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Forbes: Blackhawks Greatest Sports-Business Turnaround EVER


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I seen this coming with the passing of Mr. Wirtz.

 

I mean, everything was in place to succeed:

 

1. Huge market

2. Huge Arena

3. Hungry Fan Base

4. Rich tradition

5. Best Jerseys in Hockey (maybe sports)

6. A nucleus of Kane & Toews

 

 

Wirtz did EVERYTHING wrong. His successor had nothing to lose.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 19, 2009 -> 02:13 PM)
I mean, the guy dies, the team gets fans.

You're missing a few steps in there.

 

The guy dies > The right guy takes over > The right guy hires the right guy > The right guys get games on tv > The right players had already been drafted > The right decisions were made in the front office > The team performs well last year > The team gets The Classic > The team makes the playoffs > The team gets fans

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QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 19, 2009 -> 02:54 PM)
You're missing a few steps in there.

 

The guy dies > The right guy takes over > The right guy hires the right guy > The right guys get games on tv > The right players had already been drafted > The right decisions were made in the front office > The team performs well last year > The team gets The Classic > The team makes the playoffs > The team gets fans

The first domino is the most important. If this team makes the playoffs with Dollar Bill alive, they dont lead the league in attendance, they dont score the highest TV ratings ever for the franchise, they dont get a Winter Classic and so on.

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Rocky has done a great, great job... however, outside of convincing McDonough to come to the Hawks... the rest of the stuff was pretty easy and I honestly believe anyone on this board could have turned this franchise around. Things had gotten so absolutely horrible and stagnant that the solution to almost every problem the organization faced was "do the opposite" which Rocky did.

 

I'm not trying to say that Rocky doesn't deserve credit, because he ABSOLUTELY does, but fixing this team wasn't a revelation of sports management considering the situation he was presented with. I guess I'm just trying to put things in the proper perspective.

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QUOTE (MurcieOne @ May 19, 2009 -> 11:03 PM)
Rocky has done a great, great job... however, outside of convincing McDonough to come to the Hawks... the rest of the stuff was pretty easy and I honestly believe anyone on this board could have turned this franchise around. Things had gotten so absolutely horrible and stagnant that the solution to almost every problem the organization faced was "do the opposite" which Rocky did.

 

I'm not trying to say that Rocky doesn't deserve credit, because he ABSOLUTELY does, but fixing this team wasn't a revelation of sports management considering the situation he was presented with. I guess I'm just trying to put things in the proper perspective.

 

I agree. Rocky and McDonough have made some smart moves, but the amount of credit they receive for putting the games on TV makes me laugh. 99.9% of people would tell you thats a good idea, only WWW didnt agree with that.

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QUOTE (santo=dorf @ May 19, 2009 -> 08:31 PM)
I've heard it use for fair weatherness with politicians going with the popular vote, but wiki doesn't have either. Who knows?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the...22Windy_City%22

fairweatherness? No, it originated in NY newspapers around the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Its a reference to loud, bombastic politicans in Chicago. Wind bags, if you will.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 20, 2009 -> 02:40 PM)
fairweatherness? No, it originated in NY newspapers around the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Its a reference to loud, bombastic politicans in Chicago. Wind bags, if you will.

 

Considering the Cubs/Bulls/Bears have been pretty crappy for the majority of the time, and all 3 have some of the biggest fanbases in their sports.... how is Chicago a fairweather city?

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QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ May 20, 2009 -> 04:02 PM)
Considering the Cubs/Bulls/Bears have been pretty crappy for the majority of the time, and all 3 have some of the biggest fanbases in their sports.... how is Chicago a fairweather city?

Really if there was any team where it was ok to be a fairweather fan for a while it was the Blackhawks, the only other thing that's really comparable is the Lions.

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Weren't the Hawks the Sporting News worst franchise in sports about two or three years ago.

 

The changes start A with winning and being on tv everything after that is low hanging fruit.

 

The only really big hockey move was bringing in Q and Bowman and openingthe wallrt this past offseason.

 

The rest is cub marketing fodder that works well with the disposable income crowd.

 

Red Carpet Opening Night

Pat Foley

The nightly drop the puck and celebrity shooters Hawks version fo the 7th inning stretch singers

The National Anthemn guy singing at Harry Carey's for raod games

The W flag

Winter Calssic at Wrigley

Moving radio to WGN where the playoffs games are not even carried

Incorporating how great these fans, "Just listen to them patrick" as often as possible in every interview

Fan convention, I think this only works for baseball because it is winter but who knows

 

 

 

 

 

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