One Way Streets and Monkeys with Glasses and Skates

Good morning and greetings to all you quesolitos out there who have been praying for the High Cheese's speedy return. Good news: I survived. I have beaten the summer death plague. Hope that you don't get it. It is no fun.

I actually have a question today that I need some help with: When is enough enough? (Is this? --yep.) No really, I mean it. When is enough enough? When can a team you like so much push you to the edge so that you begin to like another team instead? Are there justifiable reasons for ever changing sides, or are you a fan for life and a turncoat if you change no matter what?

I mean, I used to like Hockey--I know, I'm sorry too--and even more I used to be a Blackhawks fan--I know, I said I was sorry. They were really good, but then they got swept in the Stanley Cup finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins. No big deal, I was still a fan. I was still sporting my jersey and ready to play at a moment's notice--nevermind the fact that I had broken my wrist while rollerblading and couldn't ice skate either--(sorry for this big pause, but honesty demands a retelling of this story in a more honest light...)

So my cousin and I are really into hockey and we talk my parents into doing
their boring adult stuff without us and letting us play roller hockey in the
gymnasium at our church. All was wonderful as they drove off. We were lacing on
the skates and getting ready for a showdown. I wasn't a superb skater so I chose
to play goalie. I had a lot of the pads and the glove and I was already a master
of the game in my mind--a true netminding specialist. So for five furious
minutes we played "hockey," which was basically two chubby white kids rolling
the wrong direction on rollerblades and blaming them for our own lack of skill.
My cousin put a few past me, and like any bad workman, I set about blaming
my tools. I was sure that my skates were jacked up, and I had to check them
out.

This is where the fun starts. Most people with any shred of sense in them
would have sat down and checked out the skates. Not me. I was too stupid for
that. Instead I opted for the stand on one skate and kick the other leg onto a
table for closer examination method. Pure physics lets you know just how
retarded I am. So I kick my leg up and of course the other skate propelled by my
own portly mass and acceleration goes rolling out from under me. I fell to the
ground in a heap of belly, hockey gear, curse words, and a broken limb.

During a timeout...not the game...a timeout. That is when and how I broke
my wrist skating. It is not a hockey injury. It is a moron's badge.

So anyway, I liked the Blackhawks, but then they started getting rid of all the talent. I could handle a few bad trades. They even traded my three favorite players, including my all time fave. I had every hockey card of his that was imaginable. They stripped the team down to no talent hacks within a coupla years. I was still a fan. Even when they were voted worst sports franchise by ESPN, I was still a fan. But now they have that dubious distinction for like the sixth year, and the owner has gone on record numerous times saying, "Don't ask me about winning Stanley Cups. Those things are too expensive." I mean, he even admits he's not trying to win.

So is that enough? Can I turn my back on them and pledge my allegiance to another team? Or are there simply no grounds that allow for a fan to change their loyalties. Is it really a completely one way street--I give all to the team even if the team assures to give me jack squat in return? Let me know what you think. I need some guidance.