Flames fans now cheer for “Todd the Terrible”
Todd Bertuzzi is taunted by a fan during his Canuck days.
Oh how times have changed. When Todd Bertuzzi hit Steve Moore on March 8th, 2004, he instantly became public enemy number one in the world of hockey. Fans around the league booed when he touched the puck. Not a few fans, the majority of them.
After missing a year of hockey, not only in the NHL, but abroad, Bertuzzi returned to the game a shadow of his former self. Bertuzzi was hated in Colorado, understandably, but he was hated just as bad, if not worse in Calgary and Edmonton where fans booed his every move, on every shift. He was a regular target for fans on Internet message boards. Opposing fans were adamant that Bertuzzi should be banned for life. Some even swore they would not even take him on their team.
Make no mistake, what Bertuzzi did was wrong, but don’t you find it just a bit hypocritical that the same people that made these comments are now cheering for him as a Calgary Flame?
It’s the nature of sports I guess. You cheer for the team…and the players on it. But in this case the hatred was so strong, the 180 just seems a little interesting.
It’s nice to see Todd off to a good start in Calgary. He’s paid for that night in many different ways, and it’s time for people to move on. Even those that said they would never do so in the past.
I must admit i always liked and i’m still liking the real #44 force.
I wish him him a super season in Calgary as long as the Canucks still beat them.
And if not it doesn’t matter, won’t boo him anyways…
To be quite honest, I think Calgary’s “love” for Todd Bertuzzi is a revealing reflection of the city’s true integrity (or lack thereof). In almost robotic-like fashon, Calgary has gone from absolutely hating Bertuzzi (to the point where Calgarians wanted to see him get permabanned), to completely embracing him.
Personally? I have absolutely no respect for Calgarians, and Calgary Flame fans. Period. Granted, rivalries will always exist in sports and even amongst sports fans (i.e. Yankees/Red Sox, Lakers/Spurs, Patriots/Colts, Canucks/Oilers, etc., etc.) but at the end of the day, you can always look in the mirror and say, “You know what? Those guys’ might be biased a-holes, but they aren’t that different from us. They are passionate about their team, they are passionate about their city, and they will always have a bias.”
So with that in mind, I can resect Oiler fans, Avalanche fans, Wild fans, etc., etc….although don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely no love loss.
I can even respect the Calgary Flames as a sports franchise. I have no problem admitting that I’m a fan of Iginla, Phaneuf, Kiprasoff, and yes, Todd Bertuzzi.
However – as far as Calgary Flame fans are concerned, I truly believe that they, in their entirety, are the most insecure, biased, gutless, classless, and least intelligent fans on the face of the earth….and yes…this includes Toronto.
The very fact that they would go so far out of their way to hate on Bertuzzi (just because at one point, he was a Canuck), only to then do a complete and utter 180, speaks volumes about the city’s integrity.
It’s not only this particular instance that strikes a nerve with me. Over the years, on various message boards, I have also found almost all Calgary Flames to be very limited in terms of having the ability to carry a rationale, non-biased, discussion (while at the same time, reeking of ignorance, insecurity, and a complete lack of respect for opposing fans).
To make a long story short – I find Calgary Flame fans to be gutless, insecure, and severely lacking in any form of integrity. It should be of no surprise that they act like Bertuzzi is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I think your brush is a bit too broad GM
All people in Calgary are not gutless, insecure and without integrity. I think this situation would probably occur in any city, and is more a refection of the relationship between fans and teams they cheer for.
I bet there are Flames fans who don’t like the fact Bertuzzi is a member of their team, but you don’t hear them over the thousands of fans cheering when he scores.
“but don’t you find it just a bit hypocritical that the same people that made these comments are now cheering for him as a Calgary Flame?”
I find comments like these not fair to the other teams fans. how do you know its the same people. I think its very easy to generalize that one fan is cheering one way and then flips back when something like this occurs. It makes for easy posting on the internet to not really be able to prove it one way or another. Im not relaly disagreeing with the statement as I am with the whole issue around the league in situations like this. You could compare it to when Esa Tikkanen played for Vancouver. We all hated him, booed him and then Cheered him the moment he was on our team. Same with Messier. Then boom as soon as they are gone its back to booing. All fans are hypocrites, You, me, the flames fans. Its part of the sport.
hey Maybe they finally forgave him. Doesn’t Todd deserve that?
As I said, I am sure it’s the nature of sport. But as a moderator of boards, I had never seen the venom directed at any player as a did with Todd. He was booed in unison by fans in Calgary and Edmonton…it was “different:”.
Todd does deserve forgiveness. I found it ludicrous at the time the way he was treated.
I just made an observation that I hear no boos now…it’s the nature of sports.
PBP….
Todd Bertuzzi has not been warmly welcomed in Calgary as you have accused.
His return to hockey has been rocky everywhere he has been and will probably be for a long time.
What people conveniently forget is he took his orders from someone and chances are it was Burke or Crawford or both.
Burke continues on with his day and Crawford shows up to do color for CBC….both of them are smiling.
Bert is not off the hook for anything….but he was the only one who paid.
I hope he does well here….
As for my city’s class…well, that is your opinion. But we have never had a riot after a loss. Or thrown a sweater on the ice as a player goes in on a breakaway. Oh yeah, the class spews over in Vancouver.
Just a point All Red, at the end of your post you do the same thing as PBP in his post…paint all of Vancouver with the same brush.
“Burke continues on with his day and Crawford shows up to do color for CBC….both of them are smiling. Bert is not off the hook for anything….but he was the only one who paid.”
Interestingly enough, I never heard ANY of these arguments from ANY Calgary Flame fans during 04-07. Not a SINGLE SOLITARY comment like the one that you presented.
If by miracle, Burke leaves Anaheim and come to Calgary, I will be very happy to re-visit your (revised?) quote.
This response is for All Red and Mattola (and everyone else I guess).
Here is my opinion and experience:
Do you guys remember back in 2000 when McSorely nailed Brashear with that vicious slash to the head?
Good lord Canuck fans were pissed….and rightly so! All across the radio, message boards, and internet sites, Canuck fans were screaming for this guy’s head. I know this because I remember surfing the net’ around this time.
Canuck fans were happy when it was announced that McSorely was suspended….and rightly so!
Based on my experience however, most Canuck fans GOT OVER IT about three (3) months later. Most Canuck fans acknowledged that McSorely made a dickhead move and deserved to be punished.
However – most Canuck fans (from my experience on the net’) pretty much agreed that McSorely was a decent human being for the most part…and just made a poor judgment. McSorely was not under contract to the Canucks, and so these observations (atleast in my opinion), made the comments a lot more genuine.
To the best of my knowledge, I also do not recall any fans from Carolina, Florida, and Tampa Bay calling for McSorely’s head or completely attacking the man’s integrity and character.
Who knows why Canuck fans, in my opinion, were pretty classy throughout this ordeal. Perhaps a lot of it had to do with the fact that justice was met? (i.e. McSorely getting suspended).
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After Bertuzzi ended Moore’s career in 2004, Colorado fans were extremely enraged….and rightly so. As a Canuck fan, me and many other Canuck fans were disgusted with what we saw (although in my personal opinion, I do not feel sorry for Steve Moore whatsoever, since he had been deliberately targeting Naslund all season that year…and not just that one game).
Throughout 2005/06 – Colorado fans were extremely hateful of Bertuzzi….and I don’t blame them one bit. Curiously enough however, Calgary Flame fans were the MOST outspoken of Bertuzzi…..even moreso than the Avs.
One particular well known message board devoted to Calgary Flame fans, consistently attacked Bertuzzi’s character and integrity on a regular basis.
From my observation, Oiler fans and Wild fans (along with most of the NHL), stopped ‘booing’ Bertuzzi once he left Vancouver. Colorado Avalanche fans would still ‘boo’ Bertuzzi, but this pretty much finished at the end of 07′.
The ONLY team to consistently and VICIOUSLY ‘boo’ Bertuzzi from 2004 to 2008, was none other than the Calgary Flames. Interestingly enough, Bertuzzi was still attacked viciously on a particular Calgary Flames message board….for no other reason that he once represented the Vancouver Canucks (in my opinion).
So – please pardon me when I accuse most Calgary Flame fans of being complete and utter hypocrites in regards to their welcoming of Bertuzzi.
When Claude Lemieux mauled Draper’s face back in the day, Lemieux was boo’d viciously by Red Wing fans for two years……and then they got over it. Not because Lemieux signed with the Wings, but because it was simply human nature to forgive and forget….and not attack a man’s character and integrity simply because he was a key player for a rival team.
Oh look, a lame juvenile blog intentionally created, using Bertuzzi an excuse, for the deliberate pupose of mud-slinging and bashing citizens of Calgary.
It’s ironic that a Flames fan would accuse this blog of “using Bertuzzi as an excuse.”
One could certainly argue that Flame fans “use Bertuzzi as an excuse” to now openly cheer the guy and sing his accolades……after spending the four years prior to that absolutely ripping on the guy…the last of which, they were the only NHL city doing it….even when Colorado fans for the most part had stopped.
Although there are notable exceptions, most Flame fans pulled a complete 180 when Bertuzzi signed.
Who knows? Maybe it’s admirable that the citizens of Calgary have decided to cheer a guy that they clearly had problems with in the past. Maybe that’s a sign of character. If that’s the case – kudos to Calgary.
On the other hand – perhaps one can interpret that as most Calgarians having no spine….and cheering a guy only because he now represents them….after 4 years of attacking not only the player….but the guy as a human being.