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In various countries across the globe, sports fans are bound together by a certain belief or invariable custom of their homeland. The English have football as their first religion, while the Australians choose cricket. Americans opt for their national pastime to be baseball, and Germans display their driving skills to the world. In Toronto, there is no national favorite to follow, no one true sport that defines our city, rather Canada's biggest metropolis is united by its team. The team that fans have stuck faithfully to for a 40 year championship drought. The team that charges the highest amount for its ticket prices and nearly sells out during dismal seasons. The team that is Toronto is the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs have defined my childhood life in Toronto; they were everything to me. I had the Leafs bed sheets, pajamas, posters, jersey, and the Holy Grail to Torontonians: season tickets in my family line. My grandfather owned them, my father currently owns them and they are my inheritance. I care not of money or possessions that my family might leave me in their departure, I care about the tickets. Nowhere else across the NHL will one find such devotion as there is in Toronto. Fans will hate players, vilify them to no end after an appalling effort on the ice, pushing them to reach their potential, and then shower them with a hero's welcome after a clutch goal the following evening. Such is the mantra of a Leafs fan: through ups and downs we're always there, watching and faithful as ever.
There are those whose constancy with the team has wavered after such a deficiency of a winning record or a deep run into the playoffs; those aren't the true fans. I've sat through horrible gut-wrenching hours of Maple Leafs hockey, torturing myself watching my hopes wash away, but I have never let go of my hope that I will one day partake in the parade of the Stanley Cup through our streets. It isn't the managements fault for not handling the transactions properly, nor the players fault for not expressing their skill. It is just not our time. One day soon, however, that time will come. The moment we have been waiting for so incredibly and we will embrace the Maple Leafs as a father embraces his son after his first strides towards manhood.
Our team, our faith, our unification. For however long the Leafs remain in Toronto, no one will be able to doubt the devotion that its fans show, and that our loyalty will never falter. We've been through too much and have waited too long to wane in our hope now. No one can know what the future will hold for our hallowed sports franchise, I just know I'll be right there cheering them on.

Learn more about this author, Adam Davis.
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