HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Mario Russo

How Low can you go?

Like steak and wine, these words go hand in hand with one another to tackle some of sports' most mortifying shortcomings. Every blown lead, every golden opportunity missed and every authoritative stranglehold lost in the postseason fuels the echo of these five words.

It’s also commonly heard in the classic party-game “Limbo” in which participants get rewarded with various honorary remarks of both laughter and encouragement as they creep their vessels as close to the floor as possible.

What makes this household game so intriguing is the involvement of the bar that continuously dwindles towards the floor. By following one simple rule, the winner is crowned to the person capable of sneaking under the bar at its lowest point.

Like chalk and cheese, sports and Limbo hold little to no similarities between themselves, unless of course you take a peek behind the blue and white curtain of Leafs Nation. Following their sixth consecutive first round exit to the Tampa Bay Lightning, fans that chose to cheer for the wrong blue and white this season have taken to social media to vent their whirlwind of emotions towards the Toronto side.

If you sift through the self-proclaimed NHL GM’s on Twitter, and dance around the “we need toughness” instagramers, you will find a vast group of Leaf fans that actually feel indifferent about both this team, and the result sustained to the back-to-back champs earlier this month.

On a personal level, I myself felt similar emotions immediately following the 2-1 regulation loss in game 7. To my belief, It may have been my heart telling me it couldn't get worse nearly a year ago following the collapse in games 5, 6 AND 7 to the Montreal Canadiens.

Last year’s lack of success in the playoffs not only left a mirage of problems on Kyle Dubas’ doorstep, but also a taste in the mouth of Leaf’s fans that was thought to have been long-dead.

Rock bottom.

The poor effort(s) in elimination games bashed the door wide open for the Habs to come into Toronto and take a steamy dump on all the players donning the blue and white, leaving a stain that remarkably remained less of a bother than the effort itself.

Yet a year has gone by and effort is still the hot commodity around a city itching for a single-round win in the postseason. Four wins. And as juvenile as it sounds, they don't even have to come in succession of one another.

Maybe rock bottom showed that last year's effort could be topped. Maybe we were all naive in thinking it could, responding only by sitting (or standing) in front of our TV’s for two weeks straight and watching the Maple Leafs play up to such a prestigious standard of playoff hockey.

They fought tooth and nail for every inch, nook and cranny of the ice. The defense played what their position suggested they do. The big guns showed signs of limitless ammunition. And above all else, their biggest question mark heading into the series spent most of his time out-dueling one of the best pressure-cooker goaltenders in the game.

The effort was evident for the Maple Leafs. The result however remains far from it, and yet such a large slice of Leafs Nation takes what the team left on the ice before the result that has left them off it.

18 years of losing-out will do that to a person however. If success is absent, and continuous to be absent, then the only victories you can scavenge are the small ones. The moral ones. The meaningless ones. This Maple Leafs team was built for something greater. Their effort in the first round will mean nothing if by this time next year, a long-lasting curse is snapped as a result.

Whether you're comparing it to last season, or are still dwelling on the fact that the Leafs took the UNDERDOG in this series to seven games, you are undoubtedly the person at the party responsible for lowering the bar. Every winner in your book is the one who hovers just above the rocky bottom of the floor, with the Maple Leafs being the latest one to walk out of the party feeling amused and accomplished.

And I, like so many other Leafs fans out there, are left alone, standing at this party and more so scoffing at the sight of each and every person willingly breaking their backs to break through the lowest humane standard possible.

Who said Limbo had no similarities.