Blackhawks’ performance yet another step away from Chicago sporting tradition

I’m not much of a hockey fan, yet I will be the first to admit I would like to see the Blackhawks make it to the Stanley Cup finals for the sole reason that it would be yet another step away from what had become the Chicago sporting mentality of losing ball clubs.

Being in my 40s, it means I came of age in the 1970s. Some people want to think that polyester and disco makes that decade a shameful period (I say Boy George makes the 1980s even worse).

YET FOR ME, the thing about the ‘70s is that it was an era that established a mindset for many sports fans in this city (myself included). Back in that era, all the teams stunk. And that was just the way it was meant to be.

Chicago sports successes were supposed to be so far in the past that few contemporary people could remember them.

Heck, that includes that Blackhawks. Despite having some talented players when I was a kid (I remember Stan Mikita as something other than a stupid gag from that ridiculous Wayne’s World film), the Blackhawks hadn’t won a Stanley Cup championship since 1961 (they still haven’t).

The Chicago Bulls, despite players like Norm Van Lier and Bob Love, had NEVER won anything. And forget about the Bears, White Sox and Cubs. This was the era with players such as Bob Avellini, Bill Nahorodny and Dave Kingman.

IF ANYTHING, 1976 was the quintessential season. When other people were getting excited about the Bicentennial, we in Chicago were following dreadful teams, with the Blackhawks coming closest to having a good team (32-30 that season, with 18 ties).

The White Sox, Cubs and Bulls all had losing seasons (with the Bulls being the worst team in the National Basketball Association that year – 24-58). You figure if people should have got excited about the Bears’ 7-7 record that year.

These losing records came despite the fact that three Hall of Fame players in their respective sports were with Chicago teams that year – Rich Gossage of the White Sox, Bruce Sutter of the Cubs and Walter Payton of the Bears.

The lesson learned was that not even an occasional skilled athlete would make a difference – the concept of a championship sporting team being from Chicago was an oxymoron.

THIS WAS THE era where no so-called “major” sports team from Chicago won a championship – not between the Bears’ NFL title in 1963 to their Super Bowl victory in 1986. (The Chicago Sting won titles in 1981 and 1984, but some people like to discount those victories. Besides, they didn’t come in the 1970s).

It is the reason why I have the mentality that a sporting championship that brings attention to Chicago is something to be cherished. I’m not going to look down on the White Sox’ World Series title in 2005 just because it was not followed up with a repeat performance in 2006.

The Bears aren’t a failure because they didn’t follow up their Super Bowl appearance of a few years ago (although it is a bit of a blemish that they let themselves get beat by a team from a minor league town such as Indianapolis).

And the idea that the Bulls rose to a level of six championships in an eight-season period is something that ought to be celebrated. The Bulls of that era, with Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen, give Chicago the closest it has ever come to experiencing what places like New York had back in the days of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig leading the Yankees in their glory days.

IT IS WHY I think too many of the nitwit kids (which is the way I think of anyone under 30) who call in to sports talk radio to rant and complain ought to get a clue. Things could be a lot worse than they are these days.

Heck, they used to be much worse. But that only means it would be all the more enjoyable if the Blackhawks are able to make it past the Detroit Red Wings to play in the Stanley Cup finals.

It would eliminate “1961” from the list of “Chicago lasts,” just like the White Sox title of four years ago took “1959” off the list.

I’d love to have things turn out so that one day, it will be thought of as quaint that Chicago teams were expected to stink (and perhaps people will think I’m just addle-brained and senile for thinking that a ballplayer named “Larry Biittner” ever really mangled the outfield as badly as he did).

IN FACT, I can think of only one reason why I would prefer NOT to have the Blackhawks prevail over the Red Wings – and it relates to those sports-related bets that Mayor Richard M. Daley is so fond of making with government officials of other cities.

Our mayor of two decades has offered up the usual assortment of foodstuffs manufactured by Chicago-area companies, including a few of those gourmet-type pizzas from Lou Malnati’s.

Yet if I comprehend the bet properly, Detroit’s payoff should the Blackhawks prevail will include pizza from Little Caesar’s. Ugh! Am I the only person who thinks the Second City is getting the worst end of this deal?

Not having to envision the thought of anyone at City Hall having to eat one of those cardboard-type pizza pies would make it worth having to go yet another year in Chicago without a Stanley Cup at the building across the street from the lamented Chicago Stadium.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: I always thought the one redeeming feature of the Chicago Blackhawks, no matter how bad the franchise sank in recent years, was their theme song (http://www.imeem.com/ilovehockey/music/lEaQ4MN_/chicago-blackhawks-here-come-the-hawks/), which I think is the catchiest of any Chicago sports franchise (and I don’t want to hear from Chicago Bears fans on this point).

Oh well, the Blackhawks merely have to win four of the next six games in order to (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/chi-18-blackhawks-red-wings-may18,0,3412719.story) keep this season going.

EXTRA: From 3-1, to 6-4 at final

Steve Dahl may be an unemployed radio host these days (http://twitter.com/SteveDahlShow), but he has a possible point about Wrigley Field. Either that, or the Red Wings are just a better team.

Aside from that observation, I stand by my previously posted commentary about Thursday’s game.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Despite the hype, Thursday’s game is nothing more than a (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-090101-chicago-blackhawks-winter-classic,0,2404554.story) regular-season loss (http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/1357878,CST-SPT-hawk01.article) from which the Blackhawks will (hopefully) soon rebound.

One thing I’ll say for the Chicago Blackhawks; they have the best theme song of any (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPBw45ETm7o) Chicago sports franchise – even better than “Bear Down, Chicago Bears.”

Blackhawks gain national attention, but outdoor hockey still a cheap stunt

Perhaps it is the ultimate evidence of how low the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team had sunk in the early years of the 21st Century.

A team that is one of the National Hockey League’s “Original Six” and has been a part of Chicago’s sporting scene since 1926 is having to rely on the novelty of playing a hockey match outdoors, and is trying to pass the event off as some major event in the history of Chicago.

NOW I CAN appreciate this is a novelty.

The idea of placing an ice rink on the grass and infield dirt of Wrigley Field so that roughly 40,000 people can watch the Blackhawks take on their rival Detroit Red Wings is something that likely will never happen again – just like the Chicago Bears once played a football game many decades ago in the same arena where the Blackhawks used to play.

But the reality is that football game was played on an off-sized football grid, and this hockey match will take place in an outdoor stadium whose seats were in no way configured to accommodate a hockey rink.

Just about everybody who braves the winter elements (even if they remain as mild at game time Thursday as they have been in recent days) is going to get a terrible view of the ice.

EITHER THE ANGLE of the seat will be all wrong, or there will be one of those posts (the bane of any baseball fan who watches a game in an old stadium) blocking the view.

Considering the fact that the game did manage to sell out, people who are still trying to get seats will wind up paying exorbitant fees to get into Wrigley Field.

This will really be one occasion where a sports fan would be better off watching the game on television (to be broadcast via WMAQ-TV and NBC affiliates across the country). That way, you will be able to see what is really happening.

When I look at the photographs and diagrams depicting how Wrigley Field is being used to accommodate a hockey rink, I can’t help but think there will be thousands of people who will be able to say “I was there” for the game, but can’t tell you a thing about what happened because they couldn’t see it.

I’M ALSO SKEPTICAL of those people who claim that the staging of this event will give Chicago a rehearsal, of sorts, for the city’s dreams of hosting the summer Olympic games in 2016. It’s not a rehearsal any more than any Cubs or White Sox game would be during the summer months.

I can’t help but think many of us in Chicago are making ourselves look like rubes by getting that worked up over Thursday’s game – which is important to the Blackhawks in that they need a victory over Detroit if they’re to claim that the Red Wings didn’t walk all over them this season.

Aside from that, I don’t see the significance of what could turn out to be a badly-played game on a makeshift ice rink in a building whose seating configuration was so awkward that no one could see what was happening.

Now I will be the first to admit, I have only been to one professional hockey game in my life, and that was several decades ago when I saw the old Chicago Cougars of the now-defunct World Hockey Association play at the now-demolished International Amphitheater.

SO I’M NOT the hard-core hockey junkie who might think that the game played under any circumstances is worth watching.

But much of the hype being tossed on this particular game (which is part of an NHL stunt to make professional hockey in this country seem larger-than-life by playing occasional matches in huge outdoor stadiums) just strikes me as overkill.

Learning from broadcast reports that the Zamboni machine that keeps the ice smooth tipped over upon its arrival at Wrigley Field struck me as journalistic overkill.

Hearing people try to claim that this is the first hockey match played in a baseball park strikes me as being about as relevant as those sports broadcasters who inform us that a ballplayer’s bunt single is the first of the season by a left-handed hitter in the third inning of a Tuesday afternoon baseball game.

BESIDES, THE ARENA in which the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays play was once configured for hockey and was the home stadium of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In fact, about the only aspect of this match that particularly interests me is the team the Blackhawks will play.

Detroit vs. Chicago in any sport always has the potential for an intriguing match-up. There is enough rivalry among the sports fans of the two cities (only about a four-hour drive from each other) that the hardcore fans will care about the game, regardless of the surroundings.

Also, one must consider that both cities have old-line professional hockey teams. Let’s just say that Blackhawks vs. Red Wings sounds a lot more interesting than (Phoenix) Coyotes vs. (Anaheim, Calif.) Ducks.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Richard M. Daley is caught up in the hype surrounding Thursday’s (http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/1344482,CST-SPT-wint23.article) outdoor match between the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings.

The Chicago Tribune managed to offend many of its Internet-based readers (read the comments section) with this story (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/chi-31-winter-classic-blackhawks-chidec3,0,1637386.story) that tells the hockey-clueless just what the sport is about.

Am I the only one who sees something eerie about a sports team that hasn’t won its championship since 1961 (the Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup) playing a match on the (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3798186&sportCat=nhl) field of the Chicago team with the longest championship draught?