It's been a hell of a month for yours truly. A little bit of everything has happened. A tour of the alphabet is in order....
Awesome girlfriend and cat family. I'm loving the new set-up and loving it even more with the loving g/f and cats that inexplicably entertain me on a daily basis. We've all adjusted to the new neighborhood quite well.
Bowling this summer. Our team has sucked so far this year. However, to start the second half of the year, we swept our first series. Let's see if this carries over into July & August.
Cell Dwelling at US Cellular Field. I've gone to a few games there this June, both unique in their own ways. I experienced my first-ever fog delay on a Monday night game when the White Sox faced the Blue Jays. I also attended the second game of a doubleheader on June 28th as the White Sox blew a 9th inning lead against the Indians.
Donations. Thanks to a last-minute pledge for money in my St. Jude/Warrior Dash efforts, I was able to gather a total of $1070 from my network of family and friends. I know those kids at St. Jude appreciate every single dollar donated. Thank you to everyone who donated.
Exercise. I need to find a gym soon or find new workouts to do. I don't want to regress to what I was before January 1st.
Fit Happens Champion. Over 30 pounds lost. Still have about 20-25 pounds to go before I'll be completely happy.
Game 6 - in both NBA & NHL Finals. Watched both in different venues (NBA at home, NHL at a bar). Each viewing experience left me shocked and reaffirmed why I love watching sports - the unexpected, unscripted drama that you can't get anywhere else.
Holding pattern. I had big plans coming up (trip to Seattle, new bowling league in Fall) that may need to be put on hold with the layoff. Hoping that I can find work quicker than the three months it took between jobs last time.
Ink for my computer. Yep, need some more ink. I had no idea what to write for the I portion of this blog, as you can tell.
Job search in progress. Yep, out of a job starting the end of day, July 5th. Any help would be much appreciated.
(5)K runs. I did my first one in quite a while on June 2nd. Fittingly enough with one of the guys who helped get me into shape. Thanks Chris. Going to try making them a monthly thing. Might hold off on this, depending on cost of 5K. Me needs to save some dough, yo.
Logan Square - love the new neighborhood feel. Moved here June 1. Love it here so far.
Mohawk. It may be short-lived, especially if I start to get interviews soon. I got it in dedication to my cousin Marilyn and the Warrior Dash run. Plus I look awesome with it.
Networking. It's the key that got me my last two jobs. It's exactly where I picked up when I heard the news of being laid off. So far, it has not produced results, but I have faith that my networks will be what gets me employed again.
Olivers. This remains my go-to suburban bar, particularly after bowling on Wednesdays before heading back to the burbs. I caught most of Stanley Cup Game 1 there, the end of Game 4, and always share good stories and good times with my friends there.
Pizza places. My favorite part of moving into a new Chicago neighborhood is to try new pizza places. I do miss Pat's Pizza, but there's a few good joints around here that I'm sure we'll enjoy just as much.
Quarterback Keeper. In less serious news (or more serious, depending on your level of fantasy football interest), trying to decide who to keep in my fantasy football league. Earlier in June, I was thinking Kaepernick. Now, I'm thinking Peyton Manning. I'm not sure how much longer Peyton has. I can keep either one of these guys for the next three seasons. Who would you choose?
Rear ended on June 14th. It was my second accident in a row where my car was not in motion when I got hit. Luckily, it was only a few minor bumps on the bumper. The guy who hit me offered to pay for my troubles, but I was not about to bother with that.
Stanley Cup Playoffs. Definitely the most active I've been involved with hockey in my life (from betting it to watching it). While I give bandwagon people a hard time, I have no problem with them. Bandwagons breed new fans of a sport, and that's never a bad thing - as long as people take the time to learn the sports they follow.
Trans mount. I needed a new one of these for my car (I couldn't tell you what a trans mount is or where it is in my car). I was about to get a new one and pay $400 last month at Firestone, but they didn't have one for my model car. Luckily they didn't - totally forgot about what was covered by CarMax and the warrant. Just got it fixed by CarMax for the low price of free.99.
Uncle Brian. Still is awesome to say. Will always be awesome. Every moment I've had to hold my nephew Brayden has been a fantastic moment. The last two times I saw him this month, he has been looking around and soaking in his environment. Can't believe he's already six weeks old.
Victory parade. I debated whether to attend the Blackhawks parade, but my parade experience in 2010 was all I really needed. Millions of people, with even just 5 or 10 percent of them drunk and an even higher percentage annoying, was not my cup of tea for this year's celebration.
Warrior Dash completed on June 16th. It was much tougher than when I did it three years ago. Glad to be a part of Team Carter.
eXcel Spreadsheets. As I was transferring files to my personal email before my work computer is taken away, I forgot how many excel spreadsheets I've worked with over the years. Many of my blogs had data stored in excels.
Year is half over. The year has flown, but it feels like this month has lasted longer than 30 days, as you can see by this blog.
Zombie Seinfeld. I caught this production on June 14th, right after the rear-ending. It was an excellent adaptation of Seinfeld that does not require one to love zombies (I can't stand zombie stuff) or even Seinfeld. Great job by Jeremy & Dan Eden, as always.
Showing posts with label blackhawks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blackhawks. Show all posts
6/25/2013
The Ultimate Blackhawks Bandwagoner Quiz: Are You A Real Fan?
Since I have nothing better to do, I decided to come up with a quiz to see how much you might know about the Blackhawks. Most of these answers, I knew beforehand but had to do some fact-checking just to make sure. I came up with this just now: eight Blackhawks questions for you fans and "fans" to answer. Feel free to provide answers in the comments, on the Facebook page or on Twitter.
And no Googling.
1. How many Stanley Cups have the Blackhawks won since becoming an NHL franchise?
a) 2
b) 4
c) 5
d) 8
e) all of them
2. Before 2010, when was the last time the Blackhawks won the Cup?
a) they never did
b) 1992
c) 1961
d) 1932
e) trick question, hockey was invented in 2010
3. Who is the all-time leader in goals in Blackhawks history?
a) Jeremy Roenick
b) Bobby Hull
c) Stan Mikita
d) Patrick Kane
e) seriously, who are a, b, & c; it has to be d, right?
4. Who is the captain on the Blackhawks?
a) Jonathan Toews
b) Patrick Kane
c) Joel Quenneville
d) Dustin Byff.....Buff-something
e) Captain Planet
5. Who was the owner who kept the Blackhawks home games off of television up until his death in 2007?
a) Jerry Reinsdorf
b) Bill Wirtz
c) Rocky Wirtz
d) Frederic McLaughlin
e) Their games have always been on TV, duh
6. What event in American history was taking place when Chicago hockey received national attention for their loud rendition of the National Anthem while hosting an All-Star Game?
a) World War II
b) Vietnam
c) Gulf War
d) 9/11
e) The release of Chelsea Dagger
7. What team was the last team to beat the Blackhawks in a Stanley Cup?
a) Philadelphia Flyers
b) Pittsburgh Penguins
c) Montreal Canadiens
d) Toronto Maple Leafs
e) They've never lost a Cup
8. Which of these teams is not among the Original Six teams?
a) Montreal Canadiens
b) Detroit Red Wings
c) Boston Bruins
d) Minnesota Wild
e) Chicago Blackhawks
Grading scale:
7-8 - Three stars (First-line fan that knows their stuff)
5-6 - Two stars (Second-line fan - good Blackhawks knowledge)
3-4 - One star (Third-line fan - sharpen up those skates)
0-2 - No stars (Full-fledged wagoner)
(Note: if you answered e) for any of these questions, you fail automatically. You get zero points, and may God have mercy on your soul)
And no Googling.
1. How many Stanley Cups have the Blackhawks won since becoming an NHL franchise?
a) 2
b) 4
c) 5
d) 8
e) all of them
2. Before 2010, when was the last time the Blackhawks won the Cup?
a) they never did
b) 1992
c) 1961
d) 1932
e) trick question, hockey was invented in 2010
3. Who is the all-time leader in goals in Blackhawks history?
a) Jeremy Roenick
b) Bobby Hull
c) Stan Mikita
d) Patrick Kane
e) seriously, who are a, b, & c; it has to be d, right?
4. Who is the captain on the Blackhawks?
a) Jonathan Toews
b) Patrick Kane
c) Joel Quenneville
d) Dustin Byff.....Buff-something
e) Captain Planet
5. Who was the owner who kept the Blackhawks home games off of television up until his death in 2007?
a) Jerry Reinsdorf
b) Bill Wirtz
c) Rocky Wirtz
d) Frederic McLaughlin
e) Their games have always been on TV, duh
6. What event in American history was taking place when Chicago hockey received national attention for their loud rendition of the National Anthem while hosting an All-Star Game?
a) World War II
b) Vietnam
c) Gulf War
d) 9/11
e) The release of Chelsea Dagger
7. What team was the last team to beat the Blackhawks in a Stanley Cup?
a) Philadelphia Flyers
b) Pittsburgh Penguins
c) Montreal Canadiens
d) Toronto Maple Leafs
e) They've never lost a Cup
8. Which of these teams is not among the Original Six teams?
a) Montreal Canadiens
b) Detroit Red Wings
c) Boston Bruins
d) Minnesota Wild
e) Chicago Blackhawks
Grading scale:
7-8 - Three stars (First-line fan that knows their stuff)
5-6 - Two stars (Second-line fan - good Blackhawks knowledge)
3-4 - One star (Third-line fan - sharpen up those skates)
0-2 - No stars (Full-fledged wagoner)
(Note: if you answered e) for any of these questions, you fail automatically. You get zero points, and may God have mercy on your soul)
Time of Your Life...Me? Ehhh, Not So Much: The Contrast of Emotions While Watching the Hawks Win the Cup
It's a surreal experience. Everyone around you - all your friends having the time of their life, the best day of their year. Within a couple minute span in real time, Blackhawks fans went from pondering their Game 7 plans to figuring out who they are going to the parade with on Wednesday.
It's awesome to see all these happy faces. And yet, at the same time, you can't fully enjoy the moment. Not when you've had one of the shittiest days of your year.
It didn't start shitty, and by no means did I plan on having it end shitty. But the news I received mid-afternoon, that I swore to keep to myself as long as I could to risk changing the mood around me, could only be buried under so much cheap beer (22 oz cups my ass).
After surviving cuts at work at the end of April, I thought I might be in the clear for a little while. A little while turned out to be a couple months. I received "The Call" about my job being no longer once July 5th reaches its end. At this point, unless I am able to find a job, I will be without work.
I leave with no ill feelings - in fact, I still love the company and love the people that I worked with for my entire 35 months there. At this point in my life, it has been the best company I've worked for in my brief professional career.
Going back to Monday...I debated whether I was going to meet up with Jen's co-workers as planned for the game or if I was going to lay back and likely sulk/drown my sorrows with Summer Shandys. I flipped a few times (nah, the walk there ain't worth it >>> don't let this stuff bring you down, go out >>> you just bought beer, stay home >>> how often do you get to go out with people during the week?)
So yeah, I went out. And I'm glad I did, despite the microburst that hit right before I reached the bar. I had to run the last mile of the planned walk in my flip flops due to the pending storms, with the last couple blocks being completely aided by the unreal winds and storm that I had no idea were coming.
I spent the entire time at the West End (blocks away from the United Center) standing up, taking different shifts at the TVs that surrounded me. I shared my sob story with one other friend before the game (thanks Ruthie), but otherwise kept it to myself as to avoid ruining the mood. I didn't sob, but call it a sob story for the simple fact that it sure as hell ain't a laugh story.
Several people in the group saw my empty stare towards the end of the game, at which point I could no longer really hide the weight of my day. Once the game ended and there was plenty of time to celebrate, I told a few of them what happened. I appreciated their well wishes, as I did with the initial wave of people that I told earlier in the evening before going to the bar.
The striking moods - about as 180 degrees as there could be between a person and a group of people - was present in my mind most of the night, especially as the spurt of goals led to a sudden Stanley Cup win for the Blackhawks. It was fantastic seeing the people who I've known a short while and suspect very little to be bandwagoners to have such joy on their faces. A fan's sports team winning a championship never gets old, even if it's the second time in four years, so to see that joy is fun to see.
On the other side, there's this bum of a guy who just got some bad news, trying to enjoy the moment of his friends while burying the bone of the bad. If anyone has been in a situation like this, where you've tried to keep a happy face on a great situation with a group of people around you while masking something that pains you, I'm sure you know my ordeal.
Life goes on - I'll get on my feet quick. I have the right attitude and will get through this situation just fine.
For that hour or so at the bar, the contrast of my friends' euphoria and my brief realization of my fate (which hit just as the game was winding down) was quite the mental spectacle.
Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone around me for your future help (and current help).
It's awesome to see all these happy faces. And yet, at the same time, you can't fully enjoy the moment. Not when you've had one of the shittiest days of your year.
It didn't start shitty, and by no means did I plan on having it end shitty. But the news I received mid-afternoon, that I swore to keep to myself as long as I could to risk changing the mood around me, could only be buried under so much cheap beer (22 oz cups my ass).
After surviving cuts at work at the end of April, I thought I might be in the clear for a little while. A little while turned out to be a couple months. I received "The Call" about my job being no longer once July 5th reaches its end. At this point, unless I am able to find a job, I will be without work.
I leave with no ill feelings - in fact, I still love the company and love the people that I worked with for my entire 35 months there. At this point in my life, it has been the best company I've worked for in my brief professional career.
Going back to Monday...I debated whether I was going to meet up with Jen's co-workers as planned for the game or if I was going to lay back and likely sulk/drown my sorrows with Summer Shandys. I flipped a few times (nah, the walk there ain't worth it >>> don't let this stuff bring you down, go out >>> you just bought beer, stay home >>> how often do you get to go out with people during the week?)
So yeah, I went out. And I'm glad I did, despite the microburst that hit right before I reached the bar. I had to run the last mile of the planned walk in my flip flops due to the pending storms, with the last couple blocks being completely aided by the unreal winds and storm that I had no idea were coming.
I spent the entire time at the West End (blocks away from the United Center) standing up, taking different shifts at the TVs that surrounded me. I shared my sob story with one other friend before the game (thanks Ruthie), but otherwise kept it to myself as to avoid ruining the mood. I didn't sob, but call it a sob story for the simple fact that it sure as hell ain't a laugh story.
Several people in the group saw my empty stare towards the end of the game, at which point I could no longer really hide the weight of my day. Once the game ended and there was plenty of time to celebrate, I told a few of them what happened. I appreciated their well wishes, as I did with the initial wave of people that I told earlier in the evening before going to the bar.
The striking moods - about as 180 degrees as there could be between a person and a group of people - was present in my mind most of the night, especially as the spurt of goals led to a sudden Stanley Cup win for the Blackhawks. It was fantastic seeing the people who I've known a short while and suspect very little to be bandwagoners to have such joy on their faces. A fan's sports team winning a championship never gets old, even if it's the second time in four years, so to see that joy is fun to see.
On the other side, there's this bum of a guy who just got some bad news, trying to enjoy the moment of his friends while burying the bone of the bad. If anyone has been in a situation like this, where you've tried to keep a happy face on a great situation with a group of people around you while masking something that pains you, I'm sure you know my ordeal.
Life goes on - I'll get on my feet quick. I have the right attitude and will get through this situation just fine.
For that hour or so at the bar, the contrast of my friends' euphoria and my brief realization of my fate (which hit just as the game was winding down) was quite the mental spectacle.
Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone around me for your future help (and current help).
6/08/2013
Chicago/Boston Series A-Bruin? Wait One Win-ute
In the dozen or so predictions that people provided (including my own), not a single person predicted Boston making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Not even my friend Tim, who is probably the biggest Boston Bruins fan that I know.
Everyone was on the nuts of the Pittsburgh Penguins to advance from the East, and rightfully so. Their offense in the regular season and into the first two rounds was explosive. In their two series before playing Boston, the Penguins lit the goal light up a total of 47 times in 11 games, an astounding amount, especially in the playoffs.
However, that all changed when they faced Boston. Two goals. No, I'm not talking about goals that the team set before their series against the Bruins. I'm saying that they actually only scored two goals. Two stinking goals in the four-game series (275 minutes in the series), averaging a goal every 137 minutes of game play.
To put that in perspective, the Bruins had to score 3 goals in less than ten minutes just to force an overtime in their Game 7 miracle comeback against the Maple Leafs in the first round. For fun, to calculate that pace over 275 minutes, that's.....a lot of goals. Actually, the Bruins would score about 82-83 goals at that rate.
Speaking of a team who made a comeback...
Instead of coming back from a 4-1 in-game deficit, the Blackhawks rallied from a 3-1 series margin to down the Red Wings in a thrilling and almost controversial Game 7 win at the United Center. Now, they sit in the reverse position, up 3 games to 1 against the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, who've only won one road game out of eight chances in the playoffs so far.
There's plenty of optimism that the Blackhawks will close it out today, but they need not forget the comeback that they made themselves to know that it's certainly not impossible for a team to run off three straight deciding games to steal a series. And it certainly won't be easy to close out the defending champs.
I don't blame people for being optimistic about Saturday being the end of the Kings' reign as champs, but as always, there should be a cautious optimism as fans entering the game, not a cocky "ha ha, we got this wrapped up already" feel.
Always respect your opponent, especially if your opponent is the champion. To use another sport's example from a current sport, there's no one who respects Rafa Nadal, the master of the clay court, more than Novak Djokovic, who had Nadal on the ropes in the fifth set but eventually lost to the Spaniard (as all but one opponent can lay claim to in the past nine years).
Even when you think you have everything in front of you, a Stanley Cup appearance within your grasp, you first must win one more game. And what a better way to do it than to eliminate the champs and face one of the Original Six for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup in a few weeks.
Before that happens, respect your opponent, the reigning champ. Cheer on your team. If/when they win that next game, then put your energy towards the Stanley Cup.
 |
| None of my friends had this as a possible 2013 picture |
However, that all changed when they faced Boston. Two goals. No, I'm not talking about goals that the team set before their series against the Bruins. I'm saying that they actually only scored two goals. Two stinking goals in the four-game series (275 minutes in the series), averaging a goal every 137 minutes of game play.
To put that in perspective, the Bruins had to score 3 goals in less than ten minutes just to force an overtime in their Game 7 miracle comeback against the Maple Leafs in the first round. For fun, to calculate that pace over 275 minutes, that's.....a lot of goals. Actually, the Bruins would score about 82-83 goals at that rate.
Speaking of a team who made a comeback...
Instead of coming back from a 4-1 in-game deficit, the Blackhawks rallied from a 3-1 series margin to down the Red Wings in a thrilling and almost controversial Game 7 win at the United Center. Now, they sit in the reverse position, up 3 games to 1 against the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, who've only won one road game out of eight chances in the playoffs so far.
 |
| Before worrying about the Bruins, Hawks (and their fans) need to worry about beating the Kings one more time |
I don't blame people for being optimistic about Saturday being the end of the Kings' reign as champs, but as always, there should be a cautious optimism as fans entering the game, not a cocky "ha ha, we got this wrapped up already" feel.
Always respect your opponent, especially if your opponent is the champion. To use another sport's example from a current sport, there's no one who respects Rafa Nadal, the master of the clay court, more than Novak Djokovic, who had Nadal on the ropes in the fifth set but eventually lost to the Spaniard (as all but one opponent can lay claim to in the past nine years).
 |
| A picture I captured at the Blackhawks rally. Can they do it again? Maybe, one more win for them to have that chance. |
Even when you think you have everything in front of you, a Stanley Cup appearance within your grasp, you first must win one more game. And what a better way to do it than to eliminate the champs and face one of the Original Six for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup in a few weeks.
Before that happens, respect your opponent, the reigning champ. Cheer on your team. If/when they win that next game, then put your energy towards the Stanley Cup.
5/23/2013
Out of (hockey)towners: Hockey Thoughts from Non-Hawks Fans in the Chicago Area
You might remember a blog series that I did before the 2012 NFL season began about people who live in/around Chicago and are fans of out-of-market teams. Seeing as though hockey is in season here (at least for a few more days), I decided to reach out to some of my hockey friends who have favorite teams outside of the Blackhawks.
Some of these gents - two of the Tims - were featured in the football blogs in August (one a Vikings fan, another of America's Team), so they have quite the background in rooting for non-Chicago entities.
With these friends of mine (four of them answered my questions), I was looking to see the roots of their hockey interest, what steered them to the teams they rooted for, and why not the Hawks?
I also gauged their thoughts on the large increase of Blackhawks fans who have (for the most part) been filling the United Center since Rocky Wirtz took over the team in 2007. They had varying thoughts on the bandwagon fans, ranging from acceptance to complete disgust.
Enjoy!
Bubba - Wings Man
The first one to answer (we'll call him Bubba) is a Red Wings fan, which seems to be the most common out-of-market team for Chicago people to root for. Needless to say, he's a happy camper as they sealed their third straight win to go up 3-1 in their best of 7 against the rival Hawks. When he answered this, they were down 1-0, so his answers may be different now than before, especially his predictions, which I'll mention below.
Bubba's roots as a Wings fan date back to his days of playing Sega Genesis, when the Red Wings had the best team in the game. "You couldn't beat them with (Steve) Yzerman, (Sergei) Federov, (Dino) Ciccarelli, and (Chris) Osgood," he said.
In a rivalry like Detroit/Chicago, you might find this nugget from Bubba surprising: not only does he not mind
the bandwagon of fans that have come cheer on the Blackhawks recently - he also cheers for the
Hawks...when they're not playing the Wings. He was rooting them on in the 2010 Stanley Cup - how many
Wings fans can you say did this? However, to be a true Hawks fan, Bubba has a few criteria.
"Give me stats and show me they know the game," he said. "If they know old players and key moments in history, I'd label them a true fan."
Entering the playoffs, Bubba said he would have considered this postseason a success if the Red Wings advanced past the first round of the playoffs.
"Since we did, I'm happy with whatever happens from now on," he said.
Having held onto his answers since Saturday, he might want to revise his Cup prediction (the Hawks losing to the Penguins in 6), but I'm sure he doesn't mind possibly being wrong about that.
So we know why he liked the Wings - why not the Hawks?
"Just not a Hawks fan," Bubba said. "I was born a winner and the Blackhawks were shitty for so long."
More Wings Please - The Tim C. Story
Another Wings fan in my group of friends, Tim C. fell in love with Motown's hockey team for a much different reason than Bubba. Instead of video games, Tim was introduced to hockey by Wings fans.
"After learning the history and traditions, I was hooked," he said.
Tim is a little more rough around the edges (to put it nicely) when it comes to his distaste of the Blackhawks and their fan base. As a kid, the Hawks were irrelevant to him, largely due to their lack of television presence.
"The Chicago Wolves had a better attendance rate," he said. "It's hard to root for a team that gets no local coverage."
When the Hawks won the Cup in 2010, Tim turned his TV and went to bed - so no celebrating with his Hawks friends like Bubba did.
His thoughts on the bandwagon fans are a lot different than Bubba's as well, and Tim certainly didn't mince words.
"Everyone is technically a bandwagon fan. They're no different," Tim said. "Now if you want me to answer what it would take for me to remove them of the label of low IQ'd morons, then my answer would be 'Shut up and listen. Learn something before you open your mouth because you spew verbal diarrhea.'"
Regarding his Wings, he has been very surprised to see the Wings playing so well, especially with their youth movement.
"For them to help grab the 7th seed, knock off the 2 seed, and give the 1 seed a run for their money," Tim said, "I'd say that's surprising and very impressive."
Like Bubba, Tim answered this before the Wings took a convincing series lead, so his series pick (Penguins over Hawks) may be different now.
"That's the match I'll root for if the Wings lose because it will be a classic," he said.
Another Tim, Another Out of Market Team A'Bruin
Yet another Tim in my group of friends can't root for the Hawks. This particular Tim roots for a team a little east of Detroit.
Tim W. became hooked on the Boston Bruins in a similar way that Tim C. did - with historical players on the team as he started following hockey. These greats included Ray Bourque, Cam Neely & Andy Moog, making his liking of the team come "pretty naturally."
He knew that his hometown team had some great players like Ed Belfour, Jeremy Roenick and Chris Chelios, but Tim couldn't bring himself to root for the Blackhawks.
"The Hawks and their poor management/ownership really steered me away from them," he said. "Not showing home games on TV really was a turn off and didn't make them seem fan friendly or accommodating to their fans."
Since his Bruins aren't really rivals in the truest sense of the word, Tim didn't find himself rooting against the Hawks like an average Red Wings fans would. Consider his Cup reaction in 2010 a cross between the Wings fans mentioned above.
"I was happy for the fans that I knew were true fans and tried to ignore the ones that just started following them," he said.
For those fans that fall in the latter category (the bandwagon fans), Tim believes there is hope for them to become real fans. In addition to touching up on the team's history, he believes showing loyalty will weed out the bandwagon fans from the ones who actually became fans in the past five years.
"If they are new to the game, they can prove their worth by sticking with the team through tough times, " he said. "Because it's easy to like the hot team when you first start following the sport."
Entering the Bruins second-round series versus the Rangers, Tim didn't think his team would advance. Now that his team has a 3-1 lead (lost Thursday in Game 4), he believes advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals is a given "barring collapse", but doesn't see them advancing past the Penguins in the next round.
"I don't think they are consistent enough offensively to beat the Penguins though, but they will give them a good fight," said Tim, who now has the Penguins over the Sharks (after revising it from a Blues over Rangers prediction before the playoffs started).
Penguin Pride
The last fan profile is on Don, who became a Penguins fan with help from his cousins and brother, with a little help from Mario Lemieux being a staple of the team when Don was a kid. Like the hockey fans above, his lack of exposure to the Blackhawks made his interest draw to a different squad.
"When I got into hockey, it was hard to watch a Hawks game with them not being televised," Don said.
His Penguins won the Cup in 2009, so seeing the best championship trophy in sports go to the hometown team the next year should have been tough on Don - but it wasn't.
"I was out with friends who were Hawks fans at a bar and took it as an opportunity to celebrate," he said, "seeing as though the Pens won the year before and I didn't do much for that."
Don finds the bandwagon Blackhawks fans to be annoying and more focused on social interaction with their friends while the game is on instead of intently following the action of the games. He does believe these bandwagon fans can become real fans if they try to educate themselves on the game.
"Real fans follow their team every day. They know all the players, when the games are, who they're playing against," Don said. "They know who's hurt or who's a scratch. They aren't there just for social interaction."
Making it a clean sweep among the out-of-market fans, Don is sticking with his prediction and bet from a few months ago that the Penguins will win the Stanley Cup. As a witness to his prediction, I can say that he had the Penguins over the Red Wings before the playoffs started.
"I think they have a real good shot at the Cup," he said. "But I thought that two months ago too when I bet it!"
Some of these gents - two of the Tims - were featured in the football blogs in August (one a Vikings fan, another of America's Team), so they have quite the background in rooting for non-Chicago entities.
With these friends of mine (four of them answered my questions), I was looking to see the roots of their hockey interest, what steered them to the teams they rooted for, and why not the Hawks?
I also gauged their thoughts on the large increase of Blackhawks fans who have (for the most part) been filling the United Center since Rocky Wirtz took over the team in 2007. They had varying thoughts on the bandwagon fans, ranging from acceptance to complete disgust.
Enjoy!
Bubba - Wings Man
The first one to answer (we'll call him Bubba) is a Red Wings fan, which seems to be the most common out-of-market team for Chicago people to root for. Needless to say, he's a happy camper as they sealed their third straight win to go up 3-1 in their best of 7 against the rival Hawks. When he answered this, they were down 1-0, so his answers may be different now than before, especially his predictions, which I'll mention below.
Bubba's roots as a Wings fan date back to his days of playing Sega Genesis, when the Red Wings had the best team in the game. "You couldn't beat them with (Steve) Yzerman, (Sergei) Federov, (Dino) Ciccarelli, and (Chris) Osgood," he said.
In a rivalry like Detroit/Chicago, you might find this nugget from Bubba surprising: not only does he not mind
the bandwagon of fans that have come cheer on the Blackhawks recently - he also cheers for the
Hawks...when they're not playing the Wings. He was rooting them on in the 2010 Stanley Cup - how many
Wings fans can you say did this? However, to be a true Hawks fan, Bubba has a few criteria.
"Give me stats and show me they know the game," he said. "If they know old players and key moments in history, I'd label them a true fan."
Entering the playoffs, Bubba said he would have considered this postseason a success if the Red Wings advanced past the first round of the playoffs.
"Since we did, I'm happy with whatever happens from now on," he said.
Having held onto his answers since Saturday, he might want to revise his Cup prediction (the Hawks losing to the Penguins in 6), but I'm sure he doesn't mind possibly being wrong about that.
So we know why he liked the Wings - why not the Hawks?
"Just not a Hawks fan," Bubba said. "I was born a winner and the Blackhawks were shitty for so long."
More Wings Please - The Tim C. Story
Another Wings fan in my group of friends, Tim C. fell in love with Motown's hockey team for a much different reason than Bubba. Instead of video games, Tim was introduced to hockey by Wings fans.
"After learning the history and traditions, I was hooked," he said.
Tim is a little more rough around the edges (to put it nicely) when it comes to his distaste of the Blackhawks and their fan base. As a kid, the Hawks were irrelevant to him, largely due to their lack of television presence.
"The Chicago Wolves had a better attendance rate," he said. "It's hard to root for a team that gets no local coverage."
When the Hawks won the Cup in 2010, Tim turned his TV and went to bed - so no celebrating with his Hawks friends like Bubba did.
His thoughts on the bandwagon fans are a lot different than Bubba's as well, and Tim certainly didn't mince words.
"Everyone is technically a bandwagon fan. They're no different," Tim said. "Now if you want me to answer what it would take for me to remove them of the label of low IQ'd morons, then my answer would be 'Shut up and listen. Learn something before you open your mouth because you spew verbal diarrhea.'"
Regarding his Wings, he has been very surprised to see the Wings playing so well, especially with their youth movement.
"For them to help grab the 7th seed, knock off the 2 seed, and give the 1 seed a run for their money," Tim said, "I'd say that's surprising and very impressive."
Like Bubba, Tim answered this before the Wings took a convincing series lead, so his series pick (Penguins over Hawks) may be different now.
"That's the match I'll root for if the Wings lose because it will be a classic," he said.
Another Tim, Another Out of Market Team A'Bruin
Yet another Tim in my group of friends can't root for the Hawks. This particular Tim roots for a team a little east of Detroit.
Tim W. became hooked on the Boston Bruins in a similar way that Tim C. did - with historical players on the team as he started following hockey. These greats included Ray Bourque, Cam Neely & Andy Moog, making his liking of the team come "pretty naturally."
He knew that his hometown team had some great players like Ed Belfour, Jeremy Roenick and Chris Chelios, but Tim couldn't bring himself to root for the Blackhawks.
"The Hawks and their poor management/ownership really steered me away from them," he said. "Not showing home games on TV really was a turn off and didn't make them seem fan friendly or accommodating to their fans."
Since his Bruins aren't really rivals in the truest sense of the word, Tim didn't find himself rooting against the Hawks like an average Red Wings fans would. Consider his Cup reaction in 2010 a cross between the Wings fans mentioned above.
"I was happy for the fans that I knew were true fans and tried to ignore the ones that just started following them," he said.
For those fans that fall in the latter category (the bandwagon fans), Tim believes there is hope for them to become real fans. In addition to touching up on the team's history, he believes showing loyalty will weed out the bandwagon fans from the ones who actually became fans in the past five years.
"If they are new to the game, they can prove their worth by sticking with the team through tough times, " he said. "Because it's easy to like the hot team when you first start following the sport."
Entering the Bruins second-round series versus the Rangers, Tim didn't think his team would advance. Now that his team has a 3-1 lead (lost Thursday in Game 4), he believes advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals is a given "barring collapse", but doesn't see them advancing past the Penguins in the next round.
"I don't think they are consistent enough offensively to beat the Penguins though, but they will give them a good fight," said Tim, who now has the Penguins over the Sharks (after revising it from a Blues over Rangers prediction before the playoffs started).
Penguin Pride
The last fan profile is on Don, who became a Penguins fan with help from his cousins and brother, with a little help from Mario Lemieux being a staple of the team when Don was a kid. Like the hockey fans above, his lack of exposure to the Blackhawks made his interest draw to a different squad.
"When I got into hockey, it was hard to watch a Hawks game with them not being televised," Don said.
His Penguins won the Cup in 2009, so seeing the best championship trophy in sports go to the hometown team the next year should have been tough on Don - but it wasn't.
"I was out with friends who were Hawks fans at a bar and took it as an opportunity to celebrate," he said, "seeing as though the Pens won the year before and I didn't do much for that."
Don finds the bandwagon Blackhawks fans to be annoying and more focused on social interaction with their friends while the game is on instead of intently following the action of the games. He does believe these bandwagon fans can become real fans if they try to educate themselves on the game.
"Real fans follow their team every day. They know all the players, when the games are, who they're playing against," Don said. "They know who's hurt or who's a scratch. They aren't there just for social interaction."
Making it a clean sweep among the out-of-market fans, Don is sticking with his prediction and bet from a few months ago that the Penguins will win the Stanley Cup. As a witness to his prediction, I can say that he had the Penguins over the Red Wings before the playoffs started.
"I think they have a real good shot at the Cup," he said. "But I thought that two months ago too when I bet it!"
5/17/2013
Fan Switch - When Is It OK to Switch Your Favorite Sports Team?
My friend Tim often shares with me his frustration with any and all things relating to the Dallas Cowboys. Whether it be something Jerry Jones said or did, there seems to be no shortage of things for him and any other Dallas Cowboys fan to legitimately complain about.
I don't want to turn this blog into a Quentin Tarantino flick with the colorful quotes that Tim shares with me about draft picks, dumb signings and baffling quotes - the most baffling of which has to be when he said he would fire himself as general manager if he weren't also the owner.
The more Tim complains, the more I tell him - bail on your team, like yesterday. I won't normally advocate being able to change your favorite teams mid-life, but I've come up with a few exceptions to the rule.
Note - this applies to any sports-loving adult. Kids can go back and forth and often love a couple of teams throughout the course of their childhood for reasons as silly as them being an expansion team or having a left-handed quarterback (so I liked the Jaguars when they first joined the league because of Mark Brunell).
Here are my only acceptable reasons for being able to switch allegiances to teams. I used some ideas that I found from a Google search on the topic, but the words and thoughts (as always) are my own:
1. Relocation of a team into your city/out of your city/team folds: This is one of the most acceptable forms of changing your rooting interest in a sport. For example, no one should expect any Seattle Supersonics fan to continue their allegiance to the Oklahoma City franchise when the Sonics had their team stolen away from them. If someone decides to completely disown being a sports fan in that scenario, I wouldn't blame them.
By the same token, if your city finally gets that coveted franchise in your city, it's quite all right to start rooting for that team. Houston Texans fans may have once been Houston Oilers fans and may have converted to the Cowboys for a brief period of time when the Oilers moved to Nashville. But once they have a new team, all bets are off on what team you could/should root for.
2. You're lucky enough to know an athlete, and you root for his/her team in lieu of your original rooting interest: No one can blame you if you have a brother who was just drafted by the Washington Redskins and suddenly become a fan of the franchise when the previous part of your life, you were cursing Washington as a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. Bloodlines can acceptably change your fandom. And if this player switches teams, it's quite all right to move along with the team.
3. Your ownership/management group are a bunch of dipshits who you can tell have no competency in running a franchise and often make moves that are done against common sense and/or making your team competitive. See: Jones, Jerry and Wirtz, Bill, among many other owners who have seemed to lack a clue in running a franchise.
When I see Jerry Jones, I see a man who was lucky to win 3 titles in 4 years thanks to the team that was made mostly by Jimmy Johnson. The worst thing that could have happened to America's Team was to win a title without Johnson in 1995, making Jerry Jones think it was all about him. Now, his ego gets in the way of any chance that the Cowboys have in seriously competing for a Super Bowl anytime soon. Have you seen the quarterbacks that have been on his rosters? Outside of Tony Romo, who was brought in by Sean Payton & Bill Parcells when they were with the Cowboys, the Cowboys haven't had anyone lining up under center with an IQ higher than Forrest Gump's. Quincy Carter, Drew Henson, Chad Hutchinson - all bums drafted in the Jerry Jones era. No wonder why he would have fired himself as general manager, yet continues to hold onto this role due to his incompetency and Texas-sized ego.
The subject of Bill Wirtz is sure to warm the hearts of Chicago Blackhawks fans. Wirtz, who built his wealth thanks to liquor distribution and housing, was way behind the times, never embracing modern technology (he didn't allow Hawks home games on TV for fear that people wouldn't go to the games - never mind that just about every other successful team had no problem selling out their arenas when their games were on TV). For being known as a smart businessman, I am baffled at how he could not see the value of showing his team on TV. Also, his nickname "Dollar Bill" stems from his days as a very frugal owner. Most of the Hawks' best free agents signed elsewhere in the 90s, and so began the quick decline of a once proud Original Six franchise.
(And an aside: many hockey fans of teams outside of Chicago will often critique Blackhawks fans for jumping on the bandwagon in the past 3-4 years. While the Hawks have picked up their fair share of bandwagon fans - as any team does in any sport when they field a competitive team, the fans, even the most loyal of ones, were in no condition to support their hometown team when Dollar Bill was the owner. When the old man died and his sons took over, they immediately corrected the mistakes that their father did while owner of the team, including lifting the home-game TV blackout for all home games. It was moves like this, not as much the winning I'd argue, that brought back the fans who used to go to games back in the day but refused to support a franchise who refused to support the fan. I have no problem with the Blackhawks fans who have become fans in this time frame. And as is the case with any bandwagon, you may pick up some new life-long fans from it who end up sticking with the team during future down years.)
In both of these cases, I would not blame a Dallas Cowboys fan, nor would I have blamed a Blackhawks fan, for switching teams. If your management/ownership group show a lack of interest in remaining a competitive sports franchise by constantly spitting in the faces of its fan base with its baffling and incompetent moves, if they abandon you to the point where they don't even really care about you as fans anymore, then who's to say you HAVE to be loyal right back? Do you stay in relationships longer than you should because you don't want to be looked at as being unloyal? That's a dumb reason to stay in a relationship, just as it would be to stay a hardcore fan of a team when that team's owners/management eats a bunch of White Castles and shits all over your hopes on a yearly basis.
4. No more rules apply: I would say that moving to a new city would allow you to root for a new team, but I think this would only be acceptable if you moved from a city/town that had no franchise in a particular sport to one that did. Otherwise, you stick with whatever team you were rooting for before you moved (which is likely your hometown team as long as you're not a weirdo like me who roots for an out-of-market team in football - 49ers).
Here are some major no-no's for changing mid-stream:
I don't want to turn this blog into a Quentin Tarantino flick with the colorful quotes that Tim shares with me about draft picks, dumb signings and baffling quotes - the most baffling of which has to be when he said he would fire himself as general manager if he weren't also the owner.
The more Tim complains, the more I tell him - bail on your team, like yesterday. I won't normally advocate being able to change your favorite teams mid-life, but I've come up with a few exceptions to the rule.
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| When is it OK to switch your sports fan interest? |
Note - this applies to any sports-loving adult. Kids can go back and forth and often love a couple of teams throughout the course of their childhood for reasons as silly as them being an expansion team or having a left-handed quarterback (so I liked the Jaguars when they first joined the league because of Mark Brunell).
Here are my only acceptable reasons for being able to switch allegiances to teams. I used some ideas that I found from a Google search on the topic, but the words and thoughts (as always) are my own:
1. Relocation of a team into your city/out of your city/team folds: This is one of the most acceptable forms of changing your rooting interest in a sport. For example, no one should expect any Seattle Supersonics fan to continue their allegiance to the Oklahoma City franchise when the Sonics had their team stolen away from them. If someone decides to completely disown being a sports fan in that scenario, I wouldn't blame them.
By the same token, if your city finally gets that coveted franchise in your city, it's quite all right to start rooting for that team. Houston Texans fans may have once been Houston Oilers fans and may have converted to the Cowboys for a brief period of time when the Oilers moved to Nashville. But once they have a new team, all bets are off on what team you could/should root for.
2. You're lucky enough to know an athlete, and you root for his/her team in lieu of your original rooting interest: No one can blame you if you have a brother who was just drafted by the Washington Redskins and suddenly become a fan of the franchise when the previous part of your life, you were cursing Washington as a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. Bloodlines can acceptably change your fandom. And if this player switches teams, it's quite all right to move along with the team.
3. Your ownership/management group are a bunch of dipshits who you can tell have no competency in running a franchise and often make moves that are done against common sense and/or making your team competitive. See: Jones, Jerry and Wirtz, Bill, among many other owners who have seemed to lack a clue in running a franchise.
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| "I just wanted to announce that I will continue to sabotage a great franchise, so suck it Trebek!" |
The subject of Bill Wirtz is sure to warm the hearts of Chicago Blackhawks fans. Wirtz, who built his wealth thanks to liquor distribution and housing, was way behind the times, never embracing modern technology (he didn't allow Hawks home games on TV for fear that people wouldn't go to the games - never mind that just about every other successful team had no problem selling out their arenas when their games were on TV). For being known as a smart businessman, I am baffled at how he could not see the value of showing his team on TV. Also, his nickname "Dollar Bill" stems from his days as a very frugal owner. Most of the Hawks' best free agents signed elsewhere in the 90s, and so began the quick decline of a once proud Original Six franchise.
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| Bill Wirtz: Great Businessman, Shitty Hockey Owner |
In both of these cases, I would not blame a Dallas Cowboys fan, nor would I have blamed a Blackhawks fan, for switching teams. If your management/ownership group show a lack of interest in remaining a competitive sports franchise by constantly spitting in the faces of its fan base with its baffling and incompetent moves, if they abandon you to the point where they don't even really care about you as fans anymore, then who's to say you HAVE to be loyal right back? Do you stay in relationships longer than you should because you don't want to be looked at as being unloyal? That's a dumb reason to stay in a relationship, just as it would be to stay a hardcore fan of a team when that team's owners/management eats a bunch of White Castles and shits all over your hopes on a yearly basis.
4. No more rules apply: I would say that moving to a new city would allow you to root for a new team, but I think this would only be acceptable if you moved from a city/town that had no franchise in a particular sport to one that did. Otherwise, you stick with whatever team you were rooting for before you moved (which is likely your hometown team as long as you're not a weirdo like me who roots for an out-of-market team in football - 49ers).
Here are some major no-no's for changing mid-stream:
- No bandwagon jumping. Even if the ownership clause applies here, you can't just ride the hot hand and root for what's in, at least not when you're an adult. Like I said before, kids are flaky sports fans. Let them weed out who they really want to root for. Once they make their decision (and none of the above exceptions of changing teams apply), they will be forced to pick a team and stick with them. This is only if you are currently rooting for a team. If you've never been interested in a sport before, I have no problem with you jumping on the wagon, especially of a local team, so as long as you don't jump onto another wagon soon after if your newfound team falls and fails.
Temporary fandom, if only for one night, (when a friend of yours might be rooting for the Niners to win the Super Bowl for example) is acceptable. Once that game or run of games is over, it's back to rooting strictly for your team. - No actively rooting for multiple teams and playing favorites with whatever one happens to be doing better at the time. I understand if there might be a franchise who you admire from afar and wish your team could model itself after, but you cannot do the multiple fandom thing and flip-flop between who you root for the most. Not allowed.
So to the Tims out there who are rooting for a team whose ownership has turned its back on loyal fans across the country, I say, "find a new team." Why should you continue to give your team love and support when the guys running the team don't return the favor? If I am going to remain emotionally invested in a team, it's going to be with a franchise whose owners and management will do whatever they can to make themselves a competitive franchise for years to come.
5/14/2013
NHL Playoff Predictions Round 2 and A Look Back at Round 1
Six out of eight in my first go-round of NHL hockey series predictions. Not too shabby, especially considering that four of those six correct series picked were the 6 & 7 seeds from each conference. I was really close to 7 of 8, but the Maple Leafs wilted on the ice.
As far as hockey bets go (series bets + game bets), not doing too shabby. 3-1 on my series bets (Wins: Red Wings, Sharks & Penguins/Blackhawks parlay). Unfortunately, my only series loss was also my bet to win the West & the Stanley Cup (damn Blues blowing a 2-0 series lead). I went about 7-7 in my first round individual bets, so again, not too bad.
Out West
My first Stanley Cup bet is still alive (San Jose), but I'm a little nervous with how well the Kings play at home and them having home ice. Both teams dominated home ice in the regular season and playoffs (going a combined 5 for 5 in playoff home games so far). I'm hoping my original prediction of the Wings beating the Blackhawks can come true so that the Sharks would have home ice if they are able to get past the reigning Stanley Cup Champs. If the Sharks lose, then the Hawks might as well win - I won't care about who wins at that point.
Rooting interest (for gambling purposes), I am hoping for Sharks/Wings. As long as the Sharks advance, I'll be happy, but I believe their best path to the Cup involves one without the Blackhawks on the menu (hence, rooting for the Wings).
What I think it will be: Kings/Hawks. See how I covered all my bases there - like a sports journalism pro.
Out East
The Penguins start their first round series against the Senators tomorrow. I originally picked Pittsburgh to advance in this match-up, but I'm switching my pick to Ottawa. Pittsburgh's goaltending/defense was very shaky in Round 1. Meanwhile, Ottawa made a little history in their series against Montreal by being the ultimate closers, outscoring the Canadiens 12-0 in the third period of their five-game series.
The Rangers prevailed in 7 games against the Capitals, and their reward is a conference semifinals series against the Bruins, who came from three goals back, including a two goal deficit with under two minutes to play, to force overtime and down the Maple Leafs in overtime. Based on my friend Tim's assessment of his team (Boston), I am taking the Rangers to win the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year. I am also rooting for the Rangers thanks to my bet on them to win the conference before the playoffs start.
Rooting interest & What I think it will be: Senators & Rangers
We will see if I can build upon my previous round of picking series. I am likely betting the Senators & Red Wings in their first games of the series. I'm thinking I will bet the Rangers series when the odds for it are released.
Feel free to offer your picks below (or in my Facebook/Twitter posts). Enjoy the next round.
As far as hockey bets go (series bets + game bets), not doing too shabby. 3-1 on my series bets (Wins: Red Wings, Sharks & Penguins/Blackhawks parlay). Unfortunately, my only series loss was also my bet to win the West & the Stanley Cup (damn Blues blowing a 2-0 series lead). I went about 7-7 in my first round individual bets, so again, not too bad.
Out West
My first Stanley Cup bet is still alive (San Jose), but I'm a little nervous with how well the Kings play at home and them having home ice. Both teams dominated home ice in the regular season and playoffs (going a combined 5 for 5 in playoff home games so far). I'm hoping my original prediction of the Wings beating the Blackhawks can come true so that the Sharks would have home ice if they are able to get past the reigning Stanley Cup Champs. If the Sharks lose, then the Hawks might as well win - I won't care about who wins at that point.
Rooting interest (for gambling purposes), I am hoping for Sharks/Wings. As long as the Sharks advance, I'll be happy, but I believe their best path to the Cup involves one without the Blackhawks on the menu (hence, rooting for the Wings).
What I think it will be: Kings/Hawks. See how I covered all my bases there - like a sports journalism pro.
Out East
The Penguins start their first round series against the Senators tomorrow. I originally picked Pittsburgh to advance in this match-up, but I'm switching my pick to Ottawa. Pittsburgh's goaltending/defense was very shaky in Round 1. Meanwhile, Ottawa made a little history in their series against Montreal by being the ultimate closers, outscoring the Canadiens 12-0 in the third period of their five-game series.
The Rangers prevailed in 7 games against the Capitals, and their reward is a conference semifinals series against the Bruins, who came from three goals back, including a two goal deficit with under two minutes to play, to force overtime and down the Maple Leafs in overtime. Based on my friend Tim's assessment of his team (Boston), I am taking the Rangers to win the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year. I am also rooting for the Rangers thanks to my bet on them to win the conference before the playoffs start.
Rooting interest & What I think it will be: Senators & Rangers
We will see if I can build upon my previous round of picking series. I am likely betting the Senators & Red Wings in their first games of the series. I'm thinking I will bet the Rangers series when the odds for it are released.
Feel free to offer your picks below (or in my Facebook/Twitter posts). Enjoy the next round.
3/07/2013
My Struggle to Get Interested in the Blackhawks and Hockey in General
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| 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. |
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| Will this be on Chicago Theater in June 2013? |
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| A parade this time around could net about double the attendance. |
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.
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| As crazy as it seems, this crowd WILL be larger if there's a parade in 2013. |
2/17/2013
Fit Happens Chapter 3: The No Booze Cruise (Part 1)
As I did three years ago, I have devoted the month of February to no alcohol drinks whatsoever (editors note: we shall never speak of the events of February 3rd, which was reserved for the consumption of a plethora and variety of craft brews imbibed during the 49ers loss in the Super Bowl).
This no-alcohol month was done in two parts: (1) to give myself a challenge that I knew would be tough, especially with how many alcohol-based situations I am in on a weekly basis and (2) to help in the process of losing weight for the Fit Happens challenge.
I knew the chances of repeating as the Biggest Loser based on percentage for the month of February would be difficult, so I figured some kind of dietary change had to occur for this to happen (in addition to working out harder and more frequently).
I have kept track of all of the potential drinking opportunities and how difficult it was for me to abstain from drinking. I'm actually surprised at how often I'm in drinking situations, which surprises me that it surprises me.
Without further ado (listed by the date where temptation presented itself)
1st - As is the case every Friday, bowling always presents its share of temptation of delicious beer, usually 312. It is also harder to not drink when the team when you are bowling is a bunch of booze hounds - which was the case today. Seeing as though I bowled below average this particular week (peaking at a 191 in game 2) as our team got swept, a pint couldn't have hurt. Temptation Level: Medium
2nd - This day contained visits to two separate bars - Olivers and Zante's. Oliver's was with the family (not with my usual Wednesday night hooligans, so no difficulty there. Zante's was a different story.
Here's a story on Yelp a few years ago from someone who went there:
1/6/2011
This summary sums up my thoughts on the place. The best part of the place this particular night was that there was one table of awesome people and an awesome birthday girl. Otherwise, this review is how I feel about the bar. So needless to say, the urge to drink this night was particularly high. I did buy drinks...but they weren't for me. Ada (the birthday girl in question) and Jen enjoyed a lemon drop shot as part of my birthday drink gift. My 3-4 glasses of water were my only beverages consumed. Temptation Level: High; Total Bar Visits: 2; (Month-to-Date: 2)
3rd - (We're forgetting about this day. Damn Ravens)
6th - Wednesday night bowling doesn't usually have the same alcohol temptation that Friday does, but there are a few teams we enjoy bowling against whose enjoyment of a couple drinks might get our team to do the same. However, when the team you are facing is named "BYE" and has no people on the team, the possibility of being tempted by them is nil. After bowling is usually a trip to Olivers, but sticking with the theme of a BYE week, my usual duo of knuckleheads were both MIA - no appearance to Olivers necessary. Temptation Level: Low
8th - Another bowling night, but with a team that doesn't interact with us in a way that others do (where there may be a shot here and there), there was no temptation to drink, although sadly, I have to say we all did take shots from a shot glass. They contained water. I bowled well that night (610 series, topping out at a 241 in the first game), so that's all I really need from a bowling night I realized. Temptation Level: Low
9th - I went to visit my friend who lives in Bloomington. If you know anything about us, you'd know that pretty much every time we've hung out (dating back to the start of our friendship in college times), there has been a couple of beers consumed. We did go to a bar, but we just grabbed lunch and then hung out at his place before heading back home to the South Loop in the early evening.
After this was one of the most alcohol-filled situations I've been in: Geno & Jen's engagement party. Over two dozen people were at the party - I believe all of them except one thinning white boy with a faux hawk were drinking something that night. With celebration drinks and clinking glasses surrounding me, I stayed strong with my 36 ounce water jug (between Bloomington and this party, I refilled the jug about 8 or 9 times - over 300 oz's of H2O in my body throughout the day). Talking about brewing beer with Ed didn't help matters. We also went to a bar (The Shamrock) after for a couple of drinks. But, as is the theme with this story, I stayed strong. Temptation Level: High; Total Bar Visits: 2 (Month-to-Date: 4)
10th - Another day with G & J, another day of bowling, but surprisingly, not as much temptation. This bowling league on Sundays is more of a social league than a serious one, but on this particular day, no one on the team was drinking. I'm a substitute for the team, bowling when needed. Afterwards, we went to Diversey's to grab dinner and catch some of the Blackhawks game. Again, shocked to see no one was drinking. Jen and I left before the game ended. However, at the bar, I set up my next drinking temptation event, which coincidentally enough, involved going to a Blackhawks game. Temptation Level: Low; Total Bar Visits: 1 (Month-to-Date: 5)
12th - I was invited to go to a Blackhawks game with Geno, for the low price of buying him a couple rounds of drinks. At this point, he knew that I was not drinking this month - and as such, he respected my stance of not drinking this month. We took a free shuttle from The Crossroads to the United Center. After not drinking there amid a 3-2 Blackhawks defeat, I went back to the bar with Geno (but not before running into New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas, who I took a picture of with Geno). The urge to drink was a little higher than the previous temptation, but certainly not as bad as it's been this month. Temptation Level: Medium; Total Bar Visits: 1 (Month-to-Date: 6)
This no-alcohol month was done in two parts: (1) to give myself a challenge that I knew would be tough, especially with how many alcohol-based situations I am in on a weekly basis and (2) to help in the process of losing weight for the Fit Happens challenge.
I knew the chances of repeating as the Biggest Loser based on percentage for the month of February would be difficult, so I figured some kind of dietary change had to occur for this to happen (in addition to working out harder and more frequently).
I have kept track of all of the potential drinking opportunities and how difficult it was for me to abstain from drinking. I'm actually surprised at how often I'm in drinking situations, which surprises me that it surprises me.
Without further ado (listed by the date where temptation presented itself)
1st - As is the case every Friday, bowling always presents its share of temptation of delicious beer, usually 312. It is also harder to not drink when the team when you are bowling is a bunch of booze hounds - which was the case today. Seeing as though I bowled below average this particular week (peaking at a 191 in game 2) as our team got swept, a pint couldn't have hurt. Temptation Level: Medium
2nd - This day contained visits to two separate bars - Olivers and Zante's. Oliver's was with the family (not with my usual Wednesday night hooligans, so no difficulty there. Zante's was a different story.
Here's a story on Yelp a few years ago from someone who went there:
Frankfort, IL
3rd - (We're forgetting about this day. Damn Ravens)
6th - Wednesday night bowling doesn't usually have the same alcohol temptation that Friday does, but there are a few teams we enjoy bowling against whose enjoyment of a couple drinks might get our team to do the same. However, when the team you are facing is named "BYE" and has no people on the team, the possibility of being tempted by them is nil. After bowling is usually a trip to Olivers, but sticking with the theme of a BYE week, my usual duo of knuckleheads were both MIA - no appearance to Olivers necessary. Temptation Level: Low
8th - Another bowling night, but with a team that doesn't interact with us in a way that others do (where there may be a shot here and there), there was no temptation to drink, although sadly, I have to say we all did take shots from a shot glass. They contained water. I bowled well that night (610 series, topping out at a 241 in the first game), so that's all I really need from a bowling night I realized. Temptation Level: Low
9th - I went to visit my friend who lives in Bloomington. If you know anything about us, you'd know that pretty much every time we've hung out (dating back to the start of our friendship in college times), there has been a couple of beers consumed. We did go to a bar, but we just grabbed lunch and then hung out at his place before heading back home to the South Loop in the early evening.
After this was one of the most alcohol-filled situations I've been in: Geno & Jen's engagement party. Over two dozen people were at the party - I believe all of them except one thinning white boy with a faux hawk were drinking something that night. With celebration drinks and clinking glasses surrounding me, I stayed strong with my 36 ounce water jug (between Bloomington and this party, I refilled the jug about 8 or 9 times - over 300 oz's of H2O in my body throughout the day). Talking about brewing beer with Ed didn't help matters. We also went to a bar (The Shamrock) after for a couple of drinks. But, as is the theme with this story, I stayed strong. Temptation Level: High; Total Bar Visits: 2 (Month-to-Date: 4)
10th - Another day with G & J, another day of bowling, but surprisingly, not as much temptation. This bowling league on Sundays is more of a social league than a serious one, but on this particular day, no one on the team was drinking. I'm a substitute for the team, bowling when needed. Afterwards, we went to Diversey's to grab dinner and catch some of the Blackhawks game. Again, shocked to see no one was drinking. Jen and I left before the game ended. However, at the bar, I set up my next drinking temptation event, which coincidentally enough, involved going to a Blackhawks game. Temptation Level: Low; Total Bar Visits: 1 (Month-to-Date: 5)
 |
| Pierre & Geno |
13th - I headed to Atlanta for a few days, where I was to meet with my co-workers, including my new boss (who I had never had the chance to meet before). I was in my hotel room for several hours before I got a call from him to meet him at the hotel bar. As I did many times so far this month, I explained my no-drink situation, so my beverage of choice was water throughout the 48 hours together. I also managed to avoid drinking at a restaurant we went to when Jake got into town. I did take a shot of something - strangely, it was an oyster/calamari shot. I assured the new boss that I would be enjoying adult beverages with them on our company trip next month in Hawaii. Temptation Level: High; Total Bar Visits (including the hotel bar): 2 (Month-to-Date: 8)
14th - The second night featured dinner with a client in a downtown restaurant and visiting a pub where the boss wanted to see an old friend of his that he hadn't seen in a couple years. The client dinner was fantastic - no drinks, no worries. Same with the visit to the bar. We didn't stay there long, as every one of us was tired and wanted to get some shut eye. Temptation Level: Low; Total Bar Visits (including restaurant): 2 (Month-to-Date: 10)
15th - I got back into Chicago around 7:30 pm, just in time to get back to the suburbs for bowling. Like the bowling situation on the 1st, we faced a team full of guys who are never shy about their consumption of buckets full of piss water known as Coors Light. Avoiding drinking was not a problem though. Temptation was lower than normal, considering the team we are bowling against. One thing I did notice - as I go with beer drinking at bowling, so goes my team. Not once this month has my team had a beer to drink while bowling. Temptation Level: Low
More to come on this as the month finishes. I will also update everyone on my weight loss and whether or not I am able to defend my Biggest Loser crown from January. Peace!
4/21/2012
Part of the Game: A Non-Hockey Fan's Views on Hockey Crap (NHL Round 1)
This always feels like a dangerous blog for a non-hockey fan such as myself to write. Many of the people who are hockey fans and "fans" will take offense to this, but I'm here to write about the Hawks stuff as they sit down 3-1.
The one moment that is isolated in everyone's minds with the Hawks series is Hossa's concussion at the hands of Raffi Torres, who is currently suspended indefinitely. You know it's a big deal when media outlets that don't normally give a shit about hockey are reporting on it.
The game before, Andrew Shaw drew a suspension for his hit on the Coyotes goalie, a suspension that drew the ire of much of Blackhawks nation.
Many in the fanbase say that Mike Smith (the goalie) flopped to draw the penalty, but I suspect that if this happened to a goalie of the Hawks (Crawford or Emery), Hawks fans may react a little differently and that they wouldn't mind the suspension of a Coyotes player for a hit.
The Hossa hit appears more out of line based on the concussion and Torres' history with this, but you'd never know that the Hawks do anything like this (i.e. cheap shots that lead to suspensions) based on the comments I am reading on Twitter and Facebook after Game 3.
I asked a friend of mine who follows hockey (and is impartial to the Hawks) about everything. He agreed that the Hossa hit was ugly, but that the Hawks are not innocent of being civil on the ice. He reminded me of an incident towards the end of March (Duncan Keith elbowing Daniel Sedin) that can be seen here, with an explanation by Brendan Shanahan, former player and current head of player safety.
With Keith's lack of a record, he received a 5-game suspension for this penalty. He received a suspension because the elbowing incident was "dangerous, reckless, and caused injury."
Meanwhile, Sedin missed 12 games due to the concussion received from the hit, returning for Game 4 and helping the Canucks avoid a sweep in their first-round series against the Canucks.
Maybe it has to do with the rivalry with the Canucks, but I didn't hear a huge uproar about the Hawks being a dirty team (particularly from their own fans) after this hit from the general public. I do give credit to some of my Hawks friends though. I am looking back at a friend's thread about the incident, and most of the people that I know are Hawks fans (I can attest that all in this particular conversation are true Hawks fans and not the type that joined in 2009) agreed that Keith deserved to be suspended for the hit. However, the uproar of Hossa's hit generated more interest in part due to the hit being in the playoffs, and also due to the hit being against a Hawks star, not an opponent's star.
Part of the Game
Hockey is a physical sport, and the fans of the sport are proud of the physical nature of the sport. None of them want to see fighting and other physical acts from the sport banned, as many of them believe that would take away from the nature of the sport. However, fans do want the players to play within the "rules" when it comes to the hits and other hockey-related things that have always been "a part of the game".
I put these things in quotes because I find it hard for hockey to ever effectively regulate itself without pissing off all of the die-hard fans who expect the game to be played a certain way. A punch to the head of your star player makes you think about things a certain way, but if your third-string goon is doing the damage to another team's star, it's accepted as part of the game, how the game has always been.
Whether you like him or not, under the leadership of Roger Goddell, the NFL has done its best to eliminate the crap that has always been accepted as "part of the game". No one is naive to think that the Saints were the first to have a form of a bounty system within their organization. But with the repeated warnings that the Saints received about it and the organization pretty much ignoring it, the NFL had no choice but to lay the hammer down on the Saints for its ill-conceived program. This sets a precedent for future teams to consider before starting/continuing with their own programs. The concussion issue, especially with the players of the past suing the NFL for not effectively preparing them regarding player safety, is scaring the hell out of Goddell and his boys. It scares them in the present tense in the form of legal issues, but also in the future, where the NFL could face an uncertain future and potentially go the way of boxing if they were to completely ignore safety issues (even if they don't ignore it, it could still face an uncertain future - I don't think the NFL is invincible).
While the NHL is more of a Canadian sport, I do believe it should have the same worries about its sport fading into (further) oblivion if it doesn't start valuing player safety. After all, without players, you have no sport.
Is hockey too niched of a sport for the mainstream sports fan to actually give a crap on whether they change the rules to protect players from injury? From my perspective, it seems like hockey fans, like many football fans (myself, I don't need huge hits for football to be enjoyable), take great pride in their sport being a physical sport, one where their sport's athletes are modern day gladiators.
So you can forgive me when I say that I don't feel all that bad when players in such a sport get hurt. A sport that encourages physical play, where fights and hard hits are cheered upon instead of gasped at (like bench-clearing brawls in baseball and basketball).
I'm not sure where I was going with this - I think it was just to say that I don't think that what Torres did to Hossa is any different than what Keith or what many hockey players do to others. It's just that now, it was done in the playoffs and to one of their own instead of a star rival player's (again, I speak of those silent on the issue in March - many of my real Hawks friends stepped up and said Keith deserved it with the hit to Sedin).
I just find it hard to take critiques of hits seriously when the same judgment isn't applied to your own team. As a 49ers fan in football, if my team uses cheap tactics to win games, I expect them to be punished. I am objective enough to know when one of my own has crossed the line. Then again, the average fan (i.e. ignorant piece of crap) would probably be like the average Hawks (and average ignorant sports fan in general) and only care when the incident happened against their team. If their player does it, it's a case of "See No Evil, Hear No Evil".
Luckily, most friends of mine aren't average fans and aren't completely blind and know dirty, unethical sports when they see them. I'm glad that my closest friends who are true hockey fans don't apply to the idiot label and can agree that Hossa's hit, while dirty, is just among one of many dirty hits that occur in hockey all the time. Let's not forget that the suspension for the hit was indefinite.
Ok, I'm done. It's 3am. If you don't like this, tough.
Good night, and enjoy the rest of the hockey playoffs.
The one moment that is isolated in everyone's minds with the Hawks series is Hossa's concussion at the hands of Raffi Torres, who is currently suspended indefinitely. You know it's a big deal when media outlets that don't normally give a shit about hockey are reporting on it.
The game before, Andrew Shaw drew a suspension for his hit on the Coyotes goalie, a suspension that drew the ire of much of Blackhawks nation.
Many in the fanbase say that Mike Smith (the goalie) flopped to draw the penalty, but I suspect that if this happened to a goalie of the Hawks (Crawford or Emery), Hawks fans may react a little differently and that they wouldn't mind the suspension of a Coyotes player for a hit.
The Hossa hit appears more out of line based on the concussion and Torres' history with this, but you'd never know that the Hawks do anything like this (i.e. cheap shots that lead to suspensions) based on the comments I am reading on Twitter and Facebook after Game 3.
I asked a friend of mine who follows hockey (and is impartial to the Hawks) about everything. He agreed that the Hossa hit was ugly, but that the Hawks are not innocent of being civil on the ice. He reminded me of an incident towards the end of March (Duncan Keith elbowing Daniel Sedin) that can be seen here, with an explanation by Brendan Shanahan, former player and current head of player safety.
With Keith's lack of a record, he received a 5-game suspension for this penalty. He received a suspension because the elbowing incident was "dangerous, reckless, and caused injury."
Meanwhile, Sedin missed 12 games due to the concussion received from the hit, returning for Game 4 and helping the Canucks avoid a sweep in their first-round series against the Canucks.
Maybe it has to do with the rivalry with the Canucks, but I didn't hear a huge uproar about the Hawks being a dirty team (particularly from their own fans) after this hit from the general public. I do give credit to some of my Hawks friends though. I am looking back at a friend's thread about the incident, and most of the people that I know are Hawks fans (I can attest that all in this particular conversation are true Hawks fans and not the type that joined in 2009) agreed that Keith deserved to be suspended for the hit. However, the uproar of Hossa's hit generated more interest in part due to the hit being in the playoffs, and also due to the hit being against a Hawks star, not an opponent's star.
Part of the Game
Hockey is a physical sport, and the fans of the sport are proud of the physical nature of the sport. None of them want to see fighting and other physical acts from the sport banned, as many of them believe that would take away from the nature of the sport. However, fans do want the players to play within the "rules" when it comes to the hits and other hockey-related things that have always been "a part of the game".
I put these things in quotes because I find it hard for hockey to ever effectively regulate itself without pissing off all of the die-hard fans who expect the game to be played a certain way. A punch to the head of your star player makes you think about things a certain way, but if your third-string goon is doing the damage to another team's star, it's accepted as part of the game, how the game has always been.
Whether you like him or not, under the leadership of Roger Goddell, the NFL has done its best to eliminate the crap that has always been accepted as "part of the game". No one is naive to think that the Saints were the first to have a form of a bounty system within their organization. But with the repeated warnings that the Saints received about it and the organization pretty much ignoring it, the NFL had no choice but to lay the hammer down on the Saints for its ill-conceived program. This sets a precedent for future teams to consider before starting/continuing with their own programs. The concussion issue, especially with the players of the past suing the NFL for not effectively preparing them regarding player safety, is scaring the hell out of Goddell and his boys. It scares them in the present tense in the form of legal issues, but also in the future, where the NFL could face an uncertain future and potentially go the way of boxing if they were to completely ignore safety issues (even if they don't ignore it, it could still face an uncertain future - I don't think the NFL is invincible).
While the NHL is more of a Canadian sport, I do believe it should have the same worries about its sport fading into (further) oblivion if it doesn't start valuing player safety. After all, without players, you have no sport.
Is hockey too niched of a sport for the mainstream sports fan to actually give a crap on whether they change the rules to protect players from injury? From my perspective, it seems like hockey fans, like many football fans (myself, I don't need huge hits for football to be enjoyable), take great pride in their sport being a physical sport, one where their sport's athletes are modern day gladiators.
So you can forgive me when I say that I don't feel all that bad when players in such a sport get hurt. A sport that encourages physical play, where fights and hard hits are cheered upon instead of gasped at (like bench-clearing brawls in baseball and basketball).
I'm not sure where I was going with this - I think it was just to say that I don't think that what Torres did to Hossa is any different than what Keith or what many hockey players do to others. It's just that now, it was done in the playoffs and to one of their own instead of a star rival player's (again, I speak of those silent on the issue in March - many of my real Hawks friends stepped up and said Keith deserved it with the hit to Sedin).
I just find it hard to take critiques of hits seriously when the same judgment isn't applied to your own team. As a 49ers fan in football, if my team uses cheap tactics to win games, I expect them to be punished. I am objective enough to know when one of my own has crossed the line. Then again, the average fan (i.e. ignorant piece of crap) would probably be like the average Hawks (and average ignorant sports fan in general) and only care when the incident happened against their team. If their player does it, it's a case of "See No Evil, Hear No Evil".
Luckily, most friends of mine aren't average fans and aren't completely blind and know dirty, unethical sports when they see them. I'm glad that my closest friends who are true hockey fans don't apply to the idiot label and can agree that Hossa's hit, while dirty, is just among one of many dirty hits that occur in hockey all the time. Let's not forget that the suspension for the hit was indefinite.
Ok, I'm done. It's 3am. If you don't like this, tough.
Good night, and enjoy the rest of the hockey playoffs.
10/08/2011
Alls Well That Ends: The Wirtz Effect and How a Death Can Help a Business
News just broke that Al Davis has died. My condolences to him and his family.
As far as his business goes, it might not be the worst thing to happen. In fact, it may help them out greatly, if the Bill Wirtz Effect comes into play.
As many Chicago Blackhawks fans remember all too well, the mismanagement of their beloved team caused the team to be an afterthought at best in one of the biggest hockey markets in America, and of course, one of the Original Six teams. Wirtz, notoriously known by many as "Dollar Bill", was considered by many to be the lynch pin behind this terrible stretch of Chicago hockey.
This stretch of time he was president (over 4 decades), he banned home games from being played on TV - for fear of fans not going to the games if they were able to stay home and watch them. I never understood this reasoning, seeing as though just about every team in every sport shows their teams' home games (I know that the NFL has restrictions on showing home games in markets where a game has not sold a certain percentage of tickets). If he was so smart in the business world with liquor distribution and real estate, you figured he might have seen other pro franchises having no problem with this.
Anyways, we all know the Blackhawks' story - they've become relevant again. People actually want to watch them now. Through their actions, the Wirtz kids have amended their father's wrongdoings to the franchise by promoting the Blackhawks through the addition of home games to TV, the Winter Classic to Wrigley Field in 2009 as well as introducing a successful annual convention for Blackhawks fans to attend. This idea came from the bright mind of John McDonough, former Cubs and now Blackhawks president. They went from being to the worst ran franchise in sports to one of the best in a few short years thanks to the actions of the younger Wirtzes and McDonough. Winning a Stanley Cup for the first time in a couple generations didn't hurt things either.
Enter Al Davis. While he didn't have the extended run of no championships/championship appearances like Wirtz did, Davis has become significantly more irrelevant in the past couple decades. His run of success in the 70s and 80s has devolved into the 90s and 2000s Raiders that have been pitiful for the most part. Aside from their playoff appearances in 2002 (where their playoff run ended in the infamous "Tuck Rule" game) and 2003 (where they got slaughtered by their former coach and the Tampa Bay Bucs, not much but bad can be said about the Raiders.
Since that brief run of success, here's a list of QBs who have started for the Raiders: Rick Mirer, Marques Tuiasosopo, Kerry Collins, Andrew Walter, Aaron Brooks, Josh McCown, Daunte Culpepper, Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye, and Jason Campbell. I feel like I'm missing someone...
Oh yeah, JaMarcus Russell! Say what you will about recent first overall picks being busts, but no doubt in my mind is Russell the worst first pick of all time. After three seasons with the Raiders in which he finished with a 7-18 record, he was released. But not before collecting a shit ton of money. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already burned through the money that he got from his $61 million ($32M guaranteed) contract from the Raiders in 2007.
Sadly, one of the best first round picks the Raiders made in the past 15 years was for A KICKER! Sebastian Janikowski, who recently tied the league record for longest field goal (63 yards) was a first round pick for the Raiders in 2000. A fucking kicker in the first round! This from the same team that drafted a punter (Ray Guy) as a first round pick - to date, the only punter ever drafted in the first round.
With Davis' death, I'm hoping that the Wirtz Effect happens and hopefully the Davis heirs are half as intelligent as the Wirtzes were following their dad's passing. The NFL is a lot better league when the Raiders are relevant. Davis was a great contributor to the NFL, but his time of relevance and success had passed.
Let's hope that his passing can lead to the Wirtz Effect for the Raiders and they can return to a proud franchise again.
As far as his business goes, it might not be the worst thing to happen. In fact, it may help them out greatly, if the Bill Wirtz Effect comes into play.
As many Chicago Blackhawks fans remember all too well, the mismanagement of their beloved team caused the team to be an afterthought at best in one of the biggest hockey markets in America, and of course, one of the Original Six teams. Wirtz, notoriously known by many as "Dollar Bill", was considered by many to be the lynch pin behind this terrible stretch of Chicago hockey.
This stretch of time he was president (over 4 decades), he banned home games from being played on TV - for fear of fans not going to the games if they were able to stay home and watch them. I never understood this reasoning, seeing as though just about every team in every sport shows their teams' home games (I know that the NFL has restrictions on showing home games in markets where a game has not sold a certain percentage of tickets). If he was so smart in the business world with liquor distribution and real estate, you figured he might have seen other pro franchises having no problem with this.
Anyways, we all know the Blackhawks' story - they've become relevant again. People actually want to watch them now. Through their actions, the Wirtz kids have amended their father's wrongdoings to the franchise by promoting the Blackhawks through the addition of home games to TV, the Winter Classic to Wrigley Field in 2009 as well as introducing a successful annual convention for Blackhawks fans to attend. This idea came from the bright mind of John McDonough, former Cubs and now Blackhawks president. They went from being to the worst ran franchise in sports to one of the best in a few short years thanks to the actions of the younger Wirtzes and McDonough. Winning a Stanley Cup for the first time in a couple generations didn't hurt things either.
Enter Al Davis. While he didn't have the extended run of no championships/championship appearances like Wirtz did, Davis has become significantly more irrelevant in the past couple decades. His run of success in the 70s and 80s has devolved into the 90s and 2000s Raiders that have been pitiful for the most part. Aside from their playoff appearances in 2002 (where their playoff run ended in the infamous "Tuck Rule" game) and 2003 (where they got slaughtered by their former coach and the Tampa Bay Bucs, not much but bad can be said about the Raiders.
Since that brief run of success, here's a list of QBs who have started for the Raiders: Rick Mirer, Marques Tuiasosopo, Kerry Collins, Andrew Walter, Aaron Brooks, Josh McCown, Daunte Culpepper, Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye, and Jason Campbell. I feel like I'm missing someone...
Oh yeah, JaMarcus Russell! Say what you will about recent first overall picks being busts, but no doubt in my mind is Russell the worst first pick of all time. After three seasons with the Raiders in which he finished with a 7-18 record, he was released. But not before collecting a shit ton of money. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already burned through the money that he got from his $61 million ($32M guaranteed) contract from the Raiders in 2007.
Sadly, one of the best first round picks the Raiders made in the past 15 years was for A KICKER! Sebastian Janikowski, who recently tied the league record for longest field goal (63 yards) was a first round pick for the Raiders in 2000. A fucking kicker in the first round! This from the same team that drafted a punter (Ray Guy) as a first round pick - to date, the only punter ever drafted in the first round.
With Davis' death, I'm hoping that the Wirtz Effect happens and hopefully the Davis heirs are half as intelligent as the Wirtzes were following their dad's passing. The NFL is a lot better league when the Raiders are relevant. Davis was a great contributor to the NFL, but his time of relevance and success had passed.
Let's hope that his passing can lead to the Wirtz Effect for the Raiders and they can return to a proud franchise again.
4/24/2011
I'm With The Band (wagon): How Do You Know Who is Who?
The past couple of hockey playoff seasons, I've observed the sudden rise in the Blackhawks. And while most people in my position (not a hockey fan and not really part of the wagon or true Hawks fan) wouldn't give a crap, I've always wondered if there's an easy way to spot out a bandwagoner from a true fan.
Are there certain signs that I should be looking for from the bandwagoners that wouldn't be seen in a true fan? Would quizzing people on the team's past (like anything from beyond the past 4-5 years) prove anything in their status? Are there certain jerseys that bandwagoners have that are considered too trendy for a "true" Hawks fan to get? I'm actually legitimately asking these questions, because I have no clue as an outsider to observes a plethora of Hawks love on social media - and while I know some of them are true fans, I also know there are some who are following the Hawks (much like some folks following the Bulls) because it's the cool thing to do.
I'm sure you (whoever reads this as a Hawks fan) know who, among your group of friends and "friends" on facebook, is a true fan. My question to you is: how do you distinguish between a true fan and a bandwagon?
If any of you have answers to this, I'd welcome some comments on the subject.
Big sports day in Chicago Tuesday. Buckle up where ever you watch the games.
-B
Are there certain signs that I should be looking for from the bandwagoners that wouldn't be seen in a true fan? Would quizzing people on the team's past (like anything from beyond the past 4-5 years) prove anything in their status? Are there certain jerseys that bandwagoners have that are considered too trendy for a "true" Hawks fan to get? I'm actually legitimately asking these questions, because I have no clue as an outsider to observes a plethora of Hawks love on social media - and while I know some of them are true fans, I also know there are some who are following the Hawks (much like some folks following the Bulls) because it's the cool thing to do.
I'm sure you (whoever reads this as a Hawks fan) know who, among your group of friends and "friends" on facebook, is a true fan. My question to you is: how do you distinguish between a true fan and a bandwagon?
If any of you have answers to this, I'd welcome some comments on the subject.
Big sports day in Chicago Tuesday. Buckle up where ever you watch the games.
-B
4/13/2011
From Playoff Beard to Playoff Stubble: The Hawks' Short Journey through the Playoffs?
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| How thick will the Hawks' beards get this year? Beard season starts today. |
Everyone who knows me knows I don't follow much hockey, but there's one thing that I love about hockey: the playoff beard. Last year's Hawks squad had a variety of playoff beards growing throughout their Stanley Cup run:
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| One of the thicker beards last year, as worn by Adam Burish |
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| This beard, proudly worn by Antti Niemi |
And then, there are the not-so-pretty beards:
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| My cousin Tony grew better facial hair at the age of 12 than Kane did at 21. $20 says Kaner punched the cabbie because cabbie said Kane's beard looked like "my wife's lower region". |
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| I guess being talented and having a good beard don't go hand in hand. |
The one thing I do know about hockey (and baseball) compared to basketball is that playoff series are a lot more unpredictable and home ice/field does not mean as much when compared to NBA. Seems like every year or every other year, a 1 seed loses to an 8 seed in hockey in at least one of the conferences. The Ducks almost won the Cup less than ten years ago as an 8 seed and the Flyers made it all the way to the Cup as a 7 seed last year against the Hawks.
Also, if history is any indicator, making the playoffs in the last week/game isn't necessarily a bad sign for the Hawks. Some recent sports examples of teams who squeaked into postseason play:
NHL- Flyers (2010): made the playoffs in the last day of the season last year and were two games away from winning the Stanley Cup.
MLB- San Francisco Giants (2010): They squeaked into the playoffs after winning in game 162 (last game of the regular season) vs. the Padres, who helped the Giants get back into the NL West race by losing 10 straight games in September. The Giants went on to win the World Series after besting the Braves, Phillies and Rangers in October.
NFL- Green Bay (2010-11): won their last two regular season games, including an ugly affair against the Bears on the 2nd day of the year, then won the Super Bowl after winning three straight games on the road, including at Chicago.
NCAAB- Butler/VCU (2011): Some say that Butler may not have made the tournament if they did not win their conference tourney; everyone said that VCU did not deserve to be in the play-in game of the newly-expanded 68-team NCAA tournament. Both teams made the most of their opportunities. Butler won a pair of last second victories in the first two rounds, then proceeded to the Final Four after victories against Wisconsin and Florida. Meanwhile, VCU was the first team to need 5 wins to advance to the final weekend, capping off their amazing run by dominating against highly-touted and top-ranked Kansas. While Butler (who beat VCU in the national semis) ended up looking terrible against Uconn, they definitely went further than 99.999% of people thought they would.
So will the Hawks (or another team) join this list? It's much more possible in NHL than NBA. Whereas I could name the 5 teams that even have a shot at the NBA title (no particular order: Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Heat, Spurs), hockey always presents series upsets that allow for any and all teams to have a shot at the title.
Good luck to the Hawks to advance beyond the playoff stubble stage. From what I hear, they'll need all the luck they can get.
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Do not come here on a weekend if you like your sanity. This place THINKS they are a Chicago club and so do the people that frequent it. They have a freakin' bathroom attendant... seriously thanks but I can wipe my own damn hands and I'm not paying you a dollar for a stick of gum. The door guys/ bouncers are rude (probably from the hair gel leaking through their skulls.
AVOID AVOID AVOID