I should be happy.. but...

I should be happy, Hell, I should be ecstatic. One of the teams I've followed since I became a hockey fan, back in the mid-80s, is 1 win away from winning the Cup. I should be jumping for joy that they're finally back in the finals and praying for a different result than the last time (okay, I am doing that last bit).

Unfortunately, I'm also too damned frustrated to be truly happy.

Yep, I'm one of the few Canucks fans out there that's not watching this series through green-and-blue glasses, who sees the diving and embellishing and whining for what it is, who has no tolerance for it. I'm one of the few  fans who also doesn't particularly care for Luongo or anyone in management. What this seems to mean is that my fan card is constantly being called into question, or I'm just being told how to be a fan, that I should shut up and support all of the people in Canucks jerseys simply because they're in Canucks jerseys.

I'm not even a little bit sorry to say that my fandom, my allegiance, my love of team and more importantly of the sport, doesn't work that way. I'm actually a bit put off by the blind allegiance, the "my team can do no wrong, everyone's out to get us!" mentality that I see all over the web these days. Watching my twitter feed during a game is downright painful most nights of this series.

Some observations I've made over the course of the playoffs, and the finals in particular that people would do well to remember (not just during the playoffs, but all season long):

• The refs? Aren't out to get your team. Whichever team. They may not call everything you want, but I guarantee you that not everything you want called is a penalty. 
• Both sides, whatever the series, whatever the game? Have awesome fans, and have horrible fans. The horrible ones are probably the loudest, but they aren't all there is. Their fans love their team just as much as you love yours - and they probably think your antics are just as bad as you think theirs are. Get some perspective.
• Speaking of perspective: Stop calling for a penalty/suspension/ban for life/rocket to the moon every time someone gets injured. These things should not be determined by outcome of the play, but by the play itself. Many potentially problematic plays don't result in injury. Many innocent ones do. Punish the action, not the result, or we're never going to get consistency. It always looks bad when one of your players is hurt, but attempt some objectivity before screaming for someone's head.
• Don't tell other people how to be a fan of your team. Especially when they are, in fact, a fan of your team. Everyone is allowed to like and dislike who they want, but telling people to stfu and do it your way or to leave is only going to end up with people angry with you. Now is the time that as fans we should all be banding together to celebrate the good and commiserate the bad, not to fight about what the "right" way to support the team is - the right way to support the team is to support the team. The nitpicky stuff between fans doesn't help anyone.
• If you aren't having fun, reevaluate things. Believe me, I've been doing this all season long, and came to a whole bunch of conclusions, but those are things for another post. Some navel-gazing isn't a bad thing at all when it comes to fandom in sport... take some time and see what's bugging you if something is, then do something about it. You'll be happier for it. Just don't take it out on other fans, that's messy. 

So I've decided I'm going to continue to cheer on the team I grew up loving, curse the players in that jersey that I have no tolerance for, hate the coach, be pissed off when they dive, happily hate on the Bruins (except Tim Thomas, mad, mad respect to that man) and hopefully, scream and yell and cry and jump up and down an awful lot tomorrow night when they lift the Cup. 

I'm fine with that. That should be all that matters... we'll see if it is.