Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Longtime fan sells Leafs allegiance for $25, now cheers for Dallas Stars
Kirby, a 39-year-old from Keswick, Ont., became so disillusioned with the constant losing, mismanagement and limited hope for the future that he agreed to give it all up, becoming a fan of the team chosen by the highest bidder in an eBay auction last week.
Under the headline, "Very Used Toronto Maple Leafs Fan!!!!" Kirby's ad said: "I have never seen the Stanley Cup come to Toronto (unless it is in the Hall of Fame) and the future looks just as bleak!! I can take losing (and actually cheer for it) if I think it may benefit the team in the future. Well, with no first- or second-round pick in 2010 and no 2011 first-round round pick (yes, you are welcome Boston) and very little on the way of prospects in the system ... it is time for me to bail."
For a while, the highest bid was six cents. Kirby was secretly hoping the bids would stop at $19.67 -- those digits represent the last year in which the Maple Leafs won the Cup -- but he was pleasantly surprised when Chris Dawson, a Dallas Stars fan from North Bay, Ont., agreed to buy his allegiance for $25. The money will go to a charity at the hospital where Kirby works.
"I go way back to the days of Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald and Mike Palmateer," Kirby said from his home Wednesday night. "The Leafs had a great pre-season, there was a lot of hype after last season, when we had a crappy season, but not crappy enough to get (first overall draft pick) John Tavares... I am now a Dallas Stars fan, and I already have a Stu Barnes game-worn jersey."
-- Canwest News Service
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 29, 2009 C2
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