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

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

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

Will this be on Chicago Theater in June 2013?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 16 & Big Props to Calvin Johnson

So much for Madden jinxes....

Congrats to Calvin Johnson on breaking my favorite wide receiver's receiving yards in a season - surprised Jerry Rice's record hasn't been broken with how pass-friendly the league has gotten. The only suspense left with him is whether he will get 2,000 yards (needs 108 yards), which with how he has been playing (and how little Detroit has to play for), doesn't seem all that suspenseful. I see him blowing by this record and getting up to about 2,050 yards, setting a record that he (and he alone) will have fun trying to chase for the next 5-10 years.

Also a big congrats to Adrian Peterson, who is within sniffing range of the rushing record thanks to his 212 yard performance in Week 15. He needs 294 yards in his last two games (against Houston & Green Bay) to top Eric Dickerson's 2105 yards, a record set almost 30 years ago. I'd love to see him get it - as far as watching RBs go, Peterson is probably my favorite one to watch (except when he's facing the Niners).

Anywho, onto Week 16 Picks:

Jax +14.5, Phil +6.5, Dal -2.5, SF +1.5

Considering: Ten +12.5, Min +7.5, Cin/Pitt Under 41.5

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Breaking Good: Recent Records That Will Be Hard to Beat

As a frequent watcher of sporting events, one of the main topics that comes up on a continual basis is records/milestones that will never be broken or achieved. Each time, the same records are trotted out as unbreakable and are usually reflective of different eras of the sport of which they speak. Records like Cy Young's career win total or Wilt Chamberlain's numerous records (notably points in a game and points per game in a season) are just some of these records that will never be sniffed upon anytime soon, yet alone broken.

I decided I would compile some milestones or benchmarks in particular sports (whether it be a season or career) that have been set in the past 10-20 years that we will never see in the next 10-20 years (or perhaps ever), based on how each particular game is evolving. For example's sake, I'm going to focus on the sports that I know: NFL, MLB and NBA.

NFL records that will not be broken any time soon (in a 16 game regular season format):

Tomlinson's 31 TDs in 2006: Even though this record was broken several times in a 3-4 year span before this, I believe this record will stand the test of time. The way teams are going towards running backs by committee, there is no need for a guy to carry the ball as much as LT did that year.

No one (not even Jenn Sterger) will touch Brett Favre's small....err, large records

Favre's 299 games in a row as starting QB: I assume this number includes playoffs - I saw it as this on the nfl.com page. With the concussion rule the way it is now (where they will make sure players cannot play if signs of a concussion are apparent), I don't see a QB (or any position for that matter) making it through 18+ seasons worth of games without missing a game. Peyton is the closest, but he still has over 5 years to go and may even miss Week 1 of this year. Of Favre's numerous accolades, this one should stand the test of time for the longest. (Note: NFL.com has the record wrong - my partner in crime Tim found the number to be 297 regular season games).

Jerry Rice's 1549 catches in a career: With all of his down years at the end weighing down his career average, he still averaged 75 catches a year in his career. Even if he didn't play an unbelievable 20 years in the league and ended it about 5 years earlier, many of his records would still be untouchable. A 22 year old receiver entering the league would need to average just under 100 catches a season for 16 seasons to get this record. It's just not gonna happen. Rice has so many unbreakable records to speak of, but this is the one I wanted to highlight.

Marvin Harrison - 143 catches in 2002: Never mind that this record is 20 higher than its second place finisher, the best offenses these days feature QBs who spread the ball all over the field, not to just one primary guy. Green Bay, New Orleans, Indianapolis and New England seem to have different receivers leading the team in catches/yards from game to game. There really isn't anyone currently capable of grabbing an average of 9 catches per game that it would take to beat this record.


MLB records/milestones that are unreachable in today's era

Cal Ripken's games streak: This one is fairly obviously, but no current player (nor will any future player) have the desire to play 16-17 years worth of games in a row. The best players need a handful of games off in a year now. With salaries the way they are, managers have no incentive to play a superstar through an injury that may require a few days of rest. Ripken's record is safe.

Just like the jersey he sports here, Randy Johnson's 300K seasons are a thing of the past.

300Ks in a season for a pitcher: The last pitchers to achieve 300+Ks were Schilling and Randy Johnson for the 2002 D-Backs. Johnson topped the duo with 334, which was only the fourth highest total of his career. For a starter to get that many in a 5-man rotation (33-35 starts considering some rotations skip the 5th starters on days of), a pitcher needs to average 10Ks per game. These days, 10Ks is considered a great game - so to expect someone to average that (or even 9Ks per game) in the Pitch Count era is far-fetched.

60 Home Runs in a season: Unless another cheater era begins, I see Jose Bautista's number from last year (54) to be about the ceiling for home run hitters. Since the baseball drug testing began, home run numbers have gone down. There are some pitcher friendly parks being built these days (Petco comes to mind), but much of it has to do with normal-strength hitters hitting against normal-strength pitchers.

Ichiro's 262 hits in a season (2004): Considering that Ichiro is the only current player with a season in the top 80 of hits in a season (he has 4 of the top 80 hit seasons of all time), there doesn't appear to be anyone on the horizon that could sniff this record. Juan Pierre (2004) and Michael Young (2005) are the closest active players to this record when they got 221 hits in their respective seasons.

NBA Records/Milestones that are out of reach

Jordan's 30 points per game for a career:  If you start your career with a couple of "sub-par" (when compared to Jordan's average) 22/game seasons, you have some major work to do. Jordan's average would have been higher had it not been for his years with the Wizards, which just goes to show you how dominant he was.

No one will get to 80+ points again any time soon. B-Bo knows this.

80 points in a game: Kobe achieved this back in 2006 (81 points to be exact), making him the first player since Wilt's 100 points to break the 80 point barrier. Not only do you have to be a tremendous ball hog to get this record, but you have to be a ball hog that can actually shoot well. Also, you have to be in a tight game where you won't be sat in the last 5-6 minutes of a game. Bryant's Lakers were trailing by double digits for the middle part of the game against the Raptors before pulling away in the 4th quarter. Someone like Carmelo has the best chance of getting this achievement.

Bulls' 72 wins in 1995-96: Ok, so none of these records have been team records thus far. I figured I'd throw in the one record that has been set recently that will not be beat in our lifetimes. For teams to actually get this record, they actually have to want to get this record. This means playing your starters (who have to be the elite of the elite) throughout the season without much rest. Once teams clinch home court advantage throughout the playoffs, there's very little incentive for the top players to continue to play 35-40 mins/game unless there's particular bonuses attached to their contract relating to individual marks. And by the time home court is clinched throughout a year, teams are well past the 10 loss mark. I don't see this one being touched.


I'm sure there's other records I'm neglecting, but these ones come to mind as recent records/milestones that seem untouchable based on how their respective sports are evolving. If there's any recent records or milestones that are untouchable, please share your thoughts.