Don't you think this show is kind of beating this thing into the ground? The Hawks are really good. The team is exciting. The games are even shown on tv at least 50% of the time.

If the product is really that good and interesting people will start paying more attention. I think they already have. It's overkill to constantly hear how you NEED to be following every game because it's all the city has.

And one other thing, hockey isn't that complicated. I don't understand why people say it's too complicated or they don't understand it. 5 guys are on the ice. Each team has a goalie. The team with control of the puck will either try and bring it into the zone and pass it around and shoot when a good shot is available or they will dump the puck behind the net and try and dig it out and then pass it around and shoot when a good shot is available. If the defense gets the puck, they do the same thing. Repeat for 3 periods and possibly an overtime. It's no more complicated than soccer and probably less complicated than basketball. It's definitely less complicated than football.

I get the excitement for the Hawks. I'm excited they are good. I understand if someone thinks the Hawks are currently must see tv. I just don't see the reason why you need to constantly tell those of us who are waiting until the meaningful games start that we are missing out.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

My initial reaction is to tell you to PTFB. This is the first show I've heard like this.


Obviously their goal was to get away from the Bears for a day (thankfully), so this is the obvious topic. The callers seem to be responding, and I've enjoyed the show too.

mac's like a jehovah's witness with this shit. fuck you i know the hawks are good. i don't give a shit.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Then this show isn't intended for you. It's impossible to produce a show every day that caters to every type of fan.

Agree, B.M.

Ignore the Indian.

_________________

yep. lots of entertainment options out there.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

This is not the first show they have mentioned it. It's been going on for a long time. However, today is just the day that it's been about 80% of the show.

The point still stands. If the Hawks are really that good and exciting why do you need to tell everyone about it all the time?

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

How is this not obvious? He's targeting those fans who DON'T watch Hawks hockey. The majority of people STILL don't watch Hawks hockey. Meaning, I would guess the majority of the fans of this show don't watch the Hawks.


So by doing this show, they are appeasing the hockey fans by talking up hockey, and they are relating to those fans who don't want hockey, by talking about why it's great.

Rick, what would you rather them be talking about today? How crappy the Bulls are? Vinny watch '10? How messed up the Bears are? Cubs and Sox offseason chatter? The BCS championship game last night?

It is not like there is just a world of exciting things going on right now in sports.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

too bad the NFL season is over.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Mac got pushy Hawks tickat I couldn't resist.

80% CHICAGO hockey talk > 80% NFL Wild Card weekend talk imo

_________________
Team Cutler.

We had the BCS title yesterday which they are talking about now. We've got the NFL playoffs starting tomorrow.

I also wouldn't mind if they spent time actually talking about the Hawks and not some "You should watch the Hawks because I think they are awesome!". "Tell me why you don't follow the Hawks right now" is boring to me. It's simply an excuse to tell you why you should be watching hockey.
I disagree. This weekend is one of the best sports weekends of the year.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

NFL Playoff games are more entertaining than a January Hawks Bruins matchup.

The Hawks are good, I get it. There's a lot of people out there who are sports fans but aren't hockey fans. I'm one of them. I'm happy for my hockey fan friends that the Hawks are good, but fuck quit making me out to be some sort of asshole for not liking or not caring about the goddam Blackhawks. They were irrelevant for years in this city and to me they still are. "You NEED to get into the Hawks" or "You HAVE TO follow the Hawks" comments I hear directly and indirectly are annoying. I've said it many many times, Ignore the Indian.

_________________

You will get plenty of BCS and NFL from EVERY other show on ESPN and 670.


Why is one show focusing on the best sports team in Chicago drawing this much criticism?

the hawks didn't want me to be a fan for 30 years and now i'm supposed to become a fan overnight? fuck that. win a few championships, put the games on channel 9. maybe i'll watch a few games and become a fan in a decade or two.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Love ya suit, BR, but as a long time hockey ref I can tell that hockey IS very complicated rule-wise. The NHL had to get rid of the man-in-the-crease rule because fans couldn't understand it (see Brett Hull's goal vs Buff to win Cup)
Another example, in the first 10 minutes of the movie Slapshot, the guy being interviewed mis-identifies a penalty. It's been a while since I've seen the(any) movie, but I think the guy calls a spear a butt-end. Presumably the movie had experts to guide the director.
I think people have trouble with hand-passes, sticks above the shoulder, too many men on the ice, and yes offsides.
Q) If Kaner flips the puck 75 feet up into the air, who is in possesion of the puck?
Q) Are there instances where an offensive player can be in the attack(offensive) zone before the puck enters the zone?
Ya know, stuff like that.

Its not just this show for me. Its everything. Like I said, I'm made out to some sort of dumbass for not liking the Blackhawks. I couldn't care less about the Hawks. It might be fun to be in a bar with my friends if they are in the Stanley Cup, but I won't care if they lose in the first round. THere's people in summer that beat the "Baseball is boring it sucks." For some people, it is. For me its not. I don't act like you're an idiot if you don't like all of the little things about baseball.

Besides, old man Wirtz couldn't care less about me watching or not watching for 30 years. And yeah, Rocky has done a great job and they have put together a great team over there. But I'm suddenly supposed to care? That would make me a bandwagoner and thats something I hate. Ain't gonna do it.

_________________

Good points Frank.

That's because it's much more important right now. The Hawks are playing relatively meaningless games. The most popular sport in America is staging playoff games. I wouldn't have a problem if they were talking about the actual games either. That would interest me. What doesn't is the talk that basically pretends that anyone who isn't following every minute of the Hawks is doing something wrong and should be.
It's one thread. Save the dramatics. It annoys me slightly to turn on the radio and have to hear a lot about how everyone should be following the Hawks because they are the "best team in the city". No one ever said "You should be following the Cubs because they are going to the playoffs". The same is true for the Bulls when they were better than the Hawks for the past 20 or so years.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

This I agree with. The hockey talk I appreciate when done correctly. I am less enthusiastic with the over the top rah rah stuff.

As much as I dislike how M/S are going about discussing the Hawks, I can understand some of this to try and get people that have no interest in the game to start paying attention. In this town it is not every year we have any team that is this good and has a legitimate shot at being a champion of their sport. This team is worth watching and to bring it to the attention of people that don't regularly watch or care is not a bad thing.

I agree that the rules are complicated. However, a fan doesn't need to call penalties. I only have a small understanding of what an illegal vs. legal chop block is in football but I don't need to. In fact, most of the time it's so vague anyways that many happen and don't get called if you watch for it.

There are a lot of intricacies to hockey and of course there is advanced strategy but you can someone all they ever need to know about watching hockey by the time the third period begins.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Just an outside observation, but I would gamble that Mac is still upset about basketball getting better coverage than the Bulls in the 90s. He is using that as fuel to continue winning over fans to hockey so that he gets his wish and basketball becomes irrelevent.

_________________

Help me out here. Not sure which lane you intended to take this.

I think there's a good reason why Mac & Spiegs want fans to "Commit to the Indian". Unlike the other teams in Chicago right now, the Blackhawks are WINNING! :D Are you seeing that from the Bulls? Are you seeing that from DePaul, UIC, NIU, Loyola, Northwestern, Chicago State and NCAA Basketball in the city and in this state for that matter? HELL NO!!!

After their latest win in Boston last night, I encouraged friends on my own Facebook page to "Commit to the Indian". If you're not spending the money on tickets, watching the games with Pat Foley & Eddie Olczyk on Comcast SportsNet & WGN's CW9 or listening to the games with John Wiedemann & Troy Murray on WGN 720, what the hell are you waiting for? Until those pitchers & catchers report to Arizona for Spring Training, the Hawks are all we've got.

This is exactly what I'm waiting for. The Bears are done so nothing else fucking matters to me until this date.

_________________

Apparently coming on this board and blabbing about how much you DON'T care about the Hawks matters to you. Months ago, when I stated I wasn't exactly crazy about the content of the Mac show, I was told to PTFB. My advice to you: Do the same.

I'm having trouble picking up on the strategies. How does a player know when to trail or not? When they clear the zone why do they sometimes skate like hell and others almost seemingly let the other team get it back? Sometimes they take shots I don't understand and sometimes they pass it when I think they should have shot it. What other teams strengths and weaknesses are and how it matches up with the Hawks. Why certain lines work.

WYC? you call cubs fans idiots all the time.

Usually I call them a lot worse. A few of the Cub fans here actually know the little things about baseball

_________________

This is the saddest time of the year. The next 8 months are a long 8 months for me.