Saturday, January 14, 2006
Old Time Hockey?
The other day I went to a Chicago Blackhawks hockey game. Yep. I finally did it. I broke my 11 year streak of boycotting the United Center. I never officially proclaimed that I would never set foot in the UC, but I was never in favor of that airplane hangar that replaced the Old Barn… the Madhouse on Madison Street… the beloved Chicago Stadium. The year was 1994 when the wrecking ball took care of the ol’ lady at 1800 West Madison Street. Now all I have is my memories. Well, those and a brick with a small gold plaque and a certificate of authenticity proving it really was part of Chicago’s greatest structure of all time.
From 1986 to 1994 I attended a lot of games and was a huge fan. I knew the names and numbers of all the players and could recognize them by their face or even their skating style. Equally enthusiastic about the Hawks were my friends Mark Myers and Steve Alvarado. Mark went to a game in the inaugural year of the United Center and reported to me in disgust that you could even get Haagen Dazs in the upper balcony. The yuppies were moving into the neighborhood.
This September I moved to the south side of Chicago only about five minutes away from the UC. I first set foot in the place this October for a Paul McCartney concert and just over two months later I donned the ol’ Indian head jersey and took escalators to the upper balcony. The Stadium only had stairs and to further illustrate how crazy I was for the Stadium, I once counted the stairs. Great trivia for true Blackhawk fans. Magic Man Mike Arch and I arrived just in time for the National Anthem. In the Chicago Stadium the National Anthem was the greatest patriotic spectacle I’ve ever witnessed. 18,000 people standing, cheering, clapping, waving large American flags and sparklers all the way through the Wayne Messmer rendition. I was once kicked out of the Stadium for waving sparklers and throwing stars and stripes-designed paper plate Frisbees. The cheering through the song tradition started sometime in the early ‘80s and the acoustics in that place made it absolutely deafening. Wayne is gone. He sings for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and in the summers for the Cubs. His replacement has a good voice, he’s just not Wayne. There were still some people clapping and cheering during the anthem, but not too many. It left me with a sad and empty feeling that stayed with me through the entire game.
This was the first game I’ve seen watching through a net. The large arena net prevents the puck from flying over the glass into the stands. I remember the Doug Wilson slap shots from the blue line that would get deflected and sail all the way up into the 2nd balcony. The fans would be going crazy. The celebration equaled that of a goal. And although rare, I witnessed quite a few hat tricks. When a Blackhawk scored his 3rd goal of the game, the hats would rain down from the balconies and end up on the ice. I don’t see that happening with this net. And the “cage feel” really isolated me. I was just an outsider looking in. I always felt like an integral part of the game at the Stadium.
Another huge change I noticed was how quiet it was. Yes, take into effect that last years’ lockout season and this years’ losing season keep many fans away, but man, it was almost as quiet as a Minnesota Wild game. I went to a game at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul and it was like a library. Even in the games where the Hawks were losing, there were plenty of vocal individuals who kept those of us in the 2nd balcony amused and entertained. Mark, Steve and I would be as obnoxious as the loud boisterous drunk fans and hecklers. We were in our late teens and early 20’s and we had our repertoire of hockey heckles, obnoxious outbursts and colorful cheers. I was itching to yell out a few for old time’s sake, but I looked around and saw families and kids… mothers and little girls. You never saw them in the 2nd balcony! They would be in the family-friendly zone of the 1st balcony or the mezzanine section. Only dads who were ready to initiate their sons into manhood would ever bring a child up to the rafters to witness the drunken fights, the beer showers and the craziness that occurred up there. The Stadium held only 18,000 fans and it seems like season after season, all we could score were standing room only tickets. We would get there early to get a good spot behind a railing above the seats and just under the roof line. I did hear a couple of loud fans partaking in some good old time heckling and turned around to see two big guys standing behind the railing as if they had standing room only tickets. There were 5,000 empty seats in the 20,500-seat arena and these guys chose to stand. To these fans I raise my $3.50 bottle of Perrier water.
I wish I had something good to say about the new public address announcer but all I can say is “WHAT? TAKE THAT SOCK OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!” Harvey Wittenberg was the best. He had this loud, clear nasally voice that echoed throughout the entire building. “Blackhawk goal scored by number 18, Denis Savard!” Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. I did teach Mike one of our old traditions. At 1:03 left in the period we would yell out, “Hey! How much time’s left?” And the muffled PA announcer would announce “One minute to play in the period.” To which we would reply, “Thank you.”
Now I’m not about to go on and on about all the negative changes without mentioning the changes I did like. Let’s hear it for the Mountain Dew Ice Crew! http://chicagoblackhawks.com/icecrew/IceCrew.asp
Ten beautiful figure skating females fitted in tight-fitting replica Blackhawk jerseys and equipped with large coal shovels take to the ice during every extended stoppage of play to scoop up the snow and ice shavings and wave to the crowd.
To quote the radio announcer in the movie “Slapshot”… “Now this is hockey!” And to quote me from the title track of my Christmas music comedy CD, “Wacky Winterland”… If the day could go my way/ You won’t see me shoveling the driveway/ ‘cuz I don’t want no blisters leave the shoveling to my sisters/ They’ll be working in my Wacky Winterland!The Mountain Dew Ice Girls are finally giving Chicago hockey fans something to cheer about!
The scoreboard has some nice features too. At one point in the game they featured a “fan cam” where they filmed fans in the stands, most of whom waved when they saw they were on the big screen. I was hoping Mike and I got on because I would start throwing punches at my unsuspecting guest- all to delight the 15,000 fans watching the scoreboard.
And later on in the evening they featured a “kiss cam” where they zeroed in on several couples watching the game together. When they realized they were on, they would kiss and if they didn’t they would get showered with “boos” from the crowd. Now ladies, if I ever take you to a Blackhawks game and we get on the “kiss cam” I will kiss you. And to amuse the 15,000 voyeurs watching us on the scoreboard, I give you full permission to slap me across the face. Now that would make some good entertainment there.
My favorite scoreboard feature however, is the animated Zamboni race! It resembled a video game as 3 ice resurfacers revved up and participated in some good ol’ boy oval track racing. I was employed as a Zamboni driver on two different occasions and I’m quite infatuated with the engineering marvel that it is. I have quite the collection of Snoopy and Peanuts comic strips that feature a Zamboni. Fans got to choose their favorite Zamboni- the red #1, which I chose because in the good old days, the Hawks had a red Zamboni, the white #2, or the black #3, which Mike chose. We put a cash wager on the race and proceeded to stand and cheer for our Zamboni. It was a really close race that came down to the wire, but Mike edged me out at the finish. It was at that point that I made the NASCAR connection. I realized that I just bet against the black #3. The Intimidator. One of the all-time best, the late great Dale Earnhardt. No wonder I lost. Speaking of Zambonis, they reward lucky winners with a chance to ride on the Zamboni while it resurfaces the ice during the intermission. Yes, I would love to have that opportunity and at the same time I hate all the marketing gimmicks that take away from the game. And unfortunately the scoreboard does tell the fans when to cheer. On the radio, Pat and Dale would always point out how all the scoreboards around the league tell their fans to make noise, but that was never necessary in Chicago. The “Let’s Go Hawks” cheer would usually be started by one loud fan and everyone else would catch on. I was sickened when I saw they even adapted the “let’s go” baseball cheer. You know, the one where they go “Let’s Go White Sox” or “Let’s Go Cub-bies” followed by 5 hand claps. The scoreboard encouraged us to chant “Let’s Go Black-Hawks.”
So much had changed, but fortunately the prices had not. I was paying $8 back in the late ‘80’s. I kept reminding myself, I only paid $10 to get in here. I only paid $10. As hard as it was for me to see all the changes, I can’t imagine what it would be like for my dad. He was telling me how back in the 1940’s he would go to the games for $1. I don’t even think the goalies wore face masks back then!
There was a beauty of a fight where the linesmen let the heavyweights go at it for a long time and the Blackhawks did score one goal with 4 minutes left in the game. The goal actually brought the fans to life and even though the Hawks lost to the Blues who are the worst team in the league, the last four minutes almost reminded me of how it was back in the day of Old Time Hockey in Chicago. During the final year of the Stadium, the Blackhawks paid tribute to their home by adopting the slogan, “Remember the Roar.” That’s not hard for me to do. I believe that if you’ve experienced a game at the Chicago Stadium, it’s permanently a part of your soul.
Peace, Love n’ Donuts,
Danny Donuts
© 2006, Danny Donuts, dannydonuts.com
From 1986 to 1994 I attended a lot of games and was a huge fan. I knew the names and numbers of all the players and could recognize them by their face or even their skating style. Equally enthusiastic about the Hawks were my friends Mark Myers and Steve Alvarado. Mark went to a game in the inaugural year of the United Center and reported to me in disgust that you could even get Haagen Dazs in the upper balcony. The yuppies were moving into the neighborhood.
This September I moved to the south side of Chicago only about five minutes away from the UC. I first set foot in the place this October for a Paul McCartney concert and just over two months later I donned the ol’ Indian head jersey and took escalators to the upper balcony. The Stadium only had stairs and to further illustrate how crazy I was for the Stadium, I once counted the stairs. Great trivia for true Blackhawk fans. Magic Man Mike Arch and I arrived just in time for the National Anthem. In the Chicago Stadium the National Anthem was the greatest patriotic spectacle I’ve ever witnessed. 18,000 people standing, cheering, clapping, waving large American flags and sparklers all the way through the Wayne Messmer rendition. I was once kicked out of the Stadium for waving sparklers and throwing stars and stripes-designed paper plate Frisbees. The cheering through the song tradition started sometime in the early ‘80s and the acoustics in that place made it absolutely deafening. Wayne is gone. He sings for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and in the summers for the Cubs. His replacement has a good voice, he’s just not Wayne. There were still some people clapping and cheering during the anthem, but not too many. It left me with a sad and empty feeling that stayed with me through the entire game.
This was the first game I’ve seen watching through a net. The large arena net prevents the puck from flying over the glass into the stands. I remember the Doug Wilson slap shots from the blue line that would get deflected and sail all the way up into the 2nd balcony. The fans would be going crazy. The celebration equaled that of a goal. And although rare, I witnessed quite a few hat tricks. When a Blackhawk scored his 3rd goal of the game, the hats would rain down from the balconies and end up on the ice. I don’t see that happening with this net. And the “cage feel” really isolated me. I was just an outsider looking in. I always felt like an integral part of the game at the Stadium.
Another huge change I noticed was how quiet it was. Yes, take into effect that last years’ lockout season and this years’ losing season keep many fans away, but man, it was almost as quiet as a Minnesota Wild game. I went to a game at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul and it was like a library. Even in the games where the Hawks were losing, there were plenty of vocal individuals who kept those of us in the 2nd balcony amused and entertained. Mark, Steve and I would be as obnoxious as the loud boisterous drunk fans and hecklers. We were in our late teens and early 20’s and we had our repertoire of hockey heckles, obnoxious outbursts and colorful cheers. I was itching to yell out a few for old time’s sake, but I looked around and saw families and kids… mothers and little girls. You never saw them in the 2nd balcony! They would be in the family-friendly zone of the 1st balcony or the mezzanine section. Only dads who were ready to initiate their sons into manhood would ever bring a child up to the rafters to witness the drunken fights, the beer showers and the craziness that occurred up there. The Stadium held only 18,000 fans and it seems like season after season, all we could score were standing room only tickets. We would get there early to get a good spot behind a railing above the seats and just under the roof line. I did hear a couple of loud fans partaking in some good old time heckling and turned around to see two big guys standing behind the railing as if they had standing room only tickets. There were 5,000 empty seats in the 20,500-seat arena and these guys chose to stand. To these fans I raise my $3.50 bottle of Perrier water.
I wish I had something good to say about the new public address announcer but all I can say is “WHAT? TAKE THAT SOCK OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!” Harvey Wittenberg was the best. He had this loud, clear nasally voice that echoed throughout the entire building. “Blackhawk goal scored by number 18, Denis Savard!” Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. I did teach Mike one of our old traditions. At 1:03 left in the period we would yell out, “Hey! How much time’s left?” And the muffled PA announcer would announce “One minute to play in the period.” To which we would reply, “Thank you.”
Now I’m not about to go on and on about all the negative changes without mentioning the changes I did like. Let’s hear it for the Mountain Dew Ice Crew! http://chicagoblackhawks.com/icecrew/IceCrew.asp
Ten beautiful figure skating females fitted in tight-fitting replica Blackhawk jerseys and equipped with large coal shovels take to the ice during every extended stoppage of play to scoop up the snow and ice shavings and wave to the crowd.
To quote the radio announcer in the movie “Slapshot”… “Now this is hockey!” And to quote me from the title track of my Christmas music comedy CD, “Wacky Winterland”… If the day could go my way/ You won’t see me shoveling the driveway/ ‘cuz I don’t want no blisters leave the shoveling to my sisters/ They’ll be working in my Wacky Winterland!The Mountain Dew Ice Girls are finally giving Chicago hockey fans something to cheer about!
The scoreboard has some nice features too. At one point in the game they featured a “fan cam” where they filmed fans in the stands, most of whom waved when they saw they were on the big screen. I was hoping Mike and I got on because I would start throwing punches at my unsuspecting guest- all to delight the 15,000 fans watching the scoreboard.
And later on in the evening they featured a “kiss cam” where they zeroed in on several couples watching the game together. When they realized they were on, they would kiss and if they didn’t they would get showered with “boos” from the crowd. Now ladies, if I ever take you to a Blackhawks game and we get on the “kiss cam” I will kiss you. And to amuse the 15,000 voyeurs watching us on the scoreboard, I give you full permission to slap me across the face. Now that would make some good entertainment there.
My favorite scoreboard feature however, is the animated Zamboni race! It resembled a video game as 3 ice resurfacers revved up and participated in some good ol’ boy oval track racing. I was employed as a Zamboni driver on two different occasions and I’m quite infatuated with the engineering marvel that it is. I have quite the collection of Snoopy and Peanuts comic strips that feature a Zamboni. Fans got to choose their favorite Zamboni- the red #1, which I chose because in the good old days, the Hawks had a red Zamboni, the white #2, or the black #3, which Mike chose. We put a cash wager on the race and proceeded to stand and cheer for our Zamboni. It was a really close race that came down to the wire, but Mike edged me out at the finish. It was at that point that I made the NASCAR connection. I realized that I just bet against the black #3. The Intimidator. One of the all-time best, the late great Dale Earnhardt. No wonder I lost. Speaking of Zambonis, they reward lucky winners with a chance to ride on the Zamboni while it resurfaces the ice during the intermission. Yes, I would love to have that opportunity and at the same time I hate all the marketing gimmicks that take away from the game. And unfortunately the scoreboard does tell the fans when to cheer. On the radio, Pat and Dale would always point out how all the scoreboards around the league tell their fans to make noise, but that was never necessary in Chicago. The “Let’s Go Hawks” cheer would usually be started by one loud fan and everyone else would catch on. I was sickened when I saw they even adapted the “let’s go” baseball cheer. You know, the one where they go “Let’s Go White Sox” or “Let’s Go Cub-bies” followed by 5 hand claps. The scoreboard encouraged us to chant “Let’s Go Black-Hawks.”
So much had changed, but fortunately the prices had not. I was paying $8 back in the late ‘80’s. I kept reminding myself, I only paid $10 to get in here. I only paid $10. As hard as it was for me to see all the changes, I can’t imagine what it would be like for my dad. He was telling me how back in the 1940’s he would go to the games for $1. I don’t even think the goalies wore face masks back then!
There was a beauty of a fight where the linesmen let the heavyweights go at it for a long time and the Blackhawks did score one goal with 4 minutes left in the game. The goal actually brought the fans to life and even though the Hawks lost to the Blues who are the worst team in the league, the last four minutes almost reminded me of how it was back in the day of Old Time Hockey in Chicago. During the final year of the Stadium, the Blackhawks paid tribute to their home by adopting the slogan, “Remember the Roar.” That’s not hard for me to do. I believe that if you’ve experienced a game at the Chicago Stadium, it’s permanently a part of your soul.
Peace, Love n’ Donuts,
Danny Donuts
© 2006, Danny Donuts, dannydonuts.com
