Being a sports fan can take an emotional toll, especially when you are invested in several teams. The more you follow, the more highs and lows you have to deal with.
If you can time it right, by supporting teams in different success-failure cycles, sometimes one can achieve a balance, or happy medium. Right now is one of those times for this writer.
As a long-suffering Buffalo Sabres fan, I am no longer suffering. Fourteen years of ineptitude, close calls, and cursing the puck gods have finally yielded results. Comedian Rodney Dangerfield often said that if it weren’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all … try being a Sabres fan during that playoff drought!
The amount of ridicule we Sabres fans had to endure was almost enough to make one change allegiances. It was a character-building exercise if there ever was one.
But ridicule no more! Buffalo made it across the finish line of the regular season, winning the tough Atlantic Division, finishing second in the Eastern Conference, and placing fourth overall in the league. There were smiles everywhere in Sabreland. For me, any time spent in the playoffs is a bonus — that the Sabres beat the Bruins in the opening round and get to play the Canadiens next is awesome. Again, I am just happy to see my team not on the golf course this time of year. Maple Leafs fans know what that is like.
This hockey happiness counters my football misery this year. There are many expressions that could be used to describe the season my favourite teams have had. Nearly all of those expressions are not fit for print or polite company. Feeling discouraged would be an improvement.
All my European teams — Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, and AC Milan — have decided playing for third- or fourth-best is better than trying to be the best. The Bundesliga, La Liga, and Serie A championships will each go to their arch-rivals, adding insult to injury. CF Montréal is off to a dismal start in MLS, and Atlético Ottawa are just getting started in their season. The worst, though, has been the English Premier League team I support — West Ham United.
When I first started following the sport, I chose to support West Ham because my maternal grandfather was from that part of London, England. Its fans were gritty, working-class folk. The stadium was a storied ground that made vintage feel new. It was the home of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, and Martin Peters, who propelled England to its 1966 World Cup victory. It even reportedly counted Queen Elizabeth II among its supporters. This was proper English football with a great pedigree — and the Queen’s backing.
The team has remained in the league, despite a few close calls. And we even won the third-highest European championship a few years back before selling off our best player for a bag of used soccer cleats. This season has been a disaster.
At the time of writing this column, West Ham are 18th and in the relegation zone with three games remaining. If that result stands, the team will drop out of the Premier League next season. That would be akin to the Leafs being booted down to the American Hockey League. Worse yet, my team’s city rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, are two points ahead of us in that relegation battle. How utterly embarrassing!
Speaking of embarrassing, all the Canadian Football League rule changes make me wonder what is left that qualifies the league as Canadian. Eight of nine teams making the playoffs sounds very much like Junior C hockey.
Readers may wonder why this all matters. Trying to follow, figure out, and stress about sports teams and leagues is way easier and healthier than trying to figure out the state of the world outside of sports. A little sports escapism never hurt anyone.
This column was originally published in the May 6, 2026 print edition of the Morrisburg Leader.
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