The
Chicago Blackhawks gave us that come-from-behind victory earlier this week
against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game One of the Stanley Cup finals.
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| Will this pennant become more obsolete? |
Three
more victories, and Chicago gets its third pro hockey championship in six
years.
WHICH
WOULD BE something of significance for Chicago sports fans. Considering that
the Blackhawks have only five championships in their 80-something years of
existence.
And
before that 2010 title, the last Stanley Cup victory for the Blackhawks was
back in 1961.
The
point being that while the Blackhawks might be an “Original Six” franchise,
they’re not exactly one with a significant winning tradition. Taking another
championship title this year would make this era’s Blackhawks franchise the
highlight of the franchise history.
Enough
for us to forget Bobby Hull or Stan Mikita (and I don’t want to read any
e-mailed gags about doughnut shops) or anyone else who played all those years
ago.
CONSIDERING
THAT CHICAGO sports don’t exactly have histories of winning (our sports
franchises usually require fans to endure some pretty sucky ball teams), this
is an era that will not be forgotten.
It’s
not exactly on the same level as those Chicago Bulls teams that won two strings
of three-straight-championships during the 1990s.
But
they are teams that will make our sports fans think about ice and skating –
even the fair-weather fans (I have to confess that none of the pro hockey teams
I have seen include the Blackhawks; I’ve never seen a match of theirs in my
life) who probably don’t comprehend much of what is happening on the ice.
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| Who's thinking about doughnuts?!? |
Except
that fights occasionally break out. And the Blackhawks seem to get whiny
opponents from the south to play against – it makes me wish this year’s Stanley
Cup final could have been a Chicago-New York Rangers match-up instead of the
one we got!
SUCH
AS NASHVILLE trying to restrict sales of tickets in their arena to local
residents and Tampa Bay wanting to forbid anyone from wearing a Blackhawks
jersey in their arena anywhere where it would be seen by a television camera.
Strangely
enough, that hang-up seems to be common for a lot of sports teams based in
cities that weren’t major league a half-century or so ago.
Which
is something rather lame, if you think about it. What kind of place is so
insecure that they have to create a phony image that the whole world revolves
around themselves?
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| How will this cover be topped!?! |
If
the Lightning were really into the hang of things, they’d want to have
Blackhawks faithful sitting in their stands, buying their beer and other
overpriced concessions, then looking rather gloomy when their team lost.
WHICH
MIGHT BE the reason I’m hoping there’s a Blackhawks victory Saturday night in
Game Two.
That
would set up a possibility for the Stanley Cup to be a four-game sweep, with victories
Three and Four coming next week at the United Center.
Let
a couple of Lightning fans show up in Chicago and find themselves to be an
insignificant minority. So much so that Blackhawks fans won’t be bothered by
what they choose to wear.
Although
I have to admit to being curious t see how we’ll behave if we get a
championship-winner in Chicago proper.
WILL
OUR FANS wind up acting stupid and rioting to express our glee, as has happened
in certain other cities across the country when their professional (or
collegiate) teams came through on the athletic field (or turf or ice or wood,
or whatever substance they happen to be playing on).
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| For those "fans" who can't comprehend what happens on the ice |
Then,
we can move on to trying to figure out just how far removed from championship
quality our baseball and football franchises will be in ’15.
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