In 2007, 11-year-old Kale Baire sat in front of the television flipping through the canals in her hometown of Ashland, Kan. – inhabitants: 900 or so – hoping to see some bullfighting.
But the bull-riding channel in the small town of Kansas instead showed an NHL match, a quarter-final between the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins. And because he had never heard of them before, he decided to rummage through Ottawa.
His new favorite team lost that night, but thus began Baire’s 15-year journey of triumph and heartache (mostly heartache) and cheered on the Ottawa Senators.
Sometimes he regrets it.
On Monday, just before the trade deadline, Baire took to Twitter to lament his decision to cheer on Sens, all the way from his current home in Wichita, Kan.
It got the attention of some likeable local Sens fans, as well as CBC Radio’s Ottawa tomorrow.
“The Ottawa Senators are obviously not a good team right now, but if you look back at the last 15 years that I have messed up [for them]there have been some amazing years, “he told the show Tuesday.
He quoted then-rookie goalkeeper Andrew Hammond’s “hamburger” run in 2014-15, the (failed) playoff bid in 2017 and the end of “Pizza Line” by Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza.
“You can relate the team to so many great emotions. And now I relate it to the joy of complaining online with a lot of other people on Twitter.”
LYT | Ottawa tomorrowthe whole interview with Baire:
Ottawa tomorrow8:36The Ottawa Senators fan in Kansas wonders why he chose to cheer on this fighting team
Kale Baire became a senator fan by chance when he saw a game on TV, even though he lives thousands of miles from Ottawa. As the trade deadline expires and senators continue to live close to the bottom of the post, he tells Robyn Bresnahan to support a whistling team from afar. 8:36
Other Sens fans are reacting to Baire’s pain
Here are some of the reactions to Baire’s sad tweet.
I did not know there were fans outside the Ottawa area. You might be the one. Our Neo. Can you see any 1s or 0s that could help this team?
I’m an hour out of Ottawa and I feel like I made the same mistake 🤦🏻♂️
Could have made it worse. Imagine the heartache if you had chosen Leafs !!
Thank you for sharing in our suffering. You may have been seen as a fairweather fan in 2007, but you’ve proven your heart over the last 15 years.