THE MOST LOYAL FAN

Sammy Brezovsky

Being a sports fan is never easy. Dealing with the heartbreak of your favourite player getting injured, traded or losing that all-important game. To become a die-hard fan of any team, the loyalty you must have is unwavering. For some sports cities, this isn’t a difficult task, with places like LA or Tampa Bay winning a championship every other year.

But the ultimate test of devotion lies in Toronto.

Of the 4 major North American sports, Toronto has 3 teams, the Blue Jays, the Raptors, and the Maple Leafs. This trio of teams all historically have young players with an offensive mindset that can make them an absolute pleasure to watch. Social media loves to use clips from games or practices due to the fun nature these teams exude.

The only problem is, Toronto teams have never been consistently good. The Leafs haven’t won a championship in 54 years, or a series in 18 years, while the Blue Jays haven’t won since the early 90s. Even the Raptors recent championship was followed by a disappointing offseason and underwhelming consecutive years. It’s not uncommon for cities in the sporting world to go on cold streaks, but that’s not the hardest part of being a fan of Toronto.

There’s another reason being a sports fan in Toronto can be so difficult. Two of the three teams from Toronto are the only team in Canada. This tremendously affects the fan experience. Not only are die-hards cheering for the city, but the whole country.

Torontonians and Canadians feel isolated from the rest at times, in a whole different league, with players voicing their displeasure of playing in the only Canadian city. NBA 6th man of the year Lou Williams even said, “When you play in Toronto, you feel like you’re playing overseas”.

For whatever reason, Toronto seems to be the most ridiculed and hated place in sports. Fans constantly have to defend themselves and their team against flurries of hate comments and disses. Even the referees seem to be against them.

This definitely has a bias attached to it, but when rules are changed, phantom penalties are called, and fouls are made up on a consistent basis, the pattern seems to be set. This has resulted in the determination of several key games and even playoff rounds.

Fans outside of T.O and Canada love to hate on the city, dubbing all teams as “overrated” or “chokers” or anything else they can think of. The Leafs, for instance, are easily one of the most criticized teams in the NHL and perhaps in professional sport. Their rookie goalie could get a 70 save shutout in their first game and yet the comment sections will be chock full of hate like “it was 4-1” or “win a round”.

Even when the Raptors won one of the only recent non-superteam championships, a feat rivaled with the 2011 Dallas Mavericks, fans from other cities raced to diminish their accomplishments. They couldn’t accept that a team from Toronto won, and finally broke the negative curse that loomed over the city in the last two decades.

That definitely isn't over, and it’s almost guaranteed that at least two of the teams in Toronto will continue to disappoint.

You may be wondering why I single out Toronto. Multiple sports cities like Boston and Chicago went centuries without being MLB champions. New York hasn’t won a Stanley cup since the early 90s, and Detroit hasn’t been a NBA contender for a while.

Being from populous areas they are bound to be hated and bound to “go through it”, especially because they’re fans are just as insistent as Toronto fans. Though, the striking difference between those places and Ontario’s capital is that while one of their teams may be tanking, they always have a second option that is a force in their respective league.

Toronto can’t seem to consistently win, off and on the field. Their teams fail to make the playoffs, lose in the first round in 7 games every year, or hit the greatest home run ever just to ultimately get eliminated a week later.

Yet, year after year they come back to support their scrappy underdogs playing against a whole nation at times. The qualities they have are why star players like George Springer, Pascal Siakam, and Auston Matthews love it here.

To be very on the nose, Toronto fans have the passion, will fight for their teams’ respect and are like no other.