Well,,,Sunday again and the Maple leafs kicked butt ,,,I know it didn't look like we were gonna make it but hey,,,,we're scrappers,,,and watching the game in relay,on a Belgian Sunday morning is almost as good,,,because I just peeked eh,,,,and saw the scores on the net.
I was gonna say : " Well,,just beginning of the season lol,we'll win the next one ",,cause at the moment that i write this, 'les Canadiens' are 3 to 1 ahead ,,,but knowing that overtime will get US ,(that's Go Leafs Go,lol) the victory is sweet !
I went to an all-girls school,,,and boys were creatures we saw on the bus to school or watched (without being seen watching) when they hung around at the busstop. They were acting cool and we were acting like we didn't see that,eh. They mostly talked sports and I had an older brother that played soccer,,,which is as big a hype in Belgium as hockey is in Canada. So at home we watched soccer eventhough three girls enriched the family after the firstborn male,,,,to make it a tight package ,we had a lil bro to top it all off and make the family complete, I had to mention this just to fill ya'll in properly eh.
Soccer was big in our house,,,so was cycling,,,no game or contest was missed,,,and so us girls knew a lot about it,eh. We knew what off-side was before we were eleven,,,,also knew not to 'talk gibberish' during a game,,,and ya know what? Dad was right about that : how can ya concentrate, how can ya 'feel' the game and enjoy it if ya talking about trivial things ?
Hence my love for sports although I'm just a couch-potato-sports-lover, it was the start for me to love a lot of sports : you name it, I like it,,,and I'll ask untill i understand the rules and I'll pick a team,,,I'll sit on the tip of my 'couch' when I can catch a game of the Brisbane lions,,,for sure.
Now, how did a Belgian girl get interested in the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Well,,,they tricked me into it,,,but I'm a loyal one,,,,being a leo ya pick ya team and ya stick by'm,,,come rain or shine so I'll never leave the leafs,,,no chance,,sorry lol !
At that time I was a baby chatter,,,I pretty well stuck to chatting in one room,,,one I still have a soft spot for eventhough it's gone : I grew up there,,,learned the values of a good chatroom, and learned how to host people. The host and owner of that room was and is my roll-model, ,,she 'felt' people,,their needs , but also saw right through the whining and the 'look-at-me-i'm-the-Gods-gift-to women/men-routine',,,I learned a lot from her,,,most importantly her caring for her chatters,,,whom she called friends.
Ok,,,Belgian,,,,Maple Leafs Toronto,,,,well,,,one evening I entered chat and there was an animated convo going on,,,,and every three or four sentences there was this 'Go leafs Go',,,,which made me curious cause Foxy had absolutely no idea what leafs were,,,to me the leafs fell of the trees and I knew what a Maple tree was,,,beautifull in fall,,,majestic in summer.
So I asked ,,, and I got my answer, but not before eh, I shouted : 'GO LEAFS GO',,,and I did ,,,,ofcourse I did,,,,then told the belgian girly it was ice-hockey and they all had a lot of fun eh,,,explaining the rules to me : All together now: "hit ya opponent if he's in the way,,,a good fight makes the game exciting,,,this is a canadian sport,,,this is THE canadian soul ,its blood and bones !",,,,and they liked it that I was excited and not went : 'ohhh ,such a violent sport,,,ooohh,,,they hit eachother".
Oh come on,get serious : " If ya can't stand the heat, stay out of the kichen,,,if ya can't cut it stay of the ice ! It's rough ,true that,,,but it's so exciting so see the moves,,,the swiftness,,,the game,,,beauty eh !"
In that room , I was part of the euphoria ,the overwhelming enthusiasm,,,and i missed that from my childhood days,,,nothing binds people more than their team winning ! And they were good-humored about it,,,they excepted the fact that ya can't win'm all,,,they talked about the players of other teams with admiration : they were proud and that is what made me smile. That night in chat,,,and other times made me fall in love with the canadian spirit, the way they look at things,,,I'll always have a soft spot for'm,,, sue me lol,,,
