Do Chicago fans deserve a good team?
The White Sox are always up there, but the Cubs are another thing. They had the Bulls winning everything for a while. The Bears even won the big one once. So, after years of cellar dwelling, big things are now expected for the Blackhawks.
I for one have been watching this team take shape over the past years. It wasn't a fluke that they had a good year last year. The team has taken the right approach for a few years now. That said, I hope they do really well this year.
But my question is, why have Hawk fans been so fairweather? Season ticket sales are up 300% this year, yet they could barely fill the place last year and the stadium was a ghost town in the previous years.
As bad as a team gets, true sports fan stick by their team.
The New England Patriots have been selling out for years, even before their winning it all.
The LA Lakers always have a packed house, regardless.
If you are a Chicago native, explain yourself.
Update:I agree- I want the Hawks to win it. I am a Red Wings fan, but I love the city, I admire Toews and Kane's attitude, and the management is showing that it wants a winner by adding Campbell and Huet in particular. Unlike here in Boston...ugh (although the last year or two have been nice)
Update 3:Goingtos...
Exactly. Now that Boston management is minus Sinden, they are able to convince ownership that the product needs to change. Neely on board also has fans excited that he'll instill some of that 80s fire into the club. For these past 10 years, the team has been a joke. It was SO obvious that ownership just wanted to make money and not win games.
Comments
The answer to this question is very simple: William Wirtz. We Hawks fans are the most loyal in sport. Bill Wirtz would not allow home games televised period saying he had an obligation to his season reservation holders. What he really has done is alienate his fan base and has missed out on marketing hockey and the Blackhawks to a whole generation of fans. He also ran several fan favorites out of town from Jeremy Roenick to Chris Chelios. Wirtz also refused to honor past Hawk greats like Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito just to name a few. Bill Wirtz as an owner did nothing for the fans and Hawk fans responded by not showing up anymore.
When Rocky Wirtz took over after his father's death he immediately tried to mend fences with the fans. For the first time in my lifetime ALL Hawks games will be televised, home and away. He brought in John McDonough from the Cubs. McDonough will fill the United Center just like he filled Wrigley Field. Pretty soon getting a Hawks ticket will be as tough if not tougher than a Cubs ticket is. They have brought back Pat Foley to call the games. Foley is one of the best announcers in sport. They have brought back the former Hawk greats as ambassadors for the team. Dale Tallon has a plan to build a solid club, a winner and the fans have responded by coming back in force.
We never wanted to give up going to games, but when your ownership does not care about the fans or the product on the ice and makes little or no effort to show they care why should we spend our money and waste our time on failure. This has all changed in the last year or so and because of the positive changes made by ownership and management Hawks fans are back.
Spaceboy: It will be awesome for Original Six teams like the Hawks and Bruins to rise back to where they truly belong: at the top of the NHL. Maybe we can even have a Hawks/Bruins Stanley Cup.
Its been 25 years since the city of Philly won a title.sniff
The Lakers were always winners after they left Minneapolis,there were years the Pats couldn't sell out Foxboro Stadium.The Yankees for YEARS couldn't sell out Yankee Stadium(80s) and a few yrs back the Iggles had blackouts on local TV cause they couldn't sell the Vet out.So it does happen.Plus the Hawks ownership wasn't the greatest to the fans.Now that owner has passed.Also because those teams you mentioned have been great in the city of Chi Town there was no reason fans would want to cheer for a team that hasn't won a Cup in decades.
Try living in Cleveland, where you are used to disappointments every year.
The Black Hawks are on the up and up, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the Addition of Goalie Cristobal Huet should make an Impact this season.
Don't Fret Hawk Fans, even though the team has not won the Cup since 1961 they should be getting to that top notch soon.
I think it has alot to do with Rocky Wirtz changing the policies that his father started. Fans are thrilled about the new ownership, and now the team is finally a contender. Now, two of the most exciting players in the NHL play for the Hawks. (Toews and Kane) Being from Chicago, I never thought that it would happen.
The Bears need a new qb. But let me clear something up. I have friends who work in the media in Philadelphia. McNabb is under contract for next year. People who say McNabb could go to Chicago are wrong. The Eagles will NOT trade McNabb to a NFC team unless that team is a bad team. And the Bears are not a bad team. The only team that McNabb could end up with will be the Vikings in the NFC. The coach of the Vikings use to work for the Eagles. And Reid and him are good friends. So please stop with the McNabb is going to Chicago. Won't happen.
I really feel for Hawks fans. For years they had a cellar-dwelling team and their owner was too cheap to bring in or hold on to any talent. Blacking out Hawks games in the Chicago area is no way to build or maintain a fan base. I hate to say it, but Bill Wirtz's death may be the best thing that's happened to the Blackhawks in years.
I don't think you can really blame the fanbase on this one. When you have ownership that treats the fans as poorly as Dollar Bill did, people are going to turn away from that team.
yes almost as much as the detroit lion fans