How do you cheer for/follow the Flames; Have you changed?

[Itse]

Honestly? I'm pretty close to abandoning this team to it's misery. I'm guessing I'll hang around for a good while (year? two?) out of habit and wishful thinking, but I just can't see the team becoming either good or interesting in the near future.

I guess when Jankowski and Gaudreau are on the roster I might want to see how they do, but I think there's a good chance just glancing at the team statistics might be enough for me at that point.

[Joborule]

When I was in my teens I would wear my Flames jersey every game day. Now I don't wear it at all unless I'm going to the game. And while I didn't take wins and losses too seriously with my emotions, I have tempered down invested I am into the Flames results.

The only thing that bugs me is how stubborn the management is at building towards the future rather than focus on short term results which hasn't been effective at all. I would like to see my team continue their season on into May once in a while.

[troutman]

Go to the logical conclusion OP - your new name is flameswin?

[CaramonLS]

It's been much harder to be a fan for the last 3 years, to the point where it is almost a chore to drive down to the Saddledome and sit through an entire game.

Mostly it has to do with the direction of the team now. Just give me hope, give me a sign that the Flames are headed in the right direction with the right kind of leadership and I can start feeling much better about being a fan. I won't be like I was back in 2004, but I'll be there.

There is a really good chance that if the Flames don't sell off at the deadline and start stocking up on picks, that you won't see me posting very often for a while, at least on FOI. I'll be a fan through a rebuild, where I can grasp on to hope, but I won't be much of a fan through this disillusioned "retool", where I can grasp on to nothing.

[troutman]

"Western Night" makes we wonder if my loyalty is deserved.

[HELPNEEDED]

cheering for wins and that i wont' change.

[Teroy]

Just like after the lock out, I keep coming back year after year. I go through periods of disgust, disapointment and hope but I keep coming back.

[burn_baby_burn]

When the Flames lost to Columbus twice in one week last November I got pretty fed up. Then I couldn't sell tickets to a game and I got really fed up and sold all my tickets for the remainder of the season. Watched on TV, but didn't make a special point of doing it.

This season, even though the results are the same or worse, I find the play on the ice to be a lot more entertaining to watch. I look forward to every game. My six year old son is really into hockey right now, and I love taking him to the games. He cheers throughout the whole game regardless of the score. It has reminded me that it really is just entertainment. Under the Brent Sutter era, I found the games boring and worried that I was losing interest in the game. Now I realize it was just the style of play and I really enjoy watching the games now. Especially in person.

[Table 5]

While I don't think I will ever care as much as I did when I was a kid, my slide into apathy started about 3 years ago, when it was just too obvious this team was going nowhere and they weren't willing to change. Last year, I barely even came into any game threads, ands just worked around the perimeter of FOI.

This year for some reason I had a tinge of hope with the new coach, Hudler, Cervenka, Baertschi all coming in. I still new it was going to be a decent team at best, but I did have some positive vibes going in. I don't get mad anymore at the team, but I do sometimes get mad at people who think this team can still somehow make noise in the playoffs.

One thing I can't really bring myself to do is to just blindly cheer for this team no matter what. I tried doing that last year, and it resulted in me just caring even less. It's just too hard to ignore reality. I probably won't be really excited about this team unless I do see some sort of long-term switch in philosophy.

One thing Ive started to do though is listen more to the radio again. A lot of times, the games are just more interesting when Peter Maher is calling the action.

[Phanuthier]

Probably like fw/MMF, I'm also mid-20's now, and I don't have as much emotional interest unless we're in the playoffs. I'm probably more critical though, probably find more interest in being a tinker'er on a message board; when I watch a game? They win? Ok... they lose? Ok... its a long season and there are a lot of games.

Playoffs, I'd probably be all in...

[Flash Walken]

First and foremost I enjoy watching hockey. As terrible as watching Flames/Phoenix or Flames/Minnesota can be, I still like seeing the up and coming young players from opposition teams.

The last three years I have picked a second team to follow at the beginning of the year, sometimes because I'll know a couple of guys on that team or I enjoy watching them play their particular style or I just have an affinity for them that year. Two of the three years I've been lucky, picking Boston and Los Angeles, but this year, picking the Rangers has been a bit tougher.

Still though, It's fun to watch exciting stars like Rick Nash, and seeing solid team games and team players like Girardi or Marc Staal. That's what I get out of it, is watching the games.

The direction and trajectory is and was painfully obvious, and when the Flames start playing their young players instead of sending them to the minors I'll probably be more interested, but this team was predictably bad, so there's not as much angst for me as say, the 2007 or 2006 team which underachieved in a significant way.

I'll still find time to watch 75 games or so this year, but I don't have kids or a job with an odd schedule. If I did, I wouldn't make any special effort to watch I don't think. Just check the scores and wait for something to cheer for.

On the other hand I will still do a Tiger Woods style fist pump after particularly nice goals.

[Huntingwhale]

I'm still as invested in the Flames now as I was when I was a kid. If anything, I'm more invested since the internet makes accessing anything easier and seamless.

The Flames to me are like crack addiction. I need my fix. I've been through some highs and lows with the team over the years. Mostly lows. But I still keep coming back. Everyone once in a while a good high will come (Cup win, 90s divisions titles, '04 run) and I'll keep coming back hoping to achieve that same high. But more often then not, I'm disappointed. I know that tough times are ahead for the team. But I still watch every game. I still read up on whatever information I can find. I'll still go to games when I get the chance. I'll never stop being a fan, no matter what happens.

[CliffFletcher]

My heyday as a fan was the late 80s to early 90s. Maybe it had something to do with my age (15-24), but I got much more of an emotional charge out of the games. And since the team was a powerhouse back then, I was somewhat spoiled over what I expected out the team - basically, they were competing for the President's trophy and hopefully a long playoff run ending in the Cup.

Now I've taken a few steps back and I follow the team mainly from a strategic, long-term asset management perspective. I still love playoff hockey, and I want to see the Flames franchise build a team like the powerhouse of yesteryear, a team that strikes fear into opponents and is capable of beating any team in the league in the 7 game series.

I'm patient now. I'll endure 3, 5, 6 years of lousy hockey if I think the team is assembling the pieces of an elite roster. If they're spinning their wheels, then following the team becomes almost an exercise in skepticism and comedy, the way some people who hate Ottawa follow politics. These days, it's like watching the gong-show - or rather, a repeat of the same episode of the gong show I've seen a few times before.

[Free Ben Hur!]

Drinking mostly. When I was younger it was lots of beer. Now I'm older so I've transitioned more to red wine. Way fewer calories and its good for your heart y'see. And if the Flames are particularly bad or good on a given night I'll transition to Scotch just to mix it up.

[Igster]

Still a fan and that will never change. I really don't find myself getting that excited during the game or after a win right now simply because I want to see some pretty major changes. Losing will bring on those changes. I don't really "cheer" for them to lose, but it doesn't bother me if it happens. I still watch every game and I always will, no matter what happens going forward.

[BigJim]

I was a fan of this team out of the gate, which puts me back a long ways. I remember not doing well in school after a loss and felling great the next day after a win. As a teenager, I was so invested in them that I think it really affected my moods. Flash forward 30 years and I still have a passion for this team, mixed with the disappointment of so many lost seasons. I almost think that 2004 was the worst thing to happen to this team, as the expectations that came with it almost guaranteed a let down.

I'm addicted to CP, as it's still the best place to get up-to-the-minute information, but sometimes can't take the vitriol and bickering. Having said that, there are many on this board who know far more than I about this team, so I find that I value their opinions.

My son is in love with hockey and that has kept me interested, so I guess that the bottom line is that I will still watch them, not a obsessively as I once did, but still with the hope that the Flames will be the ones attracting the positive attention for a change and do amazing things on the ice.

[JJsChaos]

I like the forum topic and I like your opinion, however, I find myself feeling very different. I’ve never felt like this as a sports fan. I’d like to think I’m loyal, and cheer for my team through the ups and downs. However, this feels different to me. I actually find myself hoping they lose. I know this contradicts being a supposed “loyal fan”, but the natural evolution process to allow your team to be competitive again is nowhere in sight for this team.

Other sports teams I cheer for have done things very different. When your team is no longer competitive, you move higher paid, under preforming players and try and stock up on draft picks and prospects. This process doesn’t happen in one year, it takes years. Calgary has used free agency to try and build their core. This is a recipe for disaster. Free agency should be used to support the core. Two examples – Hawks have their core of Kane, Toews, Keith and Seabrook – they bring in Hossa to support the core. Kings have Kopitar, Brown, Doughty, Quick – they bring in Richards and Carter to support the core.

I’ve asked myself, why does management continue to use the same strategy year after year? The only answer I can come up with is - the fans continue to cheer on the team they put on the ice, so why would they change?

There is a very loyal fan base here. If management chooses to go in a completely different direction, many fans would support that. Here is what I’d love to see:

Redefine what type of team you want to be. Create an atmosphere and culture and stick to it. Draft, draft, draft - build around this with home-grown players that were interviewed and want to be a part of the Flames culture. For the love of all that is good and holy, build from within, not from outside the organization. If an organization has a strong culture, and believes that building within is how to be successful, then drafted players will have a greater sense of loyalty. Once this is established, the Flames can carefully select players via FA and/or trade to fill the gaps in the roster.

I’ll put my jersey back on when ownership really wants to win and not just get a dollar where and when they can. No more patchwork jobs year after year.

When they start winning again, all us melancholy fans will be cheering hard with big smiles once again.

[PeteLFan]

I think the apathy is because of no playoffs. Those get you invested as each goal is so crucial, each hit, every play, save its so intense. You can't get that feeling unless you are in the playoffs and chasing a spot.

That 9 game losing streak under Brent really killed it for me.

[calgaryred]

I really don't have a hard time being a fan. when I was growing up I was much more invested in the Flames, luckily back then they became the best team in the league, the BOA was at it's best, and I cheered on players like Joey Mullen, Hakan Loob and Doug Gilmour. When the team went from top of the ladder to the young guns era, it was a hard time missing the playoffs after years of first round exits. Then I got my life together focused on my career, and treated hockey as it should be for entertainment. If the Flames win it's fun, if they lose it's oh well.

I love many sports and when its summer I watch football, winter its basketball and hockey. I don't miss hockey when the season is over. My life revolves around family, friends, my finance, personal goals, and my dreams. I am not going to stress out and rant over things I have no control over. If the Flames crap the bed oh well, when they win, good job.

[seattleflamer]

Watching the Flames gives me and especially my American born kids a regular connection to their Calgary roots. Thank goodness for CI.

We usually visit for a week or so around Canadian Thanksgiving so we catch the early season games when there is still hope especially lately.

Distance and just the busyness of life with family has changed the ability to follow the team despite 24/7 technology. Still very loyal to the club but less passionate about the sport with so many other local options.