Some sports fans take ‘diehard’ to the next level. People who climb to the top of that list? Marianne Beckwith and Jackson Jones painted the staircase of their west-side Saint John house blue and white, with a large maple leaf in the centre.
Outside their blue and white house, signs of “go leafs go” and “be leaf” dawn hand-drawn logos of the team. Jerseys fill every other window that isn’t filled with some of that art hosts jerseys of the team.
For Beckwith, the Maple Leafs’ win against Tampa Bay was enough for her to go outside the next morning to paint the steps. Rain or not, she went out and created the large crest that entered her home.
When asked if it was easy, humbly, she said it was a lot of hard work, with the logo not coming out the way she wanted.
“We were going to go all out,” told Jackson, speaking with Global News on Thursday.
“On that Sunday, mom got out her paintbrushes, and that became thing.”
That “thing” was born from a family of Maple Leafs fans, dating back to when Beckwith saw the Stanley Cup awarded to Toronto in 1967. Her fond memories of the last time the team won the prize.
She recalled that night, watching it on a black-and-white TV in her home with her father. When Toronto captured their victory, she described her late father dancing around the TV with his arms in the air.
That love for the team grew even stronger as the years went on, retelling her first NHL game she saw in-person at the Boston Garden against Bobby Orr and the Bruins.
From there, her family became what we like to consider “diehard” fans.
When asked what she thought of game one of the series, she politely said it was too hard to watch, moving to another room and waiting for the hope of a comeback.
“I’m a lurker,” she said.
“Maybe if they’re winning I’ll come and sit for a while.”
The pair are optimistic for an otherwise perfect series for the Maple Leafs. With the windows completely filled with blue and white, it’s difficult to put a finger on what the two will do next for their home.
She jokingly told Global News that maybe they’ll paint the whole house if they win again.
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