday evening.
The Edmonton Oilers played their third pre-season game against the Florida Panthers, cruising to a 4-0 victory (meaning the Edmonton Sun had the opportunity to run the "STILL PERFECT!" headline they ran after the Oilers previous pre-season victory). That, in itself, was not the story. The story was Mike Comrie making a triumphant return to the Oilers, tallying four assists in a meaningless game. Not only was he greeted by cheers, but fans stood up and applauded the formerly second most hated man in town.
That Comrie was cheered wasn't a surprise - we all knew the notoriously fickle Oiler fans would come around and cheer him eventually. The surprise was just how quickly Oilers fans abandoned all principle they claimed to have. Again, this can't really be a complete surprise - Oilers fans booed Doug Weight after he bravely captained a loser team in a foreign country for eight years, only to eventually be wooed away by double the cash and an actual chance to win (a move that every single person on earth would have made).
I don't agree with the average Oiler fan (apparently), and I don't subscribe to their high dose of blind optimism that abounds every season. And while I don't agree with cheering Comrie, I think I know why the rubes at Rexall cheered him after so much vitriol had been hurled at him in recent years.
And, as usual, I turn to analogy to explain my point.
Oilers fans are like a neglected child.
We've all seen a movie where a young boy is abandoned by his father at a young age. The father, for reasons unknown, gets up and leaves, leaving his mother (usually sassy and working three jobs) to raise him and his brothers and sisters. The child is overcome with sadness, looking to others for support and love - replacing the father he denies needing, but clearly misses.
The child openly denounces his father for leaving, claiming to be better off without him, while growing up on the (presumably mean) streets, learning how to "be a man" on his own.
But... to the surprise of no one, the father returns. He denounces his past ways, and promises to be there for his son. The son, after talking of his hatred for his father for so many years, instantly buckles once the father returns, desperate to win his affection. This is the point in the movie where I usually scream at the television "But he abandoned you! How can you forgive him so quickly?! You're just setting yourself up to be hurt all over again!"
As I hope you figured out, Comrie is the father, and Oilers fans are the dimwitted son. Despite his past sins, the fans are willing to blindly forgive, just because a free agent they hated "chose" to come to Edmonton (I guess this would be the equivilent of the father returning home after he runs out of money and can't find anywhere else to sleep).
But what happens now? Just like the movie, the story ends in three possible ways:
1) They live happily ever after. In this situation, Mike Comrie revives his career, becomes a good guy, leads the Oilers to the playoffs, and re-signs with the team next offseason.
2) The image that the son dreams up for the father turns out to be wrong. The father slaps the mother around, turns out to be a spiteful jerk, and generally makes the son's life worse. In this situation, Comrie disappoints, collecting 28 points in 74 games, and generally adds to the team's offensive woes and general suckitude.
3) The father, after saying all the right things, leaves overnight, breaking the son's heart again. In the final situation, Comrie revives his career, only to resign with a better team in the off-season. Oilers fans feel jaded, and rue the day they forgave Comrie.
How do I think it will end? I don't know, but I find it comical Oilers fans can completely forget everything they ever said/stood for in the past - before the season ever began.http://scotttougas.blogspot.com
Original Story:
http://scotttougas.blogspot.com/2009/...
The Edmonton Oilers played their third pre-season game against the Florida Panthers, cruising to a 4-0 victory (meaning the Edmonton Sun had the opportunity to run the "STILL PERFECT!" headline they ran after the Oilers previous pre-season victory). That, in itself, was not the story. The story was Mike Comrie making a triumphant return to the Oilers, tallying four assists in a meaningless game. Not only was he greeted by cheers, but fans stood up and applauded the formerly second most hated man in town.
That Comrie was cheered wasn't a surprise - we all knew the notoriously fickle Oiler fans would come around and cheer him eventually. The surprise was just how quickly Oilers fans abandoned all principle they claimed to have. Again, this can't really be a complete surprise - Oilers fans booed Doug Weight after he bravely captained a loser team in a foreign country for eight years, only to eventually be wooed away by double the cash and an actual chance to win (a move that every single person on earth would have made).
I don't agree with the average Oiler fan (apparently), and I don't subscribe to their high dose of blind optimism that abounds every season. And while I don't agree with cheering Comrie, I think I know why the rubes at Rexall cheered him after so much vitriol had been hurled at him in recent years.
And, as usual, I turn to analogy to explain my point.
Oilers fans are like a neglected child.
We've all seen a movie where a young boy is abandoned by his father at a young age. The father, for reasons unknown, gets up and leaves, leaving his mother (usually sassy and working three jobs) to raise him and his brothers and sisters. The child is overcome with sadness, looking to others for support and love - replacing the father he denies needing, but clearly misses.
The child openly denounces his father for leaving, claiming to be better off without him, while growing up on the (presumably mean) streets, learning how to "be a man" on his own.
But... to the surprise of no one, the father returns. He denounces his past ways, and promises to be there for his son. The son, after talking of his hatred for his father for so many years, instantly buckles once the father returns, desperate to win his affection. This is the point in the movie where I usually scream at the television "But he abandoned you! How can you forgive him so quickly?! You're just setting yourself up to be hurt all over again!"
As I hope you figured out, Comrie is the father, and Oilers fans are the dimwitted son. Despite his past sins, the fans are willing to blindly forgive, just because a free agent they hated "chose" to come to Edmonton (I guess this would be the equivilent of the father returning home after he runs out of money and can't find anywhere else to sleep).
But what happens now? Just like the movie, the story ends in three possible ways:
1) They live happily ever after. In this situation, Mike Comrie revives his career, becomes a good guy, leads the Oilers to the playoffs, and re-signs with the team next offseason.
2) The image that the son dreams up for the father turns out to be wrong. The father slaps the mother around, turns out to be a spiteful jerk, and generally makes the son's life worse. In this situation, Comrie disappoints, collecting 28 points in 74 games, and generally adds to the team's offensive woes and general suckitude.
3) The father, after saying all the right things, leaves overnight, breaking the son's heart again. In the final situation, Comrie revives his career, only to resign with a better team in the off-season. Oilers fans feel jaded, and rue the day they forgave Comrie.
How do I think it will end? I don't know, but I find it comical Oilers fans can completely forget everything they ever said/stood for in the past - before the season ever began.http://scotttougas.blogspot.com
Original Story:
http://scotttougas.blogspot.com/2009/...
