A superfan transformed
By Special to Yahoo Sports | Buzzing The Net – Steve McLean was a superfan of the Brampton Battalion to the bitter end when the team moved to North Bay. He took his talents as a supporter to the Guelph Storm, buying season tickets. Life was good, until it dawned that his first OHL love and his current beloveds were on a collision course to meet for the league championship, giving people an opening to use the B-word: bandwagon! In his own words, the Brampton, Ont., resident explains how it came to be, and why one has to learn to move on.
They say time heals all wounds. I cannot say if it heals all wounds but it sure helps with the loss of your favourite junior hockey team. Well, that and having another team close by to adopt.
Thirteen months ago, the day I had long dreaded arrived. The Brampton Battalion were no more. Even though their move to North Bay became official in late 2012, I had continued to cheer for them in and soak in all I could. An overtime loss to the Sudbury Wolves ended their season and sent me on an emotional roller coaster that I had wondered if I ride out with dignity. Battalion play-by-play man Doug Anderson put it best later that night as several of us shared drinks one last time, as we usually did after home games: “Steve, regardless of what happened here tonight the sun is going to come
up again tomorrow.” You might think, “Wow, Steve, get a grip it’s only a hockey team. The world isn’t over.” Feel free to think that, but it was still devastating to me.
Enter the Guelph Storm.
