Must Every Leafy Thing Be So Freighted With Meaning? Yes, Yes It Must

Let’s play a game. What do you expect was the outcome of this 3-on-0?

Expectations are a funny thing in sports. They are as subject to the observer effect as any quantum mechanic: When a player or a team is aware of them, they may tend to play up to or exceed those expectations, or play down to them, as the case may be. Or they may be rattled and fall short. All this depends on temperament. The Maple Leafs have more observers than anyone, and their expectations are historically the least rooted in reality. Expectations and belief are two separate things, and in Toronto—at least among the 1050 caller demographic—those things are forever at war. Fans and local media believe that the Leafs will not achieve what is expected of them, even though those fans and media are the ones doing the expecting. It’s a weird scene.