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| BrendanMcKillip.com brendan mckillip's daily journal |
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daily journal
Have You Heard About The Blackhawks?  I found the story quaint and mildly interesting until I reached the end of the article where I stumbled into this quote: "I remember writing the word 'Bears' and circling it," Blunk told the (Chicago) Tribune. "The Blackhawks are an up-and-coming brand, on the move. But the Chicago Bears are an iconic international brand." The Blackhawks are an "up-and-coming" brand? They are one of the "Original 6" NHL teams, with one of the most recognizable jersey/logo in all of professional sports. I don't know how you call that "up-and-coming" I guess a comment like that is proof that Blackhawks President John McDonough, the man who made the Chicago Cubs the biggest sports name in Chicago, brought a bunch of his marketing cronies along with him to spin their sports marketing magic.Sports knowledge be damned. What's the team's Q Score? Labels: Chicago Blackhawks posted by Brendan | 10:50 PM | permanent link
Is Kane Paying for Problem to Go Away? Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks was allegedly involved in a robbery and assault against a Buffalo, NY cabbie this past weekend. According to the cab driver, Kane and another man beat and robbed the cabbie when he didn�t have twenty cents to make change. On Sunday the 60 year-old cabbie was claiming that he "wants the case to receive the same type of prominence from the mayor's office, police and prosecutors." On Monday morning the cabbie�s lawyer�s was on WGN radio with this to say, "It's pretty much been blown out of proportion," LoTempio told WGN. "It's a dispute over the cab fee and unfortunately Mr. Radecki didn't recognize Mr. Kane and just thought they were a javascript:void(0)couple of college kids." Last season Patrick Kane made $3.725 million playing hockey for the Blackhawks. One word comes to mind � "payoff" Labels: Chicago Blackhawks posted by Brendan | 12:19 PM | permanent link
Here Come the Hawks . . . The Blackhawks entered the NHL free agent market swinging when they signed two players from the Detroit Red Wings.Marian Hossa, who has played on the Stanley Cup runner-up the last two seasons, was signed to a 12-year deal worth $62 million and the Blackhawks gave Tomas Kopecky a 2-year contract worth $2.4 million. While I question giving a 30-year-old hockey player a 12-year contract, I can�t help but be a little excited about the Hawks bringing a player of Hossa�s caliber to the team. He�s a great player. It seemed like I was hearing his name constantly when I would watch the Blackhawks and Red Wings square off last season. Hopefully next season I hear his name as much � but this time it will be for the good guys. Labels: Chicago Blackhawks posted by Brendan | 3:15 PM | permanent link
5 Things I Think I knew I only had three days off, but I was still sulking around Monday night because I had to back to work the next day. At least it�s a short week. And it is the perfect foil to Fact Unchecked Labels: 5 Things I Think, Chicago Blackhawks posted by Brendan | 10:51 PM | permanent link
5 Things I Think Dude�s got a lousy taste in baseball teams, but he knows how to add some great taste to a plain ole can of beans.  I�m guessing vanilla. Smooth and simple, and he works with just about anything. None the less, I think I�m going to find solace in his breakdown of the Blackhawks � Red Wings match-up while watching Game 2 tonight. Not just because of his shared dislike for the Red Wings, but because of the great illustration he did.  An excerpt: # I got to high school when PCs were becoming ubiquitous.  (Shudder) That�s just creepy � and I don�t think "creepy" was what their marketing team was going for. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Chicago Blackhawks, oddities posted by Brendan | 12:59 PM | permanent link
Bring On The Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings scored in the final minutes last night to beat the Anaheim Ducks and take Game 7 in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. So now the Chicago Blackhawks know they have to get past the Detroit Red Wings in order to play for Lord Stanley's Mug.  While playing the Ducks might have made the road to the Stanley Cup Finals a bit easier for the Blackhawks (I think they were 3-1 against the Ducks in the regular season), I will be so much more satisfying if the 'Hawks can outlast the hated Red Wings to earn their first trip to the Finals since 1992. I can't wait to watch and see what the 'Hawks can do. Labels: Chicago Blackhawks posted by Brendan | 12:24 PM | permanent link
5 Things I Think The problem is that now I have to deal with individual people�s stupidity. A company can always overcome stupidity behind the counter be changing its training or hiring practices. There�s nothing that can be done about the slow minded yahoos who are afraid of technology yet still choose to lumber through the painfully simple touch screen display of a CVS check-out station. And I think there are others who would agree with me on this. Even on TV it�s a great experience.  I haven't heard or seen any of the sports media talking heads broach this subject, but I have to think that with a little time � and maybe a championship or two � that talk should rise to the surface. Maybe it already has and I'm just not aware of it or maybe in general discussion has moved beyond who will be the next "Michael Jordan" to "who will be the next dominate player in the NBA."  When the Chicago Tribune put the Pepsi-Cola Throwback into a taste test against regular Pepsi-Cola (I know this is the sort of hard-hitting journalism that will keep the newspapers relevant for another 100 years), one of the comments related to Pepsi Throwback was, "Now this tastes the way Pepsi should."Their reaction to the regular Pepsi-Cola was, "Too syrupy." I've avoided Pepsi-Cola for years because I thought it was too syrupy tasting. I think I'd like to give this Pepsi Throwback a try while it's in stores. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Chicago Blackhawks, Rant posted by Brendan | 10:08 PM | permanent link
All the Young Talent is in Chicago  When I read earlier this week that Chicago Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg was named as one of the three Calder Trophy finalists for the 2009-09 NHL season, it reminded me that not only did Patrick Kane win the award for the outstanding rookie player in the NHL last year for the Blackhawks, but that fellow line-mate Jonathan Toews was a finalist for the trophy as well. I know that the Blackhawks have a lot of great young talent, but having three guys in two years being recognized as the tops of top says to me that the Blackhawks have a bumper crop of great players. Then it occurred to me that the Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose was just honored as the NBA�s 2008-09 Rookie of the Year and that Geovany Soto of the Chicago Cubs is the reigning National League Rookie of the Year for 2008. Plus, Chicago White Sox infielder Alexei Ramirez finished second in voting for the American League Rookie of the Year balloting in 2008. What about the Chicago Bears? Running Back Matt Forte was named one of the five finalists for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2008, and now the Bears have Jay Cutler, a Pro Bowl selection in his third season.That a lot of great young talent in pro sports in this city. If the respective players and their teams are managed well (and stick around), Chicago could be in for a number of years of competitive and exciting pro sports teams. That�s pretty exciting. Labels: Chicago, Chicago Bears, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox posted by Brendan | 11:34 AM | permanent link
Loved the Winter Classic Because I didn�t win the lottery for a chance at buying tickets to the NHL�s Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, I watched the game on TV yesterday.  Even though the Blackhawks were soundly beaten by the Redwings, I still found it exciting to watch the game. Seeing how they transformed Wrigley Field into a hockey venue was a trip, and I loved all the pomp and circumstance that the NHL and NBC put on leading into the game. Sure, the coverage and fuss was over the top, but the fact that the game and all the festivities were taking place in Chicago and featuring Chicago sports and Chicago sports history made it a lot of fun for me.The first period was fantastic, the next two not so much � at least from the Blackhawks point of view. But the fact that I stuck through the whole game proved to me that I am becoming a fan. I�m really starting to enjoy watching hockey, and the team Rocky Wirtz is putting on the ice is fun to follow. Hey, and those throwback jerseys they were wearing in the game were pretty cool too. Labels: Chicago Blackhawks, Sports posted by Brendan | 9:06 PM | permanent link
Winter Classic  This New Year�s Day the Blackhawks and Redwings face off in Wrigley Field for the NHL�s 2009 Winter Classic. Hockey outside at Wrigley field featuring two of the �Original Six� NHL teams. That is classic.Season ticket holders and "NHL Winter Classic partners" get a first crack at seats. After that, how tickets will be distributed to the rest of the public is going to be left up to a lottery. Registering at www.chicagoblackhawks.com between now and 10:59 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, 2008 enters you in a drawing for the opportunity to buy tickets. You can enter only once and the league hasn�t said how many tickets a lottery winner will be allowed to buy. I�ve signed up. Now I expect my dad, sister, brother, brother-in-law, and wife to sign up so we can pool our resources and increase our chances of landing some tickets. Labels: Chicago Blackhawks, Family, Sports posted by Brendan | 3:09 PM | permanent link
Why I'm Getting Excited About Blackhawk Hockey  Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane won awarded the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year yesterday.Kane just beat out his teammate Jonathan Toews for the honor. I really haven�t been very interested in Blackhawk hockey since the days of Jeremy Roenick, Ed Belfour, and Chris Chelios in the early 1990�s. But this past season rookies Kane and Toews and a team that, despite missing the playoffs, showed more energy and competitive fight that I had seen out of a hockey team wearing a Blackhawk sweater in a long time came along to force me to start paying attention to the franchise. It also helps that team is now under the guidance of Rocky Wirtz. Not to be disrespectful of the dead, but if there was ever a list of the wrong decisions to make when running a professional sports franchise, Rocky�s deceased father, Bill Wirtz, was guilty of committing most of them. Bill Wirtz destroyed all the love this city had for the Blackhawks back in the 1950�s and 1960�s with his boneheaded decisions in the 70's and 80's. Now, not only does Rocky have Blackhawk home games on TV, an outdoor hockey game between the Blackhawks and the Red Wings in Wrigley Field in 2009, and Blackhawk greats Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito back in the �family�; he�s got a team of hungry hockey players headed up by two star talents in Kane and Toews. You can feel some of the excitement coming back to the franchise. I�m actually looking forward to hockey season. Labels: Chicago Blackhawks posted by Brendan | 9:53 PM | permanent link |
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