To cheer or not to cheer?

So all my fellow Canuks out there know tonight is Ottawa's first game in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It's fantastic to see a Canadian team actually in serious contention for the hardware in what many acknowledge to be Canada's game.

Too bad they're not the Leafs.

I'm a diehard Leafs fan. Yes, despite the gross grammatical error that is their name, I bleed Leafs blue. Despite the many, many, many disappointments over the years - I still beleaf.

Which is why I'm so torn at this very moment.

If you know hockey, if you give a damn at all, then you bloody well know Ottawa and Toronto are rivals. Bitter. We kinda hate them. But that's okay - they hate us right back.

And this works for us. We like, nay love, the Battles of Ontario and it is just so sad to know that you'll never see Ottawa versus Toronto in any Stanley Cup finals since we're in the same danged conference. Ugh.

Traditionally the Leafs have bounced the Sens right out of the playoffs but this year...uh, kinda hard to do when *gulp* Toronto didn't even make it.

Again. Sigh...

So what's a Leafs fan to do? Respect the rivalry and cheer for whoever the hell has the ability to take down our archenemies? Or suck it up and cheer for the Canadian team 'cause hey - national pride is thicker than blue water?

Dunno, folks. Dunno.

Further complicating matters for me is the fact that CJ, my BFF, is a HUGE Sens fan. I've forgiven her this 15 year error in judgment and we've simply agreed to disagree but man oh man. Her team hits the finals and mine hits the golf course. I can (sadly) only imagine how excited she must be to have her team slugging it out in the final round.

But never has there been such a disparity in results, and I'm kinda at a loss for how to handle the whole thing.

You see, it USED to be me taking the moral high road after my Leafs had throughly trounced her Sens in round one, maybe two. I'd cheer for my team, gently rib her and her team, but would gracefully enjoy the Leafs victory. That I could do. I was good at it.

This? This is completely foreign territory to me, and like a hillbilly having high tea with the queen, I just might not know how to behave properly in this, an unfamiliar state. Not that I'm equating myself with a hillbilly or, heaven forbid, the Sens with flippin royalty, but I thought it illustrated my point well.

So I sit here, watching the game, loving that the Sens are actually winning but hating myself for cheering for them. I feel like I'm betraying myself - my, what fascinating internal conflict I create for myself! Sheesh.

I guess it's okay for me to cheer for these bastards. I mean it IS the closest any Canadian team has come in years, so that in and of itself should suffice for this patriotic diva.

But why then do I feel so dirty? Must be the thought of that slimebucket Alfredsson in his stinky playoff socks. Shudder...

And that's your daily dash. How's your diva doin'?