I know I’ve pissed and moaned all season long about the lack of media coverage despite the Chicago Blackhawks’ renaissance this season, but I feel like now it’s all starting to pay off.
Not only is the media now paying attention, but the Hawks have captivated all of Chicago. By the time I got upstairs last night after watching them beat Vancouver to advance to the Western Conference Finals and watching Pat Foley and Comcast Sportsnet sign off until next season (the networks take over now), there had been multiple status updates on Facebook about their win. Aside from old hockey teammates who’ve actually played the game, I bet 99 percent of the people updating about their newfound love of hockey couldn’t explain to you what a two-line pass was, or the difference between a high-sticking infraction vs. a high-sticking penalty.
It’s not that I’m unwelcoming or ungrateful of the bandwagon fans; quite the opposite, really. I think the Blackhawks, the NHL and the sport of hockey overall need all the fans it can get. This isn’t Canada and hockey is the No. 4 sport in this country in terms of popularity, so the more people who want to watch, the better the chances are I’ll get to see more games on more channels in the future. I’d love to sit down and talk hockey and explain the culture of the game and why it’s so special to anyone who wants to learn more about the sport or listen to me ramble.
But the thing I don’t like about bandwagon fans—especially Chicago sports columnists—is when they pretend they’ve been here all along, like Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune just did:
Things looked grim when Vancouver took a 5-4 lead on a Daniel Sedin goal, and the United Center’s mood took a turn for the worse. But we’ve watched this Hawks team grow up in front of our eyes, and perhaps we should have known better than to doubt.
You know, some of us actually have watched this Blackhawks team grow up in front of our eyes. But Morrissey can’t count himself as one of them. If you search his column archives, his first column about the Hawks wasn’t until the day before Game 1 started in the first round of the playoffs. It was about how the Bulls and the Blackhawks should provide some springtime excitement in Chicago, yet the Blackhawks only got about three paragraphs out of the whole column. The rest went to the Bulls.
I’ve been griping about the lack of media coverage since the preseason, and how they seemed to write them off after two bad games, so forgive me for taking a few extra shots at them now that they’ve officially jumped on the wagon—it took ‘em long enough.
By all means, keep this newly developed media lovefest going. It will only help create buzz about our sport and give it more exposure.
But certain Chicago columnists should stop acting like they’ve been here all along.
