Failure, or a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Sir Winston Churchill

I was not going to bother writing a single thing about the Toronto Maple Leafs and their abysmal start to the season (they always seemed bad, so why pay attention now), but I think that I have no choice now. I just found an article online in the U.K. Guardian that critiques both the city and the team, and you know that things are serious when other countries which have no concept of the sport start running you down. I have to chip in with a few thoughts.

The team will have to move. If my hometown, Hamilton, cannot have a team for financial reasons (just admit it, Mr Bettman), then Toronto cannot have a team for psychological and emotional reasons. What does it do to someone or some place when they keep trying to live on past glories when the present is far too bitter to face? Shouldn't they just move on? Macleans magazine and Saturday's Globe and Mail have commented on how the city is the most successful market for hockey. But whose success and on what terms?

The name of the arena will have to change back to Maple Leaf Gardens. To hell with the Air Canada Centre crap! Names are important and should reflect the environment they are in. Anyone that proud to fly Air Canada? Anyone?

These are just a few thoughts, but the problems run much deeper. The seats will be full, but there will always be a culture of arrogance and conservatism in that city that cannot be shaken. There is also too much money flowing into too many hands for so little return. My idea on the move is not just a joke; it is a means of survival.

And one final thing: Vive Les Habitants!