After the most recent debacle at the Air Canada Centre, MLSE had some fans arrested and charged with mischief for tossing their jerseys on the ice. This poor excuse for a professional sports franchise continues to embarass LeafNation! Is "Jersey Tossing" a crime?
First of all, these fans PAID for their jerseys out of love and respect for the team. They PAID to watch under-achieving, over-paid players go through the motions (as loose as they looked) and collect on a contract that is funded by such ticket and jersey sales. When you pay for entertainment, and the entertainment delivered is a sub-standard product, then I believe you have every right to let them know that you are fed up. Players whining like cry-babies about how it's disrespectful to toss the jersey are full of crap. THEY are the ones disrespecting the jersey, not the fans. The players are the ones that are handed free jerseys, the fans pay well for theirs.
In post game interviews, Leaf players provide great sound bites and put on their pouty faces while saying they are giving it their all. Well guess what? If THAT is your ALL, then you need to renegotiate your contracts and have them reflect your effort or skill set. MLSE may be okay with this for tax right off reasons, but the fans are not. For 47 years, the fans have been asked to live in the glory days of the past. Sure, if these were the glory days, then jersey tossing is disrespectful. That's when the players played for what's on the front of the jersey. Today's players play for the name on the back of the jersey. Not for the logo, not for the fans, it's simply for themselves and their current contract. Let's look at it as the fans tossing the jerseys for the names on the BACK! WIth that in mind, why is jersey tossing considered disrespectful.
MLSE and their players will bitch and complain that this group of players cannot be held accountable for the past 47 years. They are not being held accountable for anything other then their last shift. Come on, this is TORONTO!! The building will always be sold out. Real Sports will always be a cash cow through jersey sales, and the love-in will continue season after season. Players can have an awful game and touch the puck on their final shift and receive a standing ovation, sometimes that qualifies them for one of the three stars. This is Toronto, where the Leafs can do no wrong. Leafs' players know this! They try to guilt the fans for showing their true feelings. The players have developed a sense of entitlement to be able to do whatever they want and receive cheers even when they lose or shun the crowd. News Flash! Real life does not work like that. You need to dig deep and give back even the slightest bit, or at some point you will have to face the backlash. MLSE has enjoyed decades of the fans giving them unconditional love, blind faith and undying loyalty. MLSE has given NOTHING back. Every relationship is a two way street. When it's as one-sided as this has become, the giver is going to get FED UP! That's what you're seeing now. Jersey tossing is the best thing that could happen to open MLSE's eyes. This is the new reality. Get used to it MLSE. The jerseys are the new waffles. 47 years of icing a sub-standard product is the crime, NOT jersey tossing. MLSE has been Making Losing Seem Easy for years and getting away with it while raising ticket prices so that fans can witness the train wreck that the Leafs have been for almost 50 (YES …. FIFTY) years. If anyone should be charged for mischief, it's MLSE. In fact grand theft and fraud may be more appropriate charges.