Last night I was choked. Probably the most angry I've been at the team in my history as a fan. In the playoffs we tried hard despite the end result, in 06/07 we traded Smyth and had a multitude of injuries, in 07/08 we had a bit of a miracle run that just couldn't be sustained for as long as the team needed it. But, what's our excuse this season?
The fact is that there isn't an excuse that the team can come up with that will be sufficient to cover the disappointment of this season. Not when we were told that we were going to ice a cup contender in October, not when we were supposed to challenge for the NW division title. Not when the team that took the ice every night looked like they were half-asleep and coming off a night of binge-drinking and cocaine. I thought we got rid of those guys?
The Oilers, as an organization, not the team, should really learn a lesson here. You see, if they hadn't have gotten all of our hopes up in October - if they hadn't hyped the team til we were all buzzing in anticipation - the disappointment that we are feeling now as fans would be much less. No doubt it would still be there, but it would be severely minimized, and we wouldn't be feeling this other strange emotion: betrayal.
The game last night was a joke. A slap in the face for fans, that until this morning was a monumental p--- off. This morning, it's just comedic. The Oilers come out and score first, and then they take their foot off the gas, as per usual, and allow the opposing team to tie it up, then we start taking stupid penalties. Cue up the second period where the visitors score early on the PP and then add a couple more for good measure throughout the period. The third period comes up and the Oilers go down further, allowing another goal. Less than five minutes to go in the game and someone makes a point of mentioning to the team that they are, in fact, playing a hockey game here, and they may want to pick it up if they want to win. So the Oilers turn it on and score a few times, only to come up short by at least one goal.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
And all of this after asking us for our support, because it really mattered to them. Yeah, looks like we made a huge difference last night. I have news for you: we've been here all season supporting you and making excuses for your butt. Where have you been?
As much as I am frustrated with this team this year, I still love them. I guess they're like a dog who didn't do what I wanted it to do; as a dog lover, I'll still love it tomorrow. I was just angry at it for not doing what I asked of it.
What we all asked the team to do.
Try.
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2 comments:
Would you classify our relationship with the Oilers as a healthy relationship?
In the last two days, you've used the words "betrayal" and "wife who's been cheated on". This certainly doesn't sound like a relationship a bunch of smart and knowledgeable fans want to be maintaining.
Sticking with the dog analogy, I think we could easily flip it around where us fans are the dogs and the Oilers are the human masters. We run around chasing our tails, chewing whatever little bones they throw to us, and act happier than ever to see them when they haven't fed us in weeks.
Oilers fans have had to put up with a lot of mediocrity in the past 15 years. At what point does the dog turn on the master and is that even possible?
You know, I can't say for sure whether it is an unhealthy relationship or not. I think I spend a lot of time to writing about, talking about and watching this team play; probably more time than I should.
I agree, the analogy could easily be turned around. And the Oilers certainly haven't given us much reason in the past couple years to love them like we do.
So I'll say that my love, for one, is certainly irrational.
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