Quote:
Originally Posted by _Q_
Maybe it's age for me, but I've said this before, and I'll say it again - I never really cared for this version of the Flames for some reason. The Fleury led years were fun. It was tough to cheer for the young guns Era team, but I stuck with it. Then the Iginla/Regehr core was lots of fun, but extremely frustrating.
Watching Monahan, Tkachuk, Gaudreau... while they were highly talented, I never really cared for those guys as individuals. They seemed like generic dudes, playing for my favorite team, because they were told they had to.
I'm hoping this new core can get me to care more again. As an Arab Canadian, I'm incredibly excited to have Kadri in a Flames jersey. As a young kid, I always loved hockey, but it was always a "white boy" sport. None of my Arab friends were really into it. Then Kadri broke into the league and I finally felt like my community was finally represented in my favorite sport. I felt like there was room for guys that look like me in the sport. I was always a bit jealous that he played for Toronto, then Colorado. I'm incredibly excited to finally have Kadri play for my favorite team.
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This x10,000
Generic dudes, LOL! SO spot on. JG was a bit different because he was an underdog and it was cool to see him overcome those challenges and grow as a player. I’ll never forget that, it was really amazing to be a fan during that progression and special story lines like this are what make sport special. Too bad it didn’t peak with a cup, but that isn’t a must for it to be special. I’ll probably still root for him as a player for all those reasons. His family seems genuine and I do not begrudge his choice to sign elsewhere at all, I’d love them a lot too and would “do the hard thing” to be with them as much as I could.
SM and MT are as pedigreed as they come and even though I share skin colour and genitaliac trait similarities, I feel no sense of identity with them. You and I grew up together, I wasn’t a rich white kid that played hockey. Those guys were mean to white trash kids like me and that is not something you get over fully, or at least I haven’t. I didn’t go to a white church, or church at all. I went to a school where I made friends with solid dudes like you and so my mind has a “bond with smart, kind people that might look different” bias to it. It’s hard to be this way in a world that’s stuck on seeing people only for what their genetic heritage MIGHT have been.
So… yeah man, I’m pumped to see Kadri here precisely because I know it gets Arab Calgarians pumped and I have so many friends who fit that. I’m pumped for him to play in a community where I know there’s going to be a huge amount of brown love coming from the city, and I hope that shines through during his time here.