A Chicago fan in mourning

Here I lay, a depressed and let down Chicago sports fan.

The Chicago Blackhawks were denied its first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1992 and once again, a Chicago team lets me down.

Ever since I was a little kid I have rooted for the Hawks and I, like all Hawks fans, was hoping to see the Blackhawks hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup on the United Center ice.

But it just wasn’t to be. The team is too young and inexperienced and no match for the defending champion Detroit Red Wings.

Ever since I was a little kid I have loved the Blackhawks and all Chicago sports, except for the White Sox. I remember seeing Chris Celios and Tony Amonte dreading the red sweater and really started watching them in 1994, the last season in the old Chicago Stadium, when I was 8 years old.

Now some of you will say to me, “Hey Mark, you’re from Michigan. Why do like Chicago teams and not go with Detroit?”

Yes, I am a Michigander, hailing from St. Joseph, which happens to be closer to the Windy City, then the Motor City.

In fact, my hometown lies on Lake Michigan directly across from Chicago and it’s a short hour and a half drive down I-94. Much better then a three-hour drive the opposite way on I-94 to Detroit.

I grew up watching the Bulls and Cubs on WGN, the actual WGN out of Chicago, not the Superstation, now called WGN America.  I was also treated to the Bears telecast every Sunday on WFLD or WBBM, Chicago’s FOX and CBS affiliates respectively.

I grew up reading the “Chicago Sun-Times” and listening to WSCR “The Score” out of Chicago. Yes, all of this in Michigan.

But as a Chicago sports fan, I am let down season after season. Sadly, I was too young to see the Hawks the last time they were in the finals in 1992, only being five at the time and the last the Hawks won the Cup, 1961, my parents were only 3 years old.

Some of the worse days of my life are attributed to Chicago sports failures.

The Cubs being just five outs from the World Series in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series and blowing a Game 6 lead to the Florida Marlins.

We all know what happened that night at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had a 3-0 lead in eighth inning. Bernie Mac had just sung “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and added the phrase “Root, root, root for the CHAMPIONS!”

But then that fly ball to left field, which was interfered with by the now famous Steve Bartman and the Alex Gonzalez error triggering a eight run inning for the Marlins.

That was Oct. 14, 2003, a day after my 17th birthday. The Cubs in the World Series for the first time since 1945 would have been a great birthday gift.

Then the next night, the Cubs blow a 5-3 lead to the Marlins with Kerry Wood on the hill and lose 9-6, blowing a 3-1 series lead.

Oct. 15, 2003, one of the worst nights of my life.

Even the next day at school was bad with all the White Sox and Tigers fans ripping on you because your Cubbies blew it.

I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing the horrible Chicago Bears of the 1990s. Through all the quarterbacks the team went through and losing to the Green Bay Packers twice every year, it was bad.
But 2006 is a Bears’ season that I will never forget. From the Monday night comeback over the Arizona Cardinals, which led to Dennis Green’s famous “The Bears are who we thought they were and let ‘em off the hook,” to Robbie Gould’s game-winning 49-yard field goal in overtime to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs, it was a dream season.

But once again, Feb. 4, 2007, Chicago sports fans are let down as the Indianapolis Colts win Super Bowl XLI 29-17 on a rainy night in Miami.

But at least I’ve got to see one of my Chicago team’s win a championship. In fact, I saw them win three.

I was too young to see the Bulls first three-peat from 1991-93, but I really started to watch the Bulls in 1995, the year Michael Jordan returned to the NBA and I was able to witness the Bulls winning another three-straight titles from 1996-98.

I even remember watching my first Bulls’ game and Jordan was wearing the No. 45 when he returned because his No. 23 was retired in 1993 when Jordan retired for the first time.

How can any Chicago sports fan forget the 1998 NBA Finals? June 14, 1998 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City when Jordan stripped the ball from the Utah Jazz’s Karl Malone.

And then Jordan’s last shot as a Bull. A crossover dribble on Jazz defender Bryon Russell and Jordan nails the 20-foot shot from the top of the key giving the Bulls the win and the championship.
Jordan’s last shot as a Bull is now known as “The Shot.”

For Chicago sports fans of my generation, that’s the only taste of a championship we’ve had. Well, unless you’re a White Sox fan, who won the 2005 World Series, but I despise the Sox.

And this brings me back to the Blackhawks. After Chelios was traded to the Red Wings in 1999, the Hawks have struggled.

Starting with the 1999-2000 season, the Blackhawks had a losing record four of the next five seasons.  The Hawks would make the playoffs in 2002, but were ousted by the St. Louis Blues in the first round.

And finally this season, hope, but no dice. Seems to happen too much for us Chicago sports fans.

But yet I still watch. I still believe that one day I will see the Cubs in the World Series. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be wearing my Cubs “Believe” wristband every day. I believe that one day I’ll see the Bears win the Super Bowl and the Hawks win the Stanley Cup and maybe even see the Bulls win the NBA Finals again.

Even if none of those ever happens, I’ll still be a diehard Chicago sports fan.

Mark Rudi, a Western Herald sports writer, is a senior majoring in journalism and can be reached via e-mail at mark.d.rudi@wmich.edu

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=6179

Posted by heraldstaff on Jun 1 2009. Filed under Blogs, Sports, Sports Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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