Well, actually it’s more of an observational post today, not something that’s genuinely pissing me off. It’s too early in the season to be angry of course, and I’m trying to grow here. I know, futile cause. But let me have this.
Anyway, with the news of Patrick Sharp’s second child, I can’t help but notice what an odd phenomenon this has become. Because it seems Hawks fans are more entangled in the personal lives of the Hawks than any other team in town. And may be than any other hockey team, though I haven’t really looked around to see that.
But think about it. Both of Sharp’s children’s births was announced on the website. So was Seabrook’s. So was Keith’s. And Hossa’s. They’re constantly talked about on the broadcast. They’re the first questions asked by the beat reporters. It’s a real story around here. That’s not to say other kids of other athletes in town haven’t made the news. When Charles Tillman’s daughter became ill, that was a story and there was an outpouring of emotion for Peanut. Jay Cutler’s child was news, though his celebrity (kinda) wife also had something to do with that. Derrick Rose dressing up as Duck Dynasty at his son’s birthday party warranted a note.
But I just have this feeling that the Hawks are pushing this as an organization more than any other in town. Now, full disclosure, I hate kids and have no interest in having my own and frankly abhor any story about any other people’s kids, even close friends of mine. DON’T CARE. I’ve seen the destruction I’ve wrought on my father and have no interest in going through that myself. But I don’t recall seeing anything on the Cubs site about players’ kids or it being such a story among the reporters that cover that team. There is just more separation. Same with the Bulls and Bears.
Why? Is it because we’ve followed Keith and Seabrook and Sharp and Toews and Kane from their youngest days to some of them achieving adulthood? Keith and Sharp were in their early 20’s when they arrived in Chicago, and are now above 30 with burgeoning families.
Is it a sort of anti-Kane’s antics push? Are the Hawks trying to provide a ying to the other side of players’ personal lives yang that Kane has showed in the past? I wouldn’t be surprised.
Is it just an effort to forge more of a connection between the Hawks players and fans? That’s probably closer to the truth. An effort to connect to these guys as more than just those who wear the laundry. But are the players totally on board with that? Do Sharp and Keith and Seabrook want pictures of their kids plastered all over TV and the website and then the internet? Wouldn’t that make some parents a little uncomfortable? Do I really need to know what Sharp’s newest daughter weighed at birth? Isn’t that just for him and his wife? Really, I don’t think I should even know their kids’ names, much less have it broadcast to me. That’s their family and their life, not mine or yours.
As you know I’m always leaning toward a sinister side to all things. And I don’t mean to demean anyone and their children. It just strikes me as odd that these things are being pushed so hard by the organization themselves. I don’t want to feel like I’m any part of their lives, especially something so personal. I don’t want any ownership of that. I would be highly skeptical that the parents do either. And yet it seems like the Hawks are intent on making that so, no matter how minimally. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with it.
