Rough time to be a Pats fan in Southern Ontario

[JSn]

So there I was, minding my own business when I get a last minute request to take someone to a Neil Young concert Thursday night. I pulled on my Pats toque (yep, it's true) and off we went. As an aside, I'm not a Neil Young fan, but the show was excellent, and I quite enjoyed Wilco and Everest.

The concert was at the Air Canada Centre (an amazing hockey arena) which is literally two blocks from the CN Tower and Sky Dome (I know it's called the Roger's Centre, but no one here calls it that). We were early and the band hadn't dropped our passes off at the will call yet, so we decided to walk to the Dome and grab a cup of Joe.

Well, it turns out people are very excited about the AFC East clash here, and those people are not fans of the New England Patriots. I managed to end up in numerous exchanges about the how the Pats are toast this year and how the Dolphins and Jets (barf) are coming after the division, blah blah blah.

I think these games are setting up a new Franchise here. The Bills COULD move here, but I hope they don't.

Eventually I found some Patriots fans, but they were all traveling with or in the bands. Ontario loves NFL football, but they DO NOT love the Patriots and after a couple of nasty remarks from total strangers in the heart of Toronto, I think making a playoff run would force me to trade in my toque for a flak jacket. And let me say, this isn't the USA, this kind of thing is not very common (though people do get pretty worked up about hockey, for some reason...).

Watch for a Pats/Bills clash in TO in 2010. I'm already excited.

Any other Patriots fans in the area running across the hype and hostility this game is bringing to us?

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Extra points for using "toque" twice in a post. Makes me miss Bob and Doug.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

So there I was, minding my own business when I get a last minute request to take someone to a Neil Young concert Thursday night. I pulled on my Pats toque (yep, it's true) and off we went. As an aside, I'm not a Neil Young fan, but the show was excellent, and I quite enjoyed Wilco and Everest.

The concert was at the Air Canada Centre (an amazing hockey arena) which is literally two blocks from the CN Tower and Sky Dome (I know it's called the Roger's Centre, but no one here calls it that). We were early and the band hadn't dropped our passes off at the will call yet, so we decided to walk to the Dome and grab a cup of Joe.

Well, it turns out people are very excited about the AFC East clash here, and those people are not fans of the New England Patriots. I managed to end up in numerous exchanges about the how the Pats are toast this year and how the Dolphins and Jets (barf) are coming after the division, blah blah blah.

I think these games are setting up a new Franchise here. The Bills COULD move here, but I hope they don't.

Eventually I found some Patriots fans, but they were all traveling with or in the bands. Ontario loves NFL football, but they DO NOT love the Patriots and after a couple of nasty remarks from total strangers in the heart of Toronto, I think making a playoff run would force me to trade in my toque for a flak jacket. And let me say, this isn't the USA, this kind of thing is not very common (though people do get pretty worked up about hockey, for some reason...).

Watch for a Pats/Bills clash in TO in 2010. I'm already excited.

Any other Patriots fans in the area running across the hype and hostility this game is bringing to us?

My principal residence is in Fort Erie, a stones throw away from Bills territory so you can imagine what I go through. Worse, probably a hundred or so of our patients are Bills fans and they all know I am a long time Patriots fan.

I also have a condo downtown TO. I wear my Pats garb all the time and barely anyone comments. They are too busy contemplating the continued demise of the Leafs I suspect.

 

[BlitzFritz]

So what is a toque?

And is all this happening because Da Bills are playing in Toronto this week? I may have missed the big news....

PS I grew up in Rochester NY, 60 miles east of Buffalo, and in no way shape or form did I get even close to becoming a Bills fan. I am a bit surprised the Torontonians feel some Bills affinity.

- FRITZ

 

[JSn]

So what is a toque?

And is all this happening because Da Bills are playing in Toronto this week? I may have missed the big news....

PS I grew up in Rochester NY, 60 miles east of Buffalo, and in no way shape or form did I get even close to becoming a Bills fan. I am a bit surprised the Torontonians feel some Bills affinity.

- FRITZ

Toque: Um...

Anyway, after Hockey and the CFL (which is pretty good sport - Ricky Williams played for the ARGOs) Canadians watch NFL feetball. Being the huge glut of us live in Southern Ontario, we're stuck between the Bills and the Lions. Who would you pick?

 

[DarrylS]

So what is a toque?

- FRITZ

It comes from a song, "one toque over the line, sweet jesus, one toque over the line, sitting downtown in a railway station, one toque over the line".

It is a shame it happened at a Neil Young concert..

 

[JSn]

I also have a condo downtown TO. I wear my Pats garb all the time and barely anyone comments. They are too busy contemplating the continued demise of the Leafs I suspect.

Yeah, seriously. When I was at the ACC I was perusing the banners. The Leafs were dominant in the first half of the century.

 

[JSn]

It comes from a song, "one toque over the line, sweet jesus, one toque over the line, sitting downtown in a railway station, one toque over the line".

It is a shame it happened at a Neil Young concert..

LOL - I was thinking of Matt Light when they played "Keep on Blockin' in the Free World".

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Well, it turns out people are very excited about the AFC East clash here, and those people are not fans of the New England Patriots. I managed to end up in numerous exchanges about the how the Pats are toast this year and how the Dolphins and Jets (barf) are coming after the division, blah blah blah.?

Me, I'd say use the, "Hey you Hosers!" intro line with them Great White North folk.

 

[tdw777]

I've yet to have a normal conversation about the pats with anyone outside NE (unless they are transplanted new englanders). I live in Pittsburgh area and these guys are fanatical about the steelers and hate the pats..most exchanges I have with steeler fans are that the pats can't win without cheating.

I was in indy last year at a sports bar the night pats played the giants last regular season game. I was wearing a pats shirt and hat and was told by one of the waitresses that they didn't like my kind around there. Everyone in the bar, which was packed, were rooting against the pats which is understandable...but they were rooting for the giants to break brady's leg and put him out of the game.

Was at the pats buffalo game last year. I think bills fans must have some gay fetish or something. My son and I were wearing pats gear and they (bills fans) were telling us to go sleep with each other. Then at the game, some dude behind us wouldn't stop yaking his gums. Everytime brady would come onto the field, he woud say "Brady's a queer, brady's a ***". The guy just wouldn't shut up. Even the bills fans were telling him to stfu. We left at halftime. I made up my mind that from that day forward I would only go to games at gillette where I can wear my pats gears without having to listen to a bunch of s%$#

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

We're hated everywhere that has any kind of NFL exposure.

The fact that a 12 year old girl can get booed at a PPK winner ceremony for wearing Patriots colors says alot.

I'm not sure how bad the fans of our AFCE rivals are, though I did see that 'suicide pact' thread from jetsinsider.com that was posted here before the Jets game lol. But like the poster above I also live in western PA and Steeler fans are completely obsessed with hating us.

 

[drew4008]

It would make sense. The people in Buffalo and Toronto are similar... both low-class trash.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

It would make sense. The people in Buffalo and Toronto are similar... both low-class trash.

Geez, did a guy from Toronto and Buffalo gangbang your wife or something?

 

[Michael]

So what is a toque?
- FRITZ

I believe it is a stocking cap. Pronounced too-ck
To all the Pats haters in the great white north. TAKE OFF AY!!! YOU HOSERS!!!! :beersign:

 

[BlitzFritz]

Um... lets try to keep it clean gents....

anyway, my research tells me that those hosers up in the great white north do NOT wear the standard issue Mad Bomber that i wear to Gillette.

http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/cabelas/s7_901323_renderset_01?$main-Large$

apparently they were these
Tuque - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(fun cultural facts)

-- FRITZ

 

[Jackson 2]

I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel pretty extensively between NE and Florida (pleasure, not business) and the degree of hatred toward the Patriots is more than significant. I used to proudly wear my Pats gear when traveling, but now I don't even take it with me. The abuse got to be too much. It's not that I'm adverse to some verbal give and take (in fact, I love that type of stuff), but I literally am concerned about physical type of stuff, particularly in airport and out-of-state bars. The kicker came when I nearly got into it with some Jets fans in an airport bar in Ft. Myers. My wife (the voice of sanity in our household) finally grabbed me by the shirt and said (angrily), "If you're going to be rolling around on the floor with anyone at your age, it'd better be me..."

 

[LuckyGandolff3x]

Yeah, being a Pats fan living in Miami is not pleasant either.

At the Pats/Fins game I had the PLEASURE of sitting next to this wonderful woman who would not stop jawing in my ear about how the Patriots and their fans are all terrible people, and cheaters, and ugly, and pale[mind you, this lady was very white and my friends sitting next to me and I are all hispanic and tan, go figure].

I decided not to respond to any of her comments, so I waited for Randy to make his first catch to turn to her and yell "MOSSED!"
She then threatened to punch me in the face.

Fans in Miami are unbelievable. After week 3 a lot of them told me they didn't care if they made the playoffs, all that mattered was that they beat the Patriots. They were also happy the Jets beat the Titans, because it prevented the perfect season, they could care less that it kept them a game back in the division.

 

[KTown]

O.K. this may be new to some of you that are not from this planet because you've been on your superbowl mountain but, winning brings on hatred.

People hate teams that win all the time. It's normal if people hate your team so much it means you as an organization are doing things right.

You don't see people hating on the Lions do you??? There is no reason to hate the Lions because they are just pitiful.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Yeah, being a Pats fan living in Miami is not pleasant either.

At the Pats/Fins game I had the PLEASURE of sitting next to this wonderful woman who would not stop jawing in my ear about how the Patriots and their fans are all terrible people, and cheaters, and ugly, and pale[mind you, this lady was very white and my friends sitting next to me and I are all hispanic and tan, go figure].

Damn them white folk, Canadians in particular. But I digress, anyhow I'm in FloriDUH last Feb south of Tamper and some near death experience geezer sees my Pats gear and says, "Hear about the BIG upset tomorrow?" referring to the Feb '08 SB. I write him off as some senile old coot, but the joke's on me. Bummah.

 

[Kontradiction]

Yeah, being a Pats fan living in Miami is not pleasant either.

At the Pats/Fins game I had the PLEASURE of sitting next to this wonderful woman who would not stop jawing in my ear about how the Patriots and their fans are all terrible people, and cheaters, and ugly, and pale[mind you, this lady was very white and my friends sitting next to me and I are all hispanic and tan, go figure].

I decided not to respond to any of her comments, so I waited for Randy to make his first catch to turn to her and yell "MOSSED!"
She then threatened to punch me in the face.

Fans in Miami are unbelievable. After week 3 a lot of them told me they didn't care if they made the playoffs, all that mattered was that they beat the Patriots. They were also happy the Jets beat the Titans, because it prevented the perfect season, they could care less that it kept them a game back in the division.

I hear ya. I'm in Jacksonville but my parents live in South Florida. It's bad. Even up here it doesn't get much better (despite the fact that Jacksonville has it's own non-Patriot rival football team).