White-hot, Black-hawks

Yesterday I asked my Dad who was leisurely laying on his recliner "hey, can you check the Blackhawks game?" Five years ago, he would have glared over at me and made a snide remark about me deciding not to go to the Y that day. Instead, he added to me that the Blackhawks have won two in a row and eagerly flipped the channel to the Hawks vs. Blues game--a sporting event far more entertaining than the abortion of a football game that was Jags vs. Titans. On a side note, ESPN should feel extreme remorse for making the American public watch Kerry Collins and Trent Edwards sling the football around for two hours, my god. But anyway, it occured to me last night that this Blackhawk bandwagon craze has scooped up about everyone in the Chicagoland area: my Dad who can't tell the difference between a power-play and a power-drill, and myself included. I used to be the kid who flipped between SportsCenter and Saved By the Bell during mornings before school, only watching my boy Zach Morris and the rest of the SBtB crew rule the halls of Bayside High during the prolonged sessions of hockey highlights during ESPN's flagship program. Now, I find myself tuning in to watch the Hawks regularly, and I routinely question the differences in motive between the 12 year old version of myself, and the mature, specimen of a human being that I have become at the age of 22.

After Perron notched his second goal for the Blues in the 3rd period and the Blackhawks found themselves trailing by a deuce in the middle of the 3rd last night, I thought of asking my dad to join me in an impromptu family living room version of the popular student section chant, "This game's ovahh, clap-clap, clap-clap-clap." But, being the rational human being that I am, I decided against it. And boy, did the Hawks prove me wrong. Marian Hossa singlehandedly dominated the 3rd period and tied the game himself with two goals within two minutes late in the last period. Now if the Cubs were trailing a few runs with 3 innnings to go? Yea, I'd probably still watch the game, but I'd have the same optomism for a win that Scott Peterson has for paroll. Perhaps that's why Chicago has so quickly fell in love with the Hawks like a couple of college undergrads after a half-assed introduction and a handful of $2.00 U-Call-Its. Maybe it's the resilience of the Hawks that keeps you tuning into a game where the main object of the sport (the puck) is 1/1,000,000,000 of the TV screen. Or maybe we are all just hopelessly awaiting for Comcast Sports Net to get us a camera shot of Kane's sisters in the audience...maybe that's just me.

But the attitude that the Hawks wear on the sleeves of their sweaters is something that is refreshing to see. They have guys who come to the rink to compete every night, regardless of score, regardless of pain, regardless of anything. Take for example, Patrick Kane. If Kane didn't bring the effort he routinely does every night, we'd all be reading Mike Imrem editorials in the Herald entitled "Under the Influence, Over-Paid" or "Candy Gamed Kane". But we let him parade around the streets of Buffalo beating helpless cabbies like Jan Radecki senseless over a few loose nickels and dimes because when that horn sounds in the UC--he's all hockey, all the time, and that is what the Blackhawks have come to represent. Hardworking guys who have bad memories and short fuses, who would trade in their athletic cups for another shot at 'the cup'. I'm going to keep tuning into Hawks games until something changes. And I don't see that happening anytime soon under Q and his mustache.

As for Pick of the Day, considering David Garrard was benched in the 2nd quarter and the Jags didn't have a passing touchdown in the first half, it's safe to say that the Pulse Man covered the under on the 1.5 TD's bet from Garrard. Tomorrow, he likes the Phillies over the Giants tomorrow night at (+105).

Pick of the Day: Phillies @ Giants- PHILLIES (+105)

Record:(25-19-0)

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost