The missing generation

As you probably know, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this year. Though I've always enjoyed hockey, I really became a fan recently. By "fan", I mean REALLY a fan. Probably what normal people might consider a little over the top type of fan. The kind of fan who goes to the game, records the same game and then comes home and watches it for anything he missed. For the Bears games, it's a given that I'll watch the games at least once and I started doing the same thing with the Hawks games.

So that's what I am now. Another example of my disease is that I've been sending emails discussing the Hawks salary cap issues and players going to arbitration and their contract status. Again, this is something I do routinely for the Bears. It's something I USED to do more regularly for Cubs and Sox players, but it became pretty complicated and players move so much that it's tough to care as much. Not that I'm not a passionate baseball fan, but just not of the entire league like I used to be. Now it's more just a few teams.

Why am I late to the game in hockey? I watched a ton of hockey as a kid growing up in Detroit, but when I moved to Chicago there was a hockey vacuum caused by Bill Wirtz. This guy was perennially rated as the worst owner in all of sports...not just hockey. Wirtz made his money in real estate and being a liquor distributor, which is a huge racket by the way. That's a story for another time though.

Anyway, Bill wouldn't televise home games and was ahead of his time with his own cable channel for his team. Unfortunately, charging for something that has been free is not where you want to be on the vanguard. So the team's following waned and suffered for a good chunk of 30+ years. Bill was too stubborn to change. Imagine not watching any home games on TV. That means when your team scores, you never get to see fans cheering. The only games you get to see are when they are on the road and there are just a smattering of Chicago fans. It was pretty ridiculous. Then Bill didn't invest in the team at all, usually being outspent by 2 to 1 versus a team like the Redwings.

Bill passed away in September of 2007 and his son, Rocky, took over. Immediately some home games were put on TV and the next season all games were on TV. He's also reached out to past players and honored them and welcomed them back to the family. Bill always thought it was the ownership that should be worshiped, not the players.

It seems to me that there are a lot of people like me who were disenfranchised with the Hawks and are coming back into the fold (or are here already). Welcome back to the missing generation!