Hawks Hockey Hoiden

The Hawks seem to struggle against defensive-minded teams, and the Hawks’ 5-4 overtime win tonight against the Nashville Predators was no exception.  Patrick Kane was phenomenal for the second game in a row, with two goals and an assist, and a +3 for the night.  Jonathan Toews on the other hand struggled again tonight as he has for several games now.  Toews did not score, was sluggish, and registered only an assist.  What?  Did Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews switch bodies for Halloween?  (more…)

No sooner had the NHL settled the head hits issue, and now they’re looking at visors, all because one of the gooniest guys in hockey, Chris Pronger, took a shot to the eye.  I like that Pronger’s replacement, former Blackhawk defenseman Matt Walker, has come out staunchly against wearing a visor saying “It’s a personal thing.”  Walker further argued that,

“The stick can get underneath your visor…It’s coming straight up, it’s not coming up horizontally. It’s not hard to come up under the visor and get stuck and hit you two or three times coming out instead of just once.”

Not only is it still possible to high-stick someone wearing a visor, but visors make play unbearable for some players.  As the player gets hot and sweaty, the visor fogs up and causes decreased visibility.  So until they make Rain-X or visor wipers, it should be a player’s choice whether to wear a visor or not since it’s his career on the line. (more…)

It was bad enough that the Bears were forced to play the Buccaneers in London today, but it was downright nauseating that they played our American national anthem followed by “God Save the Queen.”  Yuck!  Francis Scott Key wrote the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry” in 1814 (from which was taken “The Star-Spangled Banner“) after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships during the War of 1812.  Does the NFL not see the sickening irony there?  (more…)

You know I have always been impressed with quarterback Donovan McNabb.  He has always had a reputation as a classy guy, but Bears fans got to see that first-hand a couple of years ago when after a game where the Eagles beat the Bears and Jay Cutler got pounded, McNabb made a b-line to Cutler after the game and took the time to give Cutler a hug and some heartfelt words of encouragement.  That always stuck with me.  (more…)

It is disgusting what has happened with Denver Bronco’s back-up, now starter quarterback Tim Tebow.  It seems people either love him or hate him.  Does nobody find it odd that a man who has professed himself a Christian and a virgin should cause so much of an uproar?  Is that how far gone our society is?  So let me get this straight, people hate Tebow because he doesn’t follow the poor example of many in the NFL and the sports world who have DUIs, who rape and get away with it, who beat their wives, who do drugs or drink to an embarrassing extent, who hire hookers or have an entourage of groupies, and who murder?  They hate him because he’s good and not bad???

So, are the haters theophobic, fearing and/or hating religion, or are they just anti-Christian?  Seems it’s unacceptable or un-PC to hate any religion except Christianity.  Now why would that be?

Yeah, well, best of luck to Tim Tebow today replacing Kyle Orton, who was once the  Bears’ hit-or-miss quarterback.  Hopefully Tebow can ignore the haters and have a fantastic game.

Guess it’s a little late now, but like unofficial Cubs Nation spokesperson Billy Corgan, I would’ve liked to see Ryne Sandberg as Cubs’ manager next season, not former San Diego Padres GM Jed Hoyer.  Why does this keep not happening?  The Cubs said they didn’t sign Ryno a few years ago because he didn’t have the experience.  Well, Ryno certainly has more experience now and in hindsight would’ve been a better choice than Mike Quade (though many in the Cubs Nation knew this a year ago!).  (more…)

Wow, what to say about the Bears’ loss to the Lions, 24-13, tonight in Detroit?  Jay Cutler showed up for the game…I mean, he showed up for the game, carrying a failing offense and getting the ball off in spectacular ways despite having been sacked three times and roughed up continually.  However, he looked tired and puffy (i.e. jet lagged).  Maybe boom-boom before a game isn’t bad after all, but I still think Cutler should have been in town all week working with the offensive line because the offensive line was offensive indeed.  (more…)

OK, surely Blackhawks fans can’t be the only ones who see that referee Dan O’Halloran has it in for the Hawks.  In tonight’s Blackhawks win over the Dallas Stars, 5-2, dreaded anti-Hawks referee Dan O’Halloran made two abominable calls on two of the Hawks’ most revered and even-tempered players: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp.  About midway through the 2nd period, Jonathan Toews was called for slashing on Steve Ott.  As any ref should know, slashing involves a swinging or hacking motion of the stick on either the opponent’s stick or his body.  Toews did neither of these; he simply had an active stick in trying to harass the puck away from Ott.  Commentator Eddie Olczyk also indicated he too did not see slashing.  Nevertheless, the slashing penalty stuck.  Still, Tazer would have his revenge when, seconds after shooting out of the penalty box, he rocketed down the ice, paused, and hammered off a snapshot for a goal.  That’s what fans love about Jonathan Toews.  He doesn’t get mad; he gets even.  (more…)

Wow, what happened last night in the Blackhawks’ season opener against the Dallas Stars?  It would’ve been a shutout had Nick Leddy not crashed the net with sheer determination in the last few seconds of the game to score the Hawks’ lone goal.  The final score was 2-1 Dallas, but it could’ve been so much worse given how the Hawks played.  They did not appear to be well-conditioned at all.  They could not match the Stars on their stamina, and even Jonathan Toews was left far behind on one of Patrick Sharp’s mad dashes to the net.  And while Sharpy had a high-throttle game coming strong off of his emergency appendectomy, the rest of the team appeared tired and sluggish as early as the 2nd period.  (more…)

By now I’m sure everyone’s heard that Hank Williams, jr.’s “All My Rowdy Friends” theme song, used on Monday Night Football for forever, will no longer be used and ESPN is parting ways with Hank all because he compared Barack Obama to Hitler.  I don’t see what the big deal is.  Hitler was a Socialist, and it looks like Obama is too.  So the real question is, what does ESPN have against free speech???

And as far as Monday’s game between the Bears and the Lions?  Well, I think all my rowdy friends and I will watch it on a local channel.  I’m done with ESPN.