If the Flyers Lose...

[Podein25]

When you've basically seen them finish 37 seasons on a loss, it does mess with your internal wiring, at least a bit.

You seem to know something about the brain. Are you a neurosurgeon or something?

[flyercanuck]

When I was a kid, a Flyer playoff loss would take a few weeks to get over (no I wouldn't be hanging my head that long, I'd just think about it once or twice a day for that period) I still get frustrated with a loss, but when their season ends, it's almost a relief. The games aren't as nerve wracking anymore. I won't wish Briere would have backchecked. I won't wish Carle didn't shoot like a girl.I won't be pizzed at that softie Bryz funnelled into the net.

I still wish they'd win that damned cup just once more though.

And yes Pods ...how did you guess.

[aziz]

@canoli

well, i was responding to the idea that no cup in 37 years makes the whole thing somehow profoundly different, that there is some kind of threshold where it is all a waste with no championship. in his post, maddog specifically puts this season in the context of 37 years with no cup, not letting it stand on its own. i guess my point was: how does success or failure in past have anything to do with success or failure this season? given what happened to the roster this year, i'd already call this season a net plus...but for some, it gets put on the no-cup-this-season shelf and held up with all the rest. i guess i just kinda think, "so what?" let it stand on it's own.

i dunno. maddog wonders how people don't get "sick of it". i guess i was just telling him why i don't.

[canoli]

@aziz

Got it. And frankly that is how it read, I didn't mean to suggest otherwise - well, yes I did, but I didn't mean to emphasize you were saying it's merelyentertainment.

[flyercanuck]

@aziz

I enjoyed the team this year (still am) I prefer to watch a young team develop into something over the years. I'm pretty happy with the Giroux, Voracek, Schenn, Couturier, Coburn, Read, Simmonds, Talbot, Wellwood nucleus.

[aziz]

@flyercanuck

oh, the next couple years are going to be rediculous. the flyers have a few roster issues (*cough*bryzgalov*cough*), but the sudden wealth of high-end under-25 talent is just amazing. let a few of those kids get a season or two under their belt, and....

[canoli]

and what? We will win the CUP and make it all worthwhile? lol.

[flyercanuck]

@flyercanuck

oh, the next couple years are going to be rediculous. the flyers have a few roster issues (*cough*bryzgalov*cough*), but the sudden wealth of high-end under-25 talent is just amazing. let a few of those kids get a season or two under their belt, and....

Sigh. Maybe we'll get lucky and Scumbag Steve will steal his goalie equipment forever.

[aziz]

and what? We will win the CUP and make it all worthwhile? lol.

lol, well played.

actually, though...i've been thinking about this. the rangers might win another cup this season. have you watched them play, though? outside of when they played the flyers? what a fricking boring-ass team. that weird passive defense, block a thousand shots and hope one of them bounces out to neutral so gaborik can get a breakaway and they win 1-0. terrible. effective, but holy crap i don't know if i could stand to watch that 3 nights a week all season long. i can honestly say that if i'm a rangers fan, the fact that they might win a cup in a month does not make up for the fact that they were a miserable team to watch for the rest of the season. the debbies when they won their cups were the same way. why is their fan base so small? because they were the most un-fun successful team ever. in exchange for 100 painful-to-watch games, their fans were able go "YEAY" in june. i don't think it's worth the trade off.

anyway, the flyers are going to be fun to watch over the next little while. win or lose, it'll be a good ride.

[Mad Dog]

@aziz

well, you, me, and fans of st louis, LA, washington, toronto, vancouver, buffalo, winnipeg (old jets and new jets), minnesota (north stars and wild)...we aren't alone in this. if my math is right, only 14 teams have won the cup since the flyers' last one. fans of 16 other teams have been waiting and hoping year after year after year.

Well, sure. We are not along is what you are saying. Somehow, though, this is a weak consolation to me. I am a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers. I don't give a rat's tail about the other teams or the fans of those teams, just like I am sure they don't give a rat's tail about the Flyers and the fans of the Flyers. And that's normal.

I will say that I sort of sympathize with the Leafs' fans. They share a similar frustration with us. But so what? It's like being poor and soothing yourself with a thought that there are many otehr people who are poor. Maybe it works for other people (in fact, I am sure it does), but that's not my thing.

this is all entertainment. to me, the important part of hockey in general, and being a flyers fan in specific, is to enjoy watching and following and rooting all season long. watching a winning game is more enjorable than watching a losing game, and watching a winning series is more enjoyable than watching a losing one...and i assume watching a stanley cup win will be more enjoyable than anything else...but it isn't why i watch.

You have touched on an interesting subject and even a sensitive subject.

While I agree with your sentiment, I just can't make myself feel this way when I turn on the TV or go to the game. Deep down, I understand this is entertainment. I mean, it is. No less than watching opera, or a movie, or a reality show.

But……… I can't just turn my emotions off when it comes to watching the Flyers play. That’s what it comes down to me. I can't look for that magic switch, because that's what it would be..... at least for me. I don't have many passions in life. Even when it comes to sports, when I watch basketball, tennis, or football, I *can* treat it as just sports. I *can* just watch and analyze without feeling a special connection. Hockey, for some weird reason, is different for me. I want this team to win. I feel a special affinity to this team. Call it craziness. Call it ardor. Even call it obsession. Fine. It's probably all of these things. But when I watch the Flyers play, I am thinking of what this team needs to do to win. That's my bull's eye. That’s an ultimate target. I care about the outcome more than I care about anything else *when* it concerns the Flyers.

You are offering that I treat this as pure entertainment. That would be great; problem is, I have hard time re-wiring myself. Clearly - from what you described - you and I are wired differently. There are fans/posters on this very board who are wired just like you, and that's perfectly fine. There is not a single thing that's wrong with that. I just have a difficulty simply watching the game and not being on the edge, not feeling like I am a part of the game.

I want to share this team's success. I want to be a part of a parade on Broad Street - the street that I walk in average once every month. Hell, even *knowing* that there is a parade on Breed Street will be sufficient; I don’t even physically have to be there. Again, you and I are wired differently. And that's all there is to it.

So tying all this together...... I can say that I even feel jealous of the team who wins the Stanley Cup every year. It doesn't sit well with me that Carolina, Tampa and Anaheim won the Cup and we can't win in 37 years. I give this team a big credit - they painstakingly try, every year, to win. They do. They spare no expense to get the fans the Cup. And that's great. But when you go to the Conference Finals, when you even go to the Finals, at some point getting amassed 100 points in a regular season, finishing high in standings, and icing a competitive team is no longer good enough. Maybe it is for you, but I am no longer satisfied with just watching a great product on ice. I want this team to win the Cup.

Just about every year, there is attempt at the explanation as to *why* the Flyers didn’t win. Bad coaching, Lindros, bad goaltending, injuries, tiredness, too much youth, not enough youth, not enough physical players, goaltending again…. every year there is something else. But the outcome is always common – no Cup. And there is always a feeling, an underlying theme, a promise that next year will be different. We are not sure why the next year would be different……. maybe just because the Flyers and we, fans, want to think that something will be different. We felt that way when Lindros came to town and the Legion of Doom was formed, we felt that way when Paul Coffey was acquired, when Beezer was acquired, when Brind’Amour was traded for Primeau, when Hicth was hired, we felt that way when Roenick was acquired, we cherished some promise with Richards and Carter…….. nothing happened…. NOTHING….

Again, it doesn’t bother you because you treat this as entertainment.

Lucky you I say.

I mean really.

[idahophilly]

You never know where a topic is gonna lead when you start one....

[OccamsRazor]

the series what team do you root for.

Now , I'm NOT even CLOSE to mailing it in here. Just having some fun theorizing on who's next choice would be. Now , wouldn't it be ironic if the Richards and Carter win the cup with LA??? Would that rub you raw or would you be proud of the all the displaced Philly pedegree?

A Capitals vs LA would be cool. So would a Capitals vs Coyotes. Could you imagine the Coyotes winning!!!!??? The NHL's bastard children and buttmans own team (basicaly anyway)! Wow, think of the conspiracy theories then!

So, JUST in case, whos the 2nd choice?

That would be CRUSHING to watch them hoist the Cup....i don't even want to think about it any further!!!!!!!

How about the Yotes winning it ALL after getting rid OF Bryz and signing Mike Smith for just 2 mill....that would hurt just as much if not MORE!!!!!

[doom88]

That would be CRUSHING to watch them hoist the Cup....i don't even want to think about it any further!!!!!!!

How about the Yotes winning it ALL after getting rid OF Bryz and signing Mike Smith for just 2 mill....that would hurt just as much if not MORE!!!!!

Would that mean the Cup spends a day at the NHL headquarters?

[OccamsRazor]

Would that mean the Cup spends a day at the NHL headquarters?

Ooooch...

[aziz]

I will say that I sort of sympathize with the Leafs' fans. They share a similar frustration with us.

well, no. not only have they gone longer than us without seeing their team win a cup, but they are being forced to watch game after game and season after season of really terrible hockey. they don't get the big hurrah that you and i also dont get, but they don't get the little ones, either. seriously, pity them.

as for the rest, i know what you are saying, and i don't think we really are all that different. there is a slight change in perspective, is all. i keep myself caught up in the cyclical nature of the thing, where everything resets over the summer and the process continues. a stanley cup win only means something for a moment; the cycle will pick back up shortly after and that win will become history. there will be a new campaign to go through. a team wins a cup...and then what? start it up again from zero. the fact that the blackhawks won the cup a few years ago instead of the flyers doesn't mean a thing today. the fact that the phillies won a world series a few years ago doesn't help when they are terrible this year (not a baseball fan, but the standings don't look real good). the win is transient, the team and the game are ongoing. they're my eternal companion and distraction throughout the year, every year. a cup win would be a huge bright spot, but just a spot, and i'd go through the same hope and worry the next fall that i always do.

anyway, i get what you are saying, and i respect it. i just can't let the shortterm completely overshadow what is and will be a big part of my life, win or lose. there really is always next season, either way.

[Spinorama]

the series what team do you root for.

Now , I'm NOT even CLOSE to mailing it in here. Just having some fun theorizing on who's next choice would be. Now , wouldn't it be ironic if the Richards and Carter win the cup with LA??? Would that rub you raw or would you be proud of the all the displaced Philly pedegree?

A Capitals vs LA would be cool. So would a Capitals vs Coyotes. Could you imagine the Coyotes winning!!!!??? The NHL's bastard children and buttmans own team (basicaly anyway)! Wow, think of the conspiracy theories then!

So, JUST in case, whos the 2nd choice?

we don't take kindly to playing hypotheticals that have our team out of the hunt. As far as I'm concerned that isn't a question that needs even the least bit of thought now but should that be the case then I will cross that bridge when we get to it thank you very much!

GO FLYERS!!!!