Here come the Hawks?

It appears that the Madhouse on Madison may be transplanted to the Friendly Confines, if only for a day, next January.

Late Wednesday night, Comcast SportsNet and WGN-TV reported that the Blackhawks brass and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman are set to announce that the Hawks will host the second annual Winter Classic next January at Wrigley Field. A number of other news organizations are also now reporting the story.

An official announcement could come as early as Friday when Blackhawks legends Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita, and Bobby Hull will sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” at Wrigley Field.

The NHL will look to capitalize on the immense success of the first Winter Classic. On Jan. 1, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabers 2-1 in a shootout before more than 71,000 fans at Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium.

It had been rumored that the Blackhawks were in contention to host the game for several months. Initially, the New York Rangers were the top choice to hold the game at Yankee Stadium, which will close following the baseball season. However, the Hawks’ chances increased dramatically earlier this month when Bettman told Newsday that there were a “variety of issues” associated with holding the game at the 85-year-old ballpark.

The Blackhawks will most likely face the rival Detroit Red Wings. If the Hawks take on the Red Wings, it will be the first Original Six matchup in outdoor game history. Aside from the first Winter Classic, there has been one other outdoor game in recent NHL history. The Edmonton Oilers took on the Montreal Canadians in front of 57,167 fans during a game called the “Heritage Classic” in 2003.

Once it appeared that the game may be held in Chicago, the Blackhawks and the NHL had a variety of venues to choose from. However, it appears that historic Wrigley Field beat out both Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, and U.S. Cellular Field, where the Chicago White Sox play.

The Blackhawks have a strong connection to the Cubs. Hawks president John McDonough joined the team last November after spending 24 years in the Cubs front office. Also, Jay Blunk, the Blackhawks’ s senior vice president of business operations joined the Blackhawks in January after working for the Cubs for 22 years.

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Everybody Take a Deep Breath

I had the good luck to attend most of last night’s game.  I did not intend to go, however I was offered a $60 ticket for $5 while waiting for a bus about a block North of Wrigley just after the third inning.  By the time I got to my seat up in section 431 Big Z had walked in a run and the Cubs were leading off their half of the fourth inning.  The seat was great (except for the girl with the terrible laugh a couple seats over) and the Cubs won a thriller in the bottom of the tenth.  It really was the best $5 I’ve ever spent, and I went alone.

Everyone should attend a baseball game by themselves at least once in their lives, it is a vastly different experience than attending with friends or family.  I have done this a handful of times over the last few years and enjoyed it every time.  It is like watching the game at home on the ultimate Hi-Def set.  When you’re alone at the game you don’t have to entertain anyone; you can immerse yourself in the ballpark and the game.  I imagine that experience is a lot like hiking is for nature people.  Only the trees are people and the walking is sitting; which is much better for someone with my allergies.  If you are not sure that you would enjoy it do what I did and by your ticket a few innings into the game, you’ll pay a lot less and then not feel bad if you don’t enjoy it.  But I think you will.

The best part of attending alone is that I also had the chance to study the crowd.  There has been much discussion of Cubs fans since Marty Brennaman blasted us a few weeks ago; for the most part, he was wrong.  I did however notice something else about my Cubs fan brethren: we are way too high strung.  By this I don’t mean that we need to stop cheering, or booing (even the people in left); I mean that we need to not live and die by the result of every pitch.  I don’t miss the days when Wrigley was a picnic or a beer garden where baseball happened to be played.  I love that people actually care about what happens to this team.  But there has to be a happy medium right? aren’t we rooting for the Cubbies to help us relax?  Most importantly baseball is a game of failure.  Even if you win 100 games, which is a great season, you are going to lose 62 times; the batting champion every year fails almost two-thirds of the time.  In 1927 the year Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 60 home runs (he also hit .356) he was thrown out 354 times, 89 of those were strikeouts.  I’m not sure, but I don’t think people were yelling “Hey, Babe, YOU SUCK!” after a third inning strikeout in May.

We are watching a very good baseball team.  Yes, it has some flaws, and no, not every player is a Hall of Famer or even an All-Star.  But it is May 29th, no team in baseball has won more games than the 32 the Cubs have, the Cubs have scored more runs than anyone, and are tied for the 4th best E.R.A. in baseball (tops in the N.L.).  So go ahead and boo a bad play; but after you do, take a deep breath and remember that this team is good enough to overcome, and that player (unless it is Edmonds or Pie) you’re booing will probably be a big reason why.