Everything Else

Lousy Smarch Weather: Blackhawks 5 – Penguins 1

By 1204 0

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Extra Skater

I could not have been more excited about the Blackhawks playing at Wrigley Field back in 2009. The Hawks were still on their way up and there was finally energy back in the stands. I gladly paid hundreds of dollars for two tickets for my brother and myself to sit in centerfield, lose all feeling in my toes and fingers to watch the Hawks get off to a fast start before getting demolished at the hands of Scum. This year, while I was tempted to go to the game and even had tickets offered the day before, I couldn’t muster up the same excitment. Whether it was my ongoing headcold or just my disinterest in Soldier Field compared to the iconic Wrigley, I just wasn’t as excited. That doesn’t mean the game didn’t turn to be a pretty exciting and beautiful spectacle though. It just means I was happy to have been watching it from a bar where I only had to walk 5 feet to get a new beer and not worry about whether I would lose a toe.

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Confirmation Bias: Blackhawks 2 – Ducks 0

By Matthew Killion 1378 0

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There’s something about this team. Even when they’re not very good (the last few weeks) they can still manage to outplay other teams seemingly at will. Few of us would believe that the Hawks are playing at their highest level right now and we’ve got plenty to complain about.. and even if we don’t, we’ll at least make some shit up.. but they still have somehow won 8 out of 10 possible points so far on the road trip with only a single game remaining before the break.

Everything Else

Tuesday Grab Bag

By Sam Fels 1403 0

I’ve just got random flotsam and jetsam passing around my skull today, so I’m just going to spit it all out in random fashion.

-Though I worry this might kick off a whole thing here, I really wasn’t comfortable with the Patrick Kane’s grandfather’s passing after last night’s game. I guess it’s news or something you have to mention. But to me, that’s Kane’s private matter to deal with. If he wants to share with the press and public, that’s fine. But it just felt like there was a slightly gleeful… exploitation of that angle? Maybe that’s a bit strong.

Kane’s not the first, or even this season. There was Thomas Tartar scoring in the very same building a day after his father died. And I wasn’t really comfortable with that either. That’s his matter, his grief, his process, and we’re not entitled to know about it. Again, if Tartar was willingly sharing that’s ok. But when I hear on the radio about whether Kane will attend the funeral or not or miss games, that’s too personal for me. I feel like the Hawks could have easily said, “Patrick has a family emergency” or something.

I feel like events like this are shaped and used to make players seem more heroic or determined or something that they can play through grief. But you know, a lot of us use work to get through a hard time or after a loss of someone close. It’s a distraction, gives us something else to focus on for a short time instead of the pain. I don’t feel like athletes are any more remarkable in that way than anyone else. I know I have done this. And those who don’t play, or don’t work, they’re no less worthy of praise for taking the time they need.

It just isn’t any of our business. The information is fine, but the glorification of it, the exploitation for an easy narrative, it just makes me itchy. That’s Kaner’s personal business, not ours.