This is Starting to Get Ridiculous

Fan: (noun) - an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.: a baseball fan; a great fan of Charlie Chaplin.

A fan is someone who sticks with their team through thick and thin. A fan is someone who goes to the games and cheers for the team to succeed. All a fan cares about is winning.

There aren't many fans on Long Island.

Last night, at the Islanders 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, I had yet another heated discussion with someone who claims to be an Islander fan. The conversation was good spirited in nature, talking about the pro's and con's of the rebuild, the effectiveness of Coach Gordon's system, and what the future may hold for the Islanders. However, when the letter was brought up, I heard something that sent me up the wall...

"I can't tell if I want them (the Islanders) to win this game or not".

The reasoning for his predicament: two words that at this point in the season, I'm starting to get a little sick of: John Tavares.

Everybody who has been to a game at the Nassau Coliseum this year knows who John Tavares is. The young center playing for the London Knights of the OHL is the likely first overall pick in this summers upcoming draft. He has put up amazing numbers in the OHL and helped lead Canada to a gold medal at the 2008 World Junior Chamionship in Ottawa this past December. To sum it up, John Tavares may be the next big thing in the NHL.

I have spoken to many people who feel that this season is lost and that the Isles need to move on. This may be true. However, being a Mets and Jets fan (as if the Isles weren't torture enough) this past year has taught me something: no matter how bad things may get, you NEVER root against your team.

Depsite the fact that rooting for your team to lose shows people how bad a fan you are, there is no reason to think that he will turn the organization into a Stanley Cup contender next year. everyone makes the case that he can do for Long Island what Sidney Crosby did for Pittsburgh. There is a legitimate point here, but people are forgetting one major thing: Crosby played with one of the greatest all time NHL players his first year, Mario Lemieux. The Islanders don't have a Lemieux to put Tavares with his first year, and this may cause Tavares to take longer to develop than some people think. Let me tell you right now, Islander fans are setting themselves up to be disapointed. To put such pressure on an 18 year old kid who hasn't even been drafted yet is unfair to the player, the organization, and the rest of the fans.

Let me close by speaking directly to the "fans" who are rooting for losses. We don't need you as fans. Root for the team to lose now, but don't come back. One player does not make the team, and IF John Tavares is drafted, you will show up to the Coliseum wearing your new #91 jerseys, feeling optimistic about winning a Stanley Cup next year, and when it doesn't happen, you'll leave again, feeling cheated. You'll say "he's a bust", "we should've drafted Hedman", or "I'm done with this team". You'll quickly show us who the real fans are. You root for the player rather than the team. You are typical New York fans, and we don't need you.

So, to all of you who can't wait till next year, either get on the train now, or get off forever, because as the late Herb Brooks once said: "the name on the front of the jersey is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back!"