Drew

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 15, 2013 -> 08:38 PM) Chara slashes about every shift never called. Growing tired of having goals taken away by officials last 2 series. Tonights call was a killer. The League has long had a practice of letting questionable play slide in the postseason, particularly by elite players. In 2010, it was Chris Pronger. But there are blown calls on both sides of the ice—I'm sure you wouldn't have to look hard to find a Red Sox board where they're complaining about Marchand not getting a penalty shot or even a power play when Seabrook thwarted his breakaway. As big a Hawks fan as I am, Zdeno Chara and the Bruins are by and large above board. They compete and play hard, there is no quit in their game. But I wouldn't call them dirty. Boston was the better team tonight and won fair and square. Did the officials take a goal away? Yes. This whole 'intent to blow the whistle' jurisdiction leaves far too much room for interpretation for referees, and these calls almost always are game-changers. It is a rule that has to go. Either you blow the whistle or you don't. But if the Blackhawks were better, they'd have found a way to win. Be that as it may, there was plenty of time to hang another on the board and with two power plays and the caliber of players the Hawks have, they didn't get it done. The no-goal deflated the Hawks, and Boston had the jump on them for most of the rest of the game. I'm worried about that a hell of a lot more than I am about Chara's stick. Can the Hawks keep their foot on the gas?

Konerko has been an All-Star and was an ALCS MVP. Frank Thomas is a first ballot Hall of Famer. I've got to go with the first ballot Hall of Famer, even in spite of his frustrating injury history, his mouth, his softness and seeming lack of interest in playing in the field.

My dad grew up a Tiger fan in Ft. Wayne, IN, and my mom came from Kansas City, so I guess you could say the American League is in my blood. When we moved back to the Chicago suburbs from KC at the end of Summer '83, in my bare bedroom a Sox cap and t-shirt were there waiting for me, a housewarming gift from dad. Sure, I watched a lot of Cub games for two reasons—we didn't have cable tv, and the Cubs were always on WGN after school. Second, Ryne Sandberg was the idol of every little leaguer too shrimpy to play a corner infield position, but sick and tired of picking dandelions out in right field. Save about a baseball season's worth of adolescent indiscretion where I became a fan of the frontrunning A's in 1989-90, I've been a White Sox fan ever since.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 01:43 PM) While I agree that the ticket price structure needs to be revisited, it's quite ridiculous for you to think that we need to call for a new owner considering they just disproved your assumption that the Sox require fans to come out to the park before spending by having a $125mm payroll last year with only 25k fans showing up. What is ridiculous is for any business owner to make a better product only if customers keep buying the overpriced product. The comparisons to Arte Moreno serves as an example that his investment in a quality product and charging a reasonable price for it is a proven recipe for success.

I don't even like the Angels, but I love Arte Moreno. While the Dodgers are the long-reigning champions of the Southland's popularity contest, Moreno made the Angels competitive: he putting a quality product on the field, created a family-friendly experience and charged a reasonable price. He lowered the price of beer and kept parking at $10 (I don't know what it costs this season, but it was only $10 for years). While the Angels don't have capacity crowds every night, they have good-sized crowds and tickets are relatively easy to come by, and they don't cost an arm and a leg. In the past decade the Angels have won a World Series, made the playoffs six times, and five AL West titles. They're always aggressive in the free agent market—they don't always get their man, but they're almost always in the debate. I've never heard Arte Moreno or any Angel management make the same excuses the White Sox do. If this article is how Reinsdorf and his mouthpiece in Kenny Williams feel about Sox fans—they will build it if the fans come—it's high time for us to call for a new owner.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 18, 2012 -> 11:10 AM) The only way I would spend $100+ dollars (assuming I was actually in America or Chicago) is if Sale or Peavy or Quintana was starting. At this point in time, I'd just have ZERO interest in seeing Humber or Floyd struggle out there. Zach Stewart, I'd be even less inclined. Coca-Cola Value Packs Looking for a great value? These packs include 4 tickets, 4 Dodger Dogs, and 4 Coca-Cola's - all starting at just $18 per seat! Here's what I don't get, if Los Angeles is an even more expensive place to live than Chicago, and they're not going to loosen up on the parking and ticket prices like they do in LA, why can't they offer more food/drink specials at USCF? I've lived in LA since 2005 and the last four within walking distance to Dodger Stadium. The biggest reason the Dodgers are offering discounts isn't because of the cost of living here, which I've always found to be about equal to Chicago (unless you want to buy a house, then it's another story), it's for two major reasons: First, many local fans were skittish about going to Dodger games after a Giants fan was beaten outside the park after a game on opening weekend, who is still in a coma. Second, the McCourts managed to alienate just about everyone in town during their regime and how it ended, and the new ownership group needs to get fans back.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 12:41 PM) I'd say the NBA is hard. A lot of times, you have to play against not only another team, but against the refs too! I do think I'd agree with baseball. The amount of work it takes to get a team competitive enough to actually make it to the postseason requires either a ton of luck or being far and away better at scouting and player development than other teams within your division, and even then you have to have a team that can win in the playoffs too. The A's make like, what, 5 playoff appearances in the 00s and won 1 series? The Angels were constantly making it, and, aside from their fluky run (when they could have easily lost game 6 of the World Series), they didn't make much noise in the postseason either. Comcast owns Versus and the Philadelphia Flyers. Compare the officiating in the two games in Philly that were televised on Versus to games 5 and 6. Not only does Comcast have a vested interest in extending the series and up ratings, they also have a vested interest in who wins.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 12, 2010 -> 08:27 AM) All he had to do was to be cool with the entire world watching. The whole chugging bud light after bud light thing was just awful. Two hours. That's all he had to be under control for, and he couldn't even do that. It made me wonder if he has a serious problem. Right. The cabbie incident, the shirtless limo incident—both of those happened on his own time, and this was a work function. Patrick Kane is 21 years old and didn't go to college. Which developmentally puts him about age 19. Kaner's also worth about $31M more than most people his age, so he can buy and do pretty much whatever he wants. I think he's a good kid who just really likes to party, but at this point I wish he could hold it together better. If I'm Rocky, Q, Stan Bowman, or Jonathan Toews, maybe it's time to talk.

Byfuglien needs to be a healthy scratch tonight. In four games he has been completely ineffective against Pronger, who he should be able to pound on because he's got 40 pounds on him. The main thing is that Comcast owns Versus, is negotiating a deal to buy NBC, and also owns the Flyers. I think that's all you need to know about the lopsided officiating and why Pronger has any fewer than 30 PIM in the Finals, why Hartnell didn't get called for leg-whipping Versteeg in Game 3 and punching him in the back of the head in front of the linesman (Steeger's helmet came off, for God's sake), and the Hawks getting a bench warning for Madden questioning a call early in Game 4. There is relaxing the calls on slot play to let the teams fight it out, but that argument only works if the calls are being equally enforced, which they're not. The calls in the last two games without question favored the Flyers, and as the games go on it is only getting more obvious.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 12:03 PM) I'd imagine the Blackhawks store on Michigan ave. would be a pretty good place to start. Be prepared to pay about $400 if you want a new one numbered. The prices on them are ridiculous but the replica jerseys have really gone down in quality since Reebok has been making them. If you're satisfied with an older, used jersey, sometimes eBay has some good ones. You have to know what to look for, though. Embroidery quality and detailing are quick giveaways—fabric weight without picking it up and feeling it is hard to gauge. Flimsy fabric with sheen to it means a replica or knock-off. Authentic patches will have chenille on tackle twill. On the newer models, replica patches are silk-screened on tackle twill.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 10:32 AM) The officiating the last two games has been inexcusable. Comcast owns the network and the Flyers, that's all you need to know. The officials didn't need to work as hard as they did in game 3 to give the game to the Flyers, the Hawks' first period was brutal.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jun 3, 2010 -> 09:16 PM) This made me laugh. I counter with "the Flyers are the only team in the Eastern Conference with a temperature" or even "the Blackhawks are the hottest team in the Western Conference." Congratulations, that's exactly what I was saying. They've won three series in a row—in the Finals you run up against the team that is firing on all cylinders.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 10:20 PM) I wouldn't say must-win, but it's pretty damn close. The Hawks haven't been playing all that well, despite being up 2-1. They certainly need a very good performance in game 4. Philly's got confidence now, especially in front of their home crowd. After winning both at home, you probably go in to Philly wanting to split the 2 and then try to finish it off in game 5 at home. Philly gets going and they steamroll teams. If you have your foot on an opponent's throat, don't let up or else the opponent will get away. They can not be given any more momentum. Yes, you can argue that Jersey and Boston had injuries to key offensive players, Montreal had injuries to key defensive players and was a Cinderella team that hit midnight in the Conference Final, none of those teams had the depth or talent the Hawks have, but the point is the Flyers are the hottest team in the Eastern Conference, they play not just physical but dirty, are benefitting from lopsided officiating, but they stand between the Hawks and the Stanley Cup. Think of Philly is a bigger, dirtier, more skilled version of Nashville. The Hawks have to play the game that made them successful against Nashville, only much better and a whole lot faster. 3rd Period of Game 1 and 2nd Period of Game 3 showed that Philly can't skate with the Hawks when they get going. Time to get it going, Hawks.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 3, 2010 -> 02:18 PM) Well, they were bad because the team had no talent. Flyers kill penalties well, but I'm not concerned that we'll go back to the days that Tyler Arnason was on our top power play line. Funny. Even on those 90s good-but-not-quite-good-enough teams with Roenick, Chelios, Belfour et al. the power play efficiency was a frequent criticism of the Hawks' overall game.

There's no good way to lose a game, but damn that sucked. Hawks have a must-win on Friday. Play stronger on the puck, don't take stupid penalties. Two of their four goals came on the power play and the Hawks are not getting a fair shake from the officials. Totally blew a tripping call on Pronger, and Hartnell punched Versteeg in the back of the head and knocked his helmet off in front of a linesman. No call. Are they trying to give the Cup to the Flyers? Hawks still control their own destiny, but they have to win game 4.