My Struggle to Get Interested in the Blackhawks and Hockey in General

Streak or not, the only way this season can end in true success for the Blackhawks is a reappearance of this Cup in city limits, at least in my eyes.

One thing you may have notice is missing from my blog site lately (aside from blogs) is coverage about the Chicago Blackhawks. Being as big of a sports fan as I am, hockey is one sport I have never been able to get into, even during the past 4-5 years with a much-improved and watchable hockey product on Madison Street.

Will this be on Chicago Theater in June 2013?

I tried getting into the Blackhawks when they were going through their Stanley Cup run. I was happy when they won it, even though I (like just about everybody but Patrick Kane) didn't actually see the goal that won the Stanley Cup for them. I even went to the parade and enjoyed myself, aside from some assholes throwing things into the massive crowd. A real Indian would have cried himself to death if he or she saw how littered the street was after the Stanley Cup celebration was over. (As usual, I digress).

A parade this time around could net about double the attendance.

Following the championship, my interest (or lack thereof) in hockey never changed. As much as I tried to get into hockey, my interest in the Blackhawks and the NHL in general was faint at best. I could name some of the Stanley Cup winners from the past X amount of years (not like I could with Super Bowl/World Series/NBA Finals winners - I could name all of those in every sport since I've been alive). I was even able to recite the last Canadian-based team to win the Stanley Cup off the top of my memory when the subject came up weeks ago (Montreal in 1993), although I credit that memory to my interest in Sega's NHL video games at the time - NHL 93 & 94 come to mind.

Hockey is a sport I wish I could get into, but I just can't. Maybe it's because the product translates poor to TV (at least to me). Maybe it's the lower scoring - although I'd disagree with that because I love me a 2-1 baseball game more than anyone I know.

I know I hate their way of distributing points in overtime/shootouts. The idea that a team can earn a point even when they lose the game seems absurd to me - a loss of any sort in any situation should not be rewarded, even if it comes in extra time. Think about it this way - would you want other sports to give losing teams credit for forcing overtime or extra innings and have weird baseball records like 78-72-12? Personally, I think the system before was just fine - maybe add about 5 minutes to overtimes and if it ends in a draw, so be it. To decide a winner on such an arbitrary process (the shootout) seems stupidly silly. Like my friend Jay said, it'd be like basketball ending in a free-throw contest (Dwight Howard vs. Blake Griffin could go on for days).

Perhaps me writing this much about hockey is actually a reflection of my inner-fan coming out - after all, why would I write this much about the problems I have with hockey if I didn't care. I don't think I'll ever be an active fan, which is a shame. Most of my close friends are big into the sport, and during these non-NFL months, it would bring me into the sports conversation for an extended period of time. At least long enough to pass the time until NFL comes around.

So to bury the lede - yes, I have noticed that the Blackhawks are on a historically sick run. Part of that has resulted in foolish decisions on my end, as I've bet against them a few times in this streak when a really high betting line presented itself. I think the streak is good for the NHL - hell, any positive coverage, even if portrayed by an ignorant hockey entity like ESPN, should be viewed as a good thing. With how bad a second lockout in ten years could have been for the sport, the NHL needs as much of this as they can. The longer this streak goes, the better it will be for them. This is somewhat comparable to what Cal Ripken's streak did for the MLB. Coming off of a strike in 1994, baseball needed a great story to attach itself to. And what a better story for them to come along than one that involves a sacred number (2,130) in a sport that attaches itself to sacred numbers.

As long as the Blackhawks continue to add to this streak, the NHL needs to do everything it can to promote  it. Hockey has very little opportunities in the national spotlight and needs to capitalize on this so that they can turn casual fans like me (but not necessarily me - people who haven't experienced the sport) into lifelong fans. The long-time Blackhawks fans can bitch all they want about the bandwagon fans coming along for the ride, but I don't see the wagon getting any smaller anytime soon. With the old Wirtz in there, there was little reason for people to actually care about the Hawks - I give many props to those who toughed out those years as fans and stuck with them through the thinnest of thins.

As far as the bandwagon subject goes...To those long-time fans who complain about the bandwagoners, I say - Be open and accepting to their presence. Teach them about some of the nuances of the game (like explaining offsides, icing, etc.). As long as they are willing to become genuine fans of the Blackhawks and hockey in general, give them the respect you would want when you are learning about or finding interest in something for the first time. Besides, these fans aren't going anywhere.

As crazy as it seems, this crowd WILL be larger if there's a parade in 2013.