Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - I'm becoming a fair weather Flames fan. Am I alone?

danimal · 11-11-2016, 02:15 PM

I've been a fan since the mid-80's. I listened to pretty much every game on the radio from 1989-96. Knew all the players, stats, etc and was lucky enough to go to at least one game a year (usually the one right before Xmas), so I was as big a Flames fanatic as there was. Once I got a job and started making my own money, I spent a lot of it attending games. The Young Guns era was pretty brutal but I have fantastic memories of going to games with friends and just being an idiot up in the nosebleeds, back when Rick "the Dinger" Bell has his hard hat section up there. I continued to follow them as closely as I could once I moved to Sask in 03, but in recent years, my interest has trailed off dramatically. I've often wondered myself why that is. Yeah, marriage, kids, job, mortgage take up a lot of my time but the truth is, I just don't find hockey as entertaining as it used to be. I don't think it even has anything to do with the Flames themselves.

I blame the internet, the whole "all sports, all the time". The coverage is overkill, in my opinion. Back in the day, I got my Flames news from Jock Wilson and Peter Maher, and the Calgary Sun. There was a mystique about everything. Now we have everything we need to know at our fingertips. Part of the fun was being surprised by roster moves, transactions, and game time scratches. Now you know that stuff 5 hours before a game.

Maybe I just grew up and my idea of entertainment has changed, I don't know. I was a huge wrestling fan too growing up, and it was a lot more fun being a fan when I thought those guys really hated each other. Now the curtain has been pulled back on that whole deal and it ruined it.

Oh, and the amount of money hockey players make is a hard pill to swallow when you're out busting your hump and still barely making end meet. Hard to get excited about a bunch of millionaires chasing a frozen rubber disc around a sheet of ice.

I'll still continue to follow the Flames and celebrate their success, but a lot of the fun has been sucked out of it.

11-11-2016, 02:15 PM	#111
danimal Draft Pick Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Regina	I've been a fan since the mid-80's. I listened to pretty much every game on the radio from 1989-96. Knew all the players, stats, etc and was lucky enough to go to at least one game a year (usually the one right before Xmas), so I was as big a Flames fanatic as there was. Once I got a job and started making my own money, I spent a lot of it attending games. The Young Guns era was pretty brutal but I have fantastic memories of going to games with friends and just being an idiot up in the nosebleeds, back when Rick "the Dinger" Bell has his hard hat section up there. I continued to follow them as closely as I could once I moved to Sask in 03, but in recent years, my interest has trailed off dramatically. I've often wondered myself why that is. Yeah, marriage, kids, job, mortgage take up a lot of my time but the truth is, I just don't find hockey as entertaining as it used to be. I don't think it even has anything to do with the Flames themselves. I blame the internet, the whole "all sports, all the time". The coverage is overkill, in my opinion. Back in the day, I got my Flames news from Jock Wilson and Peter Maher, and the Calgary Sun. There was a mystique about everything. Now we have everything we need to know at our fingertips. Part of the fun was being surprised by roster moves, transactions, and game time scratches. Now you know that stuff 5 hours before a game. Maybe I just grew up and my idea of entertainment has changed, I don't know. I was a huge wrestling fan too growing up, and it was a lot more fun being a fan when I thought those guys really hated each other. Now the curtain has been pulled back on that whole deal and it ruined it. Oh, and the amount of money hockey players make is a hard pill to swallow when you're out busting your hump and still barely making end meet. Hard to get excited about a bunch of millionaires chasing a frozen rubber disc around a sheet of ice. I'll still continue to follow the Flames and celebrate their success, but a lot of the fun has been sucked out of it.