Hawks vs Bulls

[SoxAce]

And that's what I meant by mixed groups from Tony earlier and he knew it as well. I have personally... as my uncle and grandfather (both black, on my mother's side; R.I.P. granddad) are big time Blackhawk fans since the Mikita/Hull days and there are a few hispanic people I know who follow the sport casually. I'm shocked that some of the white guys I know don't follow it much as they do basketball/football at times as well. I have a ton of friends of mixed groups which is why I know alot more about this, then some who don't or have thin glasses. Hell I'm a freaking mut myself. I mean it's been like this for years as far as sports in Chicago.

[kev211]

Just to add to the Hawks-Bulls debate.

 

Could a possible reason for the black hawks having higher attendance be due to the fact they played one of their home games in Wrigley in front of 40,818 fans, and the bulls didn't?

 

 

And over the last 10 years the Bulls have had the highest attendance in the NBA including the years immediately following Jordan. The Hawks at that time were lucky to draw 6-8k. So this is definitely a bigger Bulls town, even if the Hawks are better and getting more hype right now.

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/bullstopnbaa...8.html?rss=true

[Jenksismyhero]

1) the white-sox blackhawks thing is comparing apples and oranges. If you could compare the first 2 months of the white sox season versus that of the blackhawks, I think it'd be equal or in favor of the sox. In baseball you can tell early enough when your team blows and there's no need to rush home to catch every second of every game, hence the dip in the numbers (plus, i screwed up the ratings, because often times i got so frustrated watching them this year that i'd shut the game off after the 4th or 5th inning).

 

2) I am proud to say I have never watched any of that crap television my fiance watches - gossip girl, greys anatomy, crap, more crap, etc. If i want to look at hot chicks i'll go on the internet. I don't need to suffer (it IS suffering, even for the 30 seconds i have to listen to it while i grab a beer from the fridge) through 30 min of that crap to get my chick fix for the day.

[LittleHurt05]

1) the white-sox blackhawks thing is comparing apples and oranges. If you could compare the first 2 months of the white sox season versus that of the blackhawks, I think it'd be equal or in favor of the sox. In baseball you can tell early enough when your team blows and there's no need to rush home to catch every second of every game, hence the dip in the numbers (plus, i screwed up the ratings, because often times i got so frustrated watching them this year that i'd shut the game off after the 4th or 5th inning).

 

2) I am proud to say I have never watched any of that crap television my fiance watches - gossip girl, greys anatomy, crap, more crap, etc. If i want to look at hot chicks i'll go on the internet. I don't need to suffer (it IS suffering, even for the 30 seconds i have to listen to it while i grab a beer from the fridge) through 30 min of that crap to get my chick fix for the day.

 

just looking at your avatar gets me my chick fix for the day

[MexSoxFan#1]

I don't know how to ask this without sounding ignorant. So I'll just go ahead and ask this question...Has anybody ever seen non white dude/dudes watching a hockey game? No joke. Have you ever gone into a sports bar and seen a bunch of brothas or latinos or any other minority sittin' around drunk yelling "GOAL!!!!!?"

I grew up listening to Pat Foley and idolizing Murray Bannerman...then my family moved to Cali and l lost touch with the Blackhawks and the NHL in general.

 

From an outsiders view,I would say its obvious that basketball is much more popular than hockey in Chicago...though the way the Bulls are getting smoked by the Celtics,that could change quickly.

 

The only time you'll see non whites and Latinos screaming GOAL would be watching a soccer match most likely.

Edited October 31, 2009 by MexSoxFan#1

[MexSoxFan#1]

Damn, how do they say it in hockey after goals? lol. Anyway, you get the point.

Certainly I'm no hockey expert but I have noticed that when the play by play guy calls a goal they usually yell "he shoots,he SCORES!!!"

 

I like that much better than the annoying soccer GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!

[danman31]

I split this from the NBA thread because it was ruining the NBA talk. Continue the argument and continue discussing which girly shows you watch (Desperate Housewives has its moments), but I don't want the NHL in the NBA thread. Go Bulls lol.

[bmags]

I think people also don't realize that this emergence of blackhawks popularity is a RE-emergence, and even if we weren't good, the good will that seemed to occur after Wirtz death was already the beginning of a return to the blackhawks. That man really did squeze the souls out of the fans of the sport, myself included.

 

In 91-94, I can remember, even though I was little, Hawks-Wings was a huge deal, covered a lot on the radio, everywhere. Hawks were often front page news. And this was at the height of the bulls. So, I think some of you are just applying a small sample size (98-2007) and projecting it to the blackhawks entire existence.

[bigklita]

I think people also don't realize that this emergence of blackhawks popularity is a RE-emergence, and even if we weren't good, the good will that seemed to occur after Wirtz death was already the beginning of a return to the blackhawks. That man really did squeze the souls out of the fans of the sport, myself included.

 

In 91-94, I can remember, even though I was little, Hawks-Wings was a huge deal, covered a lot on the radio, everywhere. Hawks were often front page news. And this was at the height of the bulls. So, I think some of you are just applying a small sample size (98-2007) and projecting it to the blackhawks entire existence.

 

I totally agree with you on this. This is pretty much what happen to my dad. I can remember going to many games growing up at the old stadium, and watching them on SportsChannel with my dad. Then I just remember my dad getting angrier and angrier with the team up until "Dollar" Bill's death and Rocky turning it around. It's great to see my dad return to one of his true loves, hockey. Now, whenever we go to games he tells me all the stories about hockey (60's-80's) and how big it used to be in the city. People sometimes don't realize this especially just the younger generation because of what went on for years before the re-emergence.

 

Right now, there is no doubt there is a bigger following for the Bull's and the NBA. The NHL kinda screwed themselves when they moved away from ESPN, especially nationally. Hockey is also definitely more of a niche sport as well. Just look at high school and college hockey, all schools have basketball teams but only some to very few have more than club teams in hockey.

 

Also, someone mentioned the game at Wrigley possibly skewing the attendence number? That game did not count for the home attendance only the games at the UC did.

[bmags]

Just look at high school and college hockey, all schools have basketball teams but only some to very few have more than club teams in hockey.

 

Since most teams do not own an ice rink, the reason for this is cost. A football field they can use for a couple of sports, an ice rink one, and maintenance/etc. it's unreasonable. The cost to be on the hockey team at my school was absurd.

[MHizzle85]

The NHL kinda screwed themselves when they moved away from ESPN, especially nationally.

I think this had more to do with the last strike & the fact that it helped people lose interest. Because IIRC, ESPN decided not to renew the contract. They barely cover the sport as it is.

[iamshack]

Hah, this thread is quite entertaining. Between hearing you douchebags all talk about watching the WB to hearing about Steve's wife's vag, I've enjoyed myself quite a bit.

 

As for the Bulls v. the Blackhawks, the Bulls certainly have a bigger casual following, but I would say the hard core fanbases are fairly similar. There are still legions of baby boomers who remember the glory days of the Hawks, and some that were able to pass that on to their children (despite Bill Wirtz's disastrous efforts to bypass an entire generation of fans (my own)), and we saw this sleeping giant of sorts awakened last year. And of course, as any trend in popular culture begins, there will be bandwagoners that leap on to share the ride.

 

The true test for the Blackhawks now will be whether or not they can find a home in the hearts of the current generation of youngsters, and they have certainly started making that effort (and doing quite a good job of it at that). However, basketball will probably always be a bigger deal in the US because of the ease and lower cost of playing the game, as well as the simple fact that the weather across the US makes hockey an indoor sport for half if not more of the nation. Add to that recipe the fact that many of the world's best hockey players come from Eastern Europe and have names filled with consonants that Americans have difficulty pronouncing, spelling, and remembering, and it's just difficult for hockey to grab a huge foothold here. It is not entirely different than soccer in that respect.

 

I will say that in many measurable categories, the Hawks seem to be upstaging the Bulls right now in popularity, because those measurables reflect dollars spent, where the Hawks have made huge inroads in the City in the last two years, but there are still generations that remember the Bulls glory days more freshly than those of the Blackhawks. Therefore, I have to think the Bulls have a much larger casual fanbase, ready and able to support the team should it return to prominence (and we saw some of this in the Boston series), the hard core fans are similar in size, with the Hawks' base making more noise right now because of their team's high standings within the league.

Edited October 31, 2009 by iamshack

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Basketball is wayy bigger in Chicago. No comparison. The end.

[lostfan]

Early on in this thread I noticed a lot of cognitive bias but it evened out after a couple of pages. The Hawks right now are a much better team than the Bulls, and they're having a surge in popularity and a general return to relevance after they spent so many years as the laughingstock of the NHL. The Bulls are sort of treading water right now in terms of quality but they are still a major draw, and if they were as good as the Hawks are right now I wonder would attendance even be an issue.

[SoxFan1]

I grew up listening to Pat Foley and idolizing Murray Bannerman...then my family moved to Cali and l lost touch with the Blackhawks and the NHL in general.

 

From an outsiders view,I would say its obvious that basketball is much more popular than hockey in Chicago...though the way the Bulls are getting smoked by the Celtics,that could change quickly.

 

The only time you'll see non whites and Latinos screaming GOAL would be watching a soccer match most likely.

I know tons of Mexicans who love the Blackhawks.

[southsider2k5]

I know tons of Mexicans who love the Blackhawks.

 

It sounds odd, but I bet people who get the complexities of soccer would have a much better time following hockey and its similar complexities, versus say people who go for the simplicity of the NBA.