Needling the 'Sainted Sens': What is a Sens Fan?
Seeing as the Sens did not exist a mere 15 years ago, this question naturally arises in the minds of many Leafs and Habs fans.
Really, there are only three possibilities, in my view:
- The current Sens fan was so young that the Sens are in fact the team that they grew up with and naturally followed;
- The current Sens fan was not a hockey fan before 1992, or;
- The current Sens fan was a 'fan' of another team and happily abandoned their original team for the upstart Sens of the mid-90's.
[grumpy old man mode] Situation #1 means that the Sens fan in question is probably no older than say 25, and therefore we can gladly dismiss their opinions/beliefs/ideas without merit. Sure, give them another 10 years, and they will be the died-in-the-wool fans that they claim to be, but c'mon, you gotta earn it kiddies! We call these people "children".[/grumpy old man mode]
Situation #2 implies that they are likely older than 25 (much older), and are essentially a born-again hockey fan. These types of fans tend to be the most enthusiastic, and yet at the same time, the most easily dismissed. Why? Because it is very likely that they have never strapped a pair of skates on, and have never taken a half-frozen street hockey tennis-ball in the nuts. This is an automatic disqualification in the world of hockey fandom. These are your "born-agains".
Situation #3 is the saddest of the bunch. In this case, the fan is likely to be in the 25-40 year-old cohort, and probably claims to be a 'life-long' Sens fan. In reality, they were most likely a Leafs or Habs fan from birth, and only converted to being a Sens fan in the mid to late 90's when they hitched their ride to the 'new hotness' that was the up-and-coming Sens of that era. They have forsaken their original team for a temptress dressed in red and black, one that will prove to be a harsh mistress come springtime. We call these people, aptly, the "traitors".
So which one is it Sens fans? Are you a child, a born-again, or a bandwagon jumping traitor?
3 comments:
My buddies and I were talking about this yesterday because whenever the sens beat the Leafs you start seeing more sens fans.
The three categories hit the nail right on the head.
Rather than trying to pigeon-hole Sens fans into categories to negate any type of comparison to leafs fans how about simply admitting that the franchise attracted new fans which is good for the league? Regardless of how they became interested, a person interested in ANY NHL team is good for the whole of the game. With Montreal Canadiens approching 100 years of existence, and Toronto Maple Leafs about to break 90 years, comparing their fan base to the Senators after 14 years since rebirth is moronic and over-simplified.
ooooh diss...It is simplified because it is a simple situation. The fact that the franchise has only been around for 14 years was noted and formed a big basis of the analysis. In 76 years the fan base will obviously be more varied but as of now those 3 categories basically sum it up.
p.s. what kind of fans let their captain get booed in their own rink? sens fans.
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