CHICAGO KNOWS HOW TO THROW A HOCKEY PARTY

"What's up Chicago......you guys excited or what?" offered Chicago Blackhawk star winger Patrick Kane this past Thursday to a full house rally at Soldiers Field.  The reason, quite simply, was the third title celebration in the last six years for the National Hockey League Stanley Cup Champions.

Now, while these victory parties might be getting somewhat normal in their occurrences in Chicago, the behavior exhibited by a fan base of  Blackhawk crazies was not.  And the reason I can say that with total candor, is that I experienced it first hand.  


Captain Jonathan Toews raises Lord Stanley again



After the Blackhawks clinched the Cup with a 2-0 win over Tampa Bay last Monday night, I turned to my youngest son, Jordan, and said, "you know they'll have a parade and rally this week, you want go?"  Right away he was game for the trip....but the factor was going to be when and what time.  

Late in the afternoon on Tuesday came these words.  " Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the City of Chicago will celebrate the 2015 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks beginning at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 18, with a parade followed by a rally at Soldier Field.  Free tickets to the celebration rally with the Chicago Blackhawks team and the coveted Stanley Cup trophy at Soldier Field will be made available on Wednesday, June 17th at 12 noon at www.ticketmaster.com. .  .There is a limit of four tickets per person.
“The City of Chicago is so proud of the Blackhawks, which is why we are going to throw them a celebration that only Chicago can throw – a celebration worthy of a hockey dynasty,” said Mayor Emanuel.

Over 2 million fans packed the streets

Long story short, Jordan and I decided that if we were lucky enough to get tickets to the rally, we'd go.  So, at noon on Wednesday, we both hopped on the Ticketmaster site....no doubt along with several million other Hawks fans, trying as we might,  to nab some freebies.  Somehow and I'm still not sure how, we landed some tickets.  Later we heard the 68,000 tickets were gone in 15 minutes.  Like I said, somehow, we lucked out.     

The next morning, we hit the road at 3 a.m. for the excursion to the Windy City.  Both of us, no doubt, had sleep mixed with a twinkle in our eyes.  Excited for sure.  The night before we looked at the best way to navigate the journey.  The best route for us was to drive into the suburbs and take the Metra to Union Station.  Our target was Naperville, where we arrived at 7:45 a.m.....parked the car and paid $10 for two round trip tickets to downtown Chicago.

While we waited for the train to roll into the station, we were among a legion of Hawks team jerseys, hats and t-shirts worn by people of all ages and sizes.  Red, red and more red.   The crowd waiting to board grew by the second... but there was calm. ...no crowding or pushing as we entered the vessel to Hawkland.  30 minutes later we arrived at our destination and the realization became even clearer, this would be another 2 million crowd celebration.   

An excited, but well behaved fan base

As we left the bowels of the dark, dank Union Station into a hazy humid morning we quickly realized that if we wanted to beat the crowd to Soldiers Field, we'd better beat feet.

Fast forward to outside the stadium.  As we rounded the corner near the Museum we were met by a throng of people.  Just hanging, waiting, hoping to see a glimpse of any Blackhawk on the double-decker busses which would bring the players to the stadium.  I'm not sure how long they'd been waiting, but it no doubt had been awhile.  But then something became apparent....actually strange. 

I looked around, kept looking and searching, but there was not one scalper in sight.  Nobody asking for tickets and no one offering to sell.  I said strange, because on Wednesday, we'd heard of people trying to scalp free tickets on EBAY and Craigslist.  Again, not one was in view.  

Inside Soldiers Field, the crowd grew ever so slowly.  When Patrick Kane offered his "what's up Chicago" there had to have been somewhere around 80,000 counting stadium seating and those on the floor.  The Rally was well done and well received.  It would be hard to think otherwise.  It was truly a Hawk Day for fans and players and the organization alike. 

There were a couple of observations I was left with as we made our way back downtown for some Chicago pizza and the rides back home.  First off, there was no alcohol sold at the Rally.  Class.  Secondly, as we watched replays of the parade on the monitor in the restaurant, I was struck by the masses that lined the streets.  Hundreds of Thousands and more...... but more amazing was through all of this, there was no rioting, no looting and no fighting.  How many times have we seen cities throw celebrations that have backfired with stupid behavior?  Not here, not in Chicago.  Class Act. 

But more importantly, this Hawks organization has captured a whole throng of fans, young and old alike, they get it.  And the fans give it back.  Despite not being able to use Grant Park for a Rally due to wet grounds, they still were able to offer the connection needed for their fan base.  If ever there was a true affection for a team and a city,  Chicago has it...... 

Here's hoping there's more celebrations to come.

John     

        

IT'S TIME FOR ROBIN VENTURA TO GO

I read a story from South Town Sox the other day, which addressed a point...but left me thinking they'd danced around the only real answer.  A website known as an information source for the Chicago White Sox talked about this year's edition which was playing less than stylish baseball.  As they suggested:

"The Chicago White Sox have stumbled out of the gate in 2015, but that does not mean the season is over. The amount of talent on this team is evident, as team owner Jerry Reinsdorf did not allow Rick Hahn to break the bank bringing in good ballplayers for this slow start.

The beginning to this season should be manager Robin Ventura's wake up call to improve his game management or think about a different career. (Note: this is not an article promoting the firing of Ventura, merely a put-on-warning-type article.)

I have consistently stood up for Ventura in the past,  and am generally against mid-season coaching changes which is why there is time for this season to get turned around", suggested a South Town reporter.

But it's time to address the elephant in the room.  General Manager Rick Hahn spent millions of dollars to bring in free agent prizes such as pitcher Zach Duke and David Robertson and then spent additional dollars in acquiring hitters Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche and tossed a bunch of players to acquire starting pitcher Jeff Smardzija.  "The time is now" was a statement being thrown around.  But let's turn that around and offer, "now is the time".  Manager Robin Ventura has to go. 

In turning on the game Tuesday night, I was greeted by a scoreboard that suggested as much.  It was in the 7th and the Sox were trailing the Texas Rangers 11-2.  Minutes later the deficit grew to 15-2.  And as Sox broadcaster, Steve Stone, offered.  "tonight is a night to forget and get back it tomorrow".  The problem is, the eventual loss to the Rangers dropped Chicago to 23-27 on the season.  



Ventura in a fit of passion....even though he got whipped

"The good news is we have a lot of baseball players with a lot of heart, we have the talent and we believe we have the drive in these guys to ultimately win the division," Chicago Executive Kenny Williams said recently.  "I said during spring training that this team was built for the long run and would grind from Day 1 to 162 and I still believe that."

"We have a lineup that no matter who the pitcher is should compete and battle one through nine and do some damage," he said. "We have a little speed at the top and the bottom, a little power in the middle and some good average hitters and base runners. We just haven't put it all together yet."

The person responsible is clearly Ventura.  He has, over the course of his 3 plus years as the leader of men, been one that appears to lack the passion you'd hope for.   When he signed an extension last year, he was asked by a local Chicago radio anchor if he really "wanted this job".  His answer then was lukewarm.  His results since then even worse.

Simple criticism comes from his lineup cards an his inability to handle a pitching staff.  And let's throw in one of the worst defensive teams in the entire league.  A change to the batting order should look like this: (Adam Eaton, Alexi Ramirez, Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche. Avisail Garcia, Conor Gillaspie, Geovany Soto and Carlos Sanchez.  Ramirez hits much better in the 2nd spot in the order....and Soto is an improvement over Tyler Flowers, who quite frankly has shown he is not a major league starter.  Sanchez might, be an answer....might.

In the pitching department, Ventura has consistently proved he does not have a handle on the roles of his players.  He either overuses pitchers or puts them in situations where they are completely overmatched....or uncomfortable.  Closer David Robertson has been thrust into too many back to back situations as has setup man Zach Duke when there are other pen possibilities like Zach Putnam or Jake Petricka or newly added Daniel Webb.

Far too many times Ventura has sat on his hands and played little strategy in the game.  Occasions were a sacrifice is needed, he has his players hitting away.  My biggest concern is the lack of passion exhibited by the 2015 Sox.....and the club appears to be lacking a clubhouse leader  among its 25-man roster.

"It's still early", said GM Hahn.  "We have over 110 games or so left, so we have some time".  I'm not so sure.  The Central Division is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in all of baseball.

As I look at the Central Division standings of the American League today, I wonder what Hahn sees.  Minnesota has clearly been a surprise as the leader.  Will that stand?  Who knows.  And then right behind are the Kansas City Royals, the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians.  In last, are the Sox.

I'll be the first to say I don't know Ventura.  I met him once, at the College World Series in Omaha where he was signing autographs as one of the greats in college baseball history.  I caught him at the end of his session and he was clearly ready to check out.  I wasn't all that impressed.  

As I see it, there is one immediate change that needs to be made...and that's in the dugout.   And if Ventura isn't ready to go quietly, maybe Nolan Ryan should be called upon to put a couple of noogies on his head.  Maybe he'd then see it's time too. 

Thanks for reading,

John