Step back from the curb, please. That truck is a whole lot bigger than you are, and chances are you’ll regret stepping in front of it.

Especially if you live.

The Lewiston Maineiacs have played to fewer people this season than they did last season.

Is anyone shocked by that? Maybe Mark Just, the team’s principal owner.

On one hand, Just is right. A championship season should have been enough to entice a sellout crowd on opening night. That is a fair argument.

But beyond that, it’s also fair to assume that attendance will swoon. Fans aren’t idiots. They all know that repeating a championship feat from one year to the next is next to impossible at any level of sport, especially when commissioners and league presidents continue to push the idea of parity down our collective throats.

It heightens excitement, for sure, because every game is supposed to be more competitive. And, barring a few extremes, most major leagues have become more competitive.

But look at the QMJHL. Four teams within seven points of the division lead on one side, and three teams neck-in-neck at the top of the other.

There is less separation between the top and the middle, and only one team can say for certain right now that it doesn’t have a prayer to make any series in which they participate fun and exciting.

(Of course, Drummondville won’t even make the playoffs anway).

The cycle in a league like the QMJHL comes around, whether a team wants to admit to it – or plan for it – or not.

In 2003-04, Gatineau took home the league title. This year, four seasons later, the Olympiques are again a threat.

In 2004-05, Rimouski took its turn. Next year, the Oceanic will be a force.

In 2005-06, Moncton and Quebec shared glory. The Remparts have continued to buy their way out of rebuilding, while the Wildcats are in Year 2.

Last year was Lewiston’s year, along with Val d’Or and Cape Breton. All three teams made strong cases and played great hockey.

And even the mighty Lewiston, the “we-don’t-rebuild-we-reload” Maineiacs have not returned to the top this season.

Yet.

In each of the cases above, for each of the winning teams, the following season was met with a measure of fan indifference.

Yes, even in the heart of hockey-breathing Quebec, fans in the know understand that the year following a title is generally a slower.

So, let’s see the numbers, shall we?

The most glaring example I can find is the Rimouski Oceanic. Their fans are certifiably nuts sometimes, and are about as rabid as you get.

But, in 2004-05, they had Sidney Crosby. They averaged exactly 4,800 fans per game during the regular season. The atmosphere in that building was incredible.

In 2005-06, These same fans still turned out, but in fewer numbers. That year, Rimouski averaged 4,158, a drop of 642 fans per game.

That season, it was Moncton taking home the league title. The Wildcats averaged a gaudy 5,800 fans per game that season.

One year later, in the midst of the Maineiacs’ run, Moncton’s attendance average dipped to 4,747, an astounding drop of 1,53 people per game.

The point, I suppose, is that teams that taste success generally don’t taste it twice in a row.

To look at Lewiston and see a failing franchise is just plain wrong, because you can’t expect a team to expect peak revenue every season.

I am sure the front office is well aware of that, and has planned accordingly.

A closer look at Lewiston’s attendance figures over five seasons bears that out.

In Year 1, Lewiston drew an average of just 2,102 people per game. Year 2, buoyed by Crosby game and Patrick Roy’s first trips here, the number swelled to 2,662. Year 3 saw the average dip to 2,521. Last year set a team high of 2,712, and this year the team, though all games played, is at 2,421, right on par with Year 3, which is about what the average turns out to be.

To expect attendance like last season is setting yourself up for disappointment.

But to suggest that smaller crowds, even if by a hunder or so people, is indicative of a failing franchise, is just plain shortsighted. Look at the big picture.

And stay on the curb.