Winter Classic in review

Where do we go from here? The Winter Classic was an unqualified success. The City of Chicago, despite the political issues in the state, looked great. That alone was quite a feat for winter around here. And the game was great, except for the win by Detroit.

I would have liked to see the venue, which will be used through the weekend by neighbors, used for a college or junior event. I think it is too much to wish the AHL were able to use the venue too this weekend. A match in Wrigley between the Chicago Wolves and the Chicago Blackhawks affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, with the IceHogs the home team in Wrigley, would be amazing and give a boost to the minor league teams in this area.

The University of Notre Dame or one of the great schools in Michigan that produce great hockey players could have used the venue this weekend. The Chicago Steel, our junior team based in Bensenville. The list goes on.

The Chicago Blackhawks, under Bill Wirtz, almost killed hockey in this town. Less than 15 months after Bill Wirtz's death and the vitality of the franchise and the sport are renewed. This is an exciting hockey town again, with a Calder Cup champion playing in Rosemont and an NHL team finally in the hunt.

And that hunt made the game itself interesting. This wasn't a throw-away match. The two points were important to the Chicago Blackhawks.

I also loved the detail that the game was part of a home and home series. What is clear, however, is that the players need to be here for several days before the game is played. The media needs the players for stories. As a blogger, we had to work around that. We assumed we wouldn't have access and worked to find stories that were not in control of the NHL and the Blackhawks.

The venue itself only sat 41,000 or so people. Was that a bad thing? The fans were close to the action. They were letting go with the roar that once rocked the Chicago Stadium. The only thing missing was a light snow, make a note to mother nature that she gets an A- due to no snow falling.

The size of the venue isn't important if the story, the romance, is there. Jane would say I'm talking about the cheese. And cheese sells.

For Chicago, and for this region, this was a great moment. Although I sat at home watching, the work done before the game, the three articles in our special report and Jane Rickard's photography will always remain with me. I learned more about concussions, rooftops and the Bears than I think I had in total prior to this event. Still, it would have been nice for the team to recognize bloggers with a special event for them.

I expect this event will park Chicago in an enviable position versus the competing cities for the Olympic bid. The city, in the midst of a storm and the holidays, looked great. I've always told potential visitors to stay away in the winter. This winter event proved me wrong.

So, what next for the Winter Classic? Fenway or a New York venue? Like many others, I think the WC will not be held in Canada, perhaps excepting Toronto or Montreal, but not anywhere else for the moment. By which I mean for many years. A decade? This event is the primo NHL event of the season until the playoffs. The TV audience hasn't been announced, but it has to be huge. It needs to go somewhere like Wrigley or Rich Stadium again. It needs romance, good fortune, cheese and a great game.

For the last two seasons it has had that going for it. So, romantic venue, two teams that are struggling against each other and have a history, the cooperation of mother nature... Your guess of what is next is as good as mine. But I look forward to next New Year's Day.

Winter Classic; Special Report

Happy New Year.

To celebrate the Winter Classic game being held here in Chicago, Jane Rickard and I are posting on each other's site a special series of articles, posted in a way that you can read from the top down.

Patrick Kissane
Jane Rickard

Rooftops ready for big game

The rink lies below, glistening in the sun. There is no ice there yet. That will come shortly. Already the Zamboni's have been dropped, literally, off the truck. On this morning, a cold wind blows. Looking at the stands for 41,000, you wonder how will those people survive this cold.

But Steve Alexander is happy. In the warmth of his rooftop club and the field across the street, his patrions will be able to knosh on cider, pizza and coffee inside, taking in the game as the weather allows on the rooftop deck. His arms wide, he says he is ready for the Winter Classic.

A veteran of the Greektown restaurant scene, Alexander says the rooftop gig has been the best place to work ever. He glides over to a wall, his speech is rapid and his excitement is viral, “here are pictures from the 1970's with the owner,” he says. He hardly allows a moment to examine the photos on the wall before racing elsewhere, the food is usually prepared outside in the summer he explains, talking rapidly.

“But, in January that won't be possible,” he explains, as he shows off the kitchen where the chili, mac and cheese and other winter favs will appear. “The staff is excited,” he explains, racing to the roof along a rear stair.

At the top of the stair, downtown glistens in the distance and an el train rumbles beneath us. Alexander is on the other side of the roof. Talking about what his guests will be seeing. Wrigley Field, frozen in snow and ice lies across the street and below. A rink runs from first to third base. It is quiet. A moment that is frozen.

Alexander is quiet for a moment, then his boots begin crushing the snow, “it will be 45 F here this weekend and this stuff will all melt,” he predicts. “Come here and look at this,” he is bursting with enthusiasm. Another kitchen, this is the summer kitchen. “And, we'll hang televisions from these poles too.”

Alexander rushes down a stairwell. Gasping to catch him, the sub-zero air is stinging my lungs. Alexander is a huge sports fan. At first, he says he doesn't understand hockey, but as he talks, he goes into a long discussion of the effects of constant hits on the player's body. He talks about Chicago Blackhawk players and Chris Chelios, the kid from the hood who did good.

“His parents were mall walkers and stopped by mom and dad's stand in the mall,” he explains. The old Greeks liked to talk to each other and grab a bite. They'd talk about their kid in the hockey league, Chris. Chelios, I explain, was assigned to the AAA Grand Rapids Griffins for conditioning. He might not play on New Year's Day. “Oh, too bad.” For a moment, Alexander is reflective.

He begins to talk again about the Cubs and the blessing of the business having this extra day of business. The city council had just approved the sale of tickets by the rooftops at its previous session. Although he had sold out, Alexander explained that prior to the approval, everything was tentative.

The poor economy is having its effect here too. Although Alexander has sold out, he says that some of the rooftops had tickets on the 20th. Tickets up here cost $300.00 USD each. For that the rooftop clubhouse Alexander runs opens an hour before the game till an hour after the game. All the food and beverage is provided.

The effort to be ready is exhausting. Alexander fields calls during the interview from supplier after supplier, arranging for the delivery of food, beer, soft drinks and other supplies. “Excuse me,” he apologizes, “I have to take this.” It is non-stop and there are more than ten days to go yet.

He says the rooftops host parties during concerts too, but that the view is terrible and it is by invitation of the owner (no income) for friends and clients. “We had to take the weather into consideration,” he says. He looks at the stands across the street. “People will be freezing if they stay outside long in this weather. They'll probably be going up (to the roof top view) and down (to the warmth of the clubhouse) a lot,” he predicts.

The building, originally a three-flat, was gutted to the walls. A similar project is occurring immediately next door. Inside, the walls are brick and mortar. Large windows keep the noise of the el train out, while pictures from Cubs history adorn the walls. Basically several floors of restaurants with bleachers on the top deck, only one apartment survives, on the first floor. And NO, you may not invite yourself up to the deck if you rent the apartment.

In the early days of Wrigley Field, the owners and tenants came up on the roof with lawn chairs and grills. Television gave the rooftops their romance, showing the rooftops and their occupants. It is a romance the National Hockey League hopes to capture. A little snow, some pictures of the rooftops with some cold people on them, and the ivy. You can see it now, in your minds eye.

Outdoor hockey at this level is about romance. The romance of a game played on ice. The romance of professional players, returning to their roots. It is a romance of the neighborhood kid, scoring the game winning goal or making the glove save at a critical moment-- at least in his head.

45 Years Ago in Wrigleyville

Sports trivia: When was the last time a professional championship game was played at Wrigley Field? Who won it, Chicago or the visitors?

The answer is the Chicago Bears won the National Football Championship December 29, 1963, 14-10 over the New York Giants. The Super Bowl wasn't started till 1967. It was the last championship game the Bears played in until they won the Super Bowl in 1986.

The game was moved up to a 12:05 start by the National Football League after the Bears refused to move the game to Soldier Field. The NFL was concerned that the end of a long game could be played in the dark as Wrigley Field had no lights. Mike Crivello, age 26 at the time, lived about a block from Wrigley Field in the 1100 block of Addison. The morning dawned with a temperature of -8 F and winds gusting to 15 mph. Local radio reported that the Bears game was sold out and Crivello knew, from living in the area, that the city was cracking down on scalpers.

He headed out to mass at Trinity Lutheran Church with his wife. Passing the ticket office, he noticed a line for tickets. When he checked out what was happening, he discovered that the game wasn't sold out, but the remaining tickets were too expensive for Crivello. The ticket agent pointed to a man on the sidewalk, a scalper. “He'll sell you a ticket for face value,” the agent said, explaining that the weather was discouraging people from attending.

Crivello purchased three standing room only tickets at $4.00 each. It was a half-hour till game time.

Rousing his cousin Chris and another friend who did not make it, Crivello headed to the Waveland Avenue bleachers in his hunting camouflage. “It was cold and there was no food service in the bleachers,” Crivello said. The only protection from the wind and the bitter temperature in the bleachers was the men's room. Crivello remembers entering the men's room and seeing a man warming his bare feet over a heater.

Crivello remembers Giants Quarterback Y. A. Tittle's scoring first quarter drive. It culminated in a touch down pass to Frank Gifford. But the Monsters of the Midway, led by Larry Morris, hit Tittle as he was throwing later in the quarter. A second hit by Morris, on another play and Tittle's knee was injured. Although he finished the game, he was lost for part of the first half and he began throwing off his back foot for the remainder of the game.

Morris was able to intercept a Tittle pass moments after the second hit. His 61 yard return remains a Bears record. It setup a quarterback sneak touchdown by Billy Wade, tying the game. Going into the second quarter, Crivello remembers that the temperature was sending people home early. A Giants field goal sent the ball out of the stadium onto Waveland. A crowd of perhaps 100 people scrummed for the ball near the firehouse. The score was Giants 10, Bears 7 at the end of the half.

In the second half, with Tittle back on the field, Ed O'Bradovich intercepted a Giants pass. That setup Wade's second scoring run, giving the 14-10 lead to the Bears. Richie Petitbon finished the Giants chances when he intercepted a pass, the fifth Bears interception of the game, in the end zone with ten seconds remaining.

George Allen, the Bears defensive coordinator, received the game ball. Bears coach and owner George Hallas received the NFL coach of the year award. Morris was the Most Valuable Player. Among the other athletes in the contest were Johnny Morris and future Bears coach Mike Ditka. Crivello kept the game ticket and an aerial photograph of the game in a frame until last year when he gifted them to a football loving friend. “I still remember the ticket, SRO #96,” Crivello said.

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by Patrick Kissane and Jane Rickard

Wrigley Field; a 2008 timeline

Even without a World Series game, Wrigley Field had a historic year in 2008. Can 2009 be as historic?
(A tip of the hat to wikipedia.org)

• January 13, 2008: First sign the sale of the Chicago Cubs by the Tribune Co. will be delayed past opening day.
• March 4, 2008: The Tribune Co.'s plan to sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field set's off a political storm.
• April 3, 2008: Landmarks Illinois lists Wrigley Field as among the state's endangered sites.
• March 31, 2008: A sculpture of Cubs great Ernie Banks is unveiled outside the park on Opening Day. A typo on the sculpture, “Lets Play Two” is corrected to read “Let's Play Two.”
• May 16, 2008: Wrigley Field season attendance passes the million mark.
• June 12, 2008: To celebrate the 60th anniversary of WGN TV broadcasting, the Cubs host a "throw-back" game, in which the first two innings are broadcast in black and white as they were in 1948. The Cubs and the Atlanta Braves both wear period uniforms, and for the day the Atlanta Braves revert to the Boston Braves. The Cubs win 3-2 in the 13th inning.
• August 4, 2008: When a tornado warning sounds, the stadium is evacuated. It is the first time the stadium has been evacuated due to severe weather.
• August 25, 2008: Wrigley Field, with a scheduled day game, becomes the first major league ballpark to activate instant replay technology, a few hours ahead of some teams that had night games scheduled.
• October 1, 2008: A school reform group threatens to protest state education financing by staging a protest, surrounding Wrigley Field during a Cubs playoff game.
• October 4, 2008: The Chicago Cubs finish their 100th season since winning a World Series.
• December, 6, 2008: the US Attorney accuses Illinois Governor Rod R Blagojevich of attempting to extort the Tribune Co. through withholding a state financial package for Wrigley Field.

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by Patrick Kissane

Hockey in July

Normally at this time of the year, the hockey blog is on vacation. Between the end of the professional season in mid-June and the early July camps for prospects, the next big event is usually the September training camps.

A few items may be newsworthy of course. Today, for example, the Chicago Wolves said they’d agreed to a deal with Brian Sipotz, a native of South Bend, IN.

Meanwhile the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL dragged some boards out into Wrigley Field yesterday and talked about the outdoor game planned for New Year’s Day, 2009. As has been mentioned in several articles, how long has it been since hockey made the front of the sports pages in this town? IN JULY?

Sipotz had the leading +/- for players in the AHL regular season in 2007.

The Blackhawks President, John McDonough, the former President of the Chicago Cubs, returned to Wrigley for the first time since he joined the Hawks. The players were wandering around talking about what it would be like to play outdoors. They used the word “fun.” Tickets will probably be priced, according to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times, at $250.00 each and will be hard to get anyway.

Sipotz has played for the Wolves for several seasons. He isn’t an Atlanta prospect. His contract is owned by the Wolves.

In a 2006 game played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI, 40,890 attended. The game held on New Year’s Day 2008 attracted 71,217 to Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, NY. “At Lambeau, the ice got chopped up real fast, and if it snows, it’ll be even worse, “ Hawk winger Adam Burish told the Sun-Times. “But who cares? It’s the experience.”

At a meeting of the Chicago Wolves Booster Club yesterday, team representatives had no news about a replacement for John Anderson, the four-time championship coach who is now in Atlanta.

“We’ll play like we’re young boys,” Denis Savard told the Sun-Times. “It’s the fun of a lifetime.”

The Wolves reps told the Booster Club Tuesday the summer was the busiest time of the year for the sales staff. Until the Hawks started generating news, it was the quietest period of the year for the hockey blog.

Wrigley to host outdoor hockey: Star- Tribune

It is the worst kept secret of the Chicago Blackhawks prospect camp, the NHL and the Blackhawks will use the first ever Chicago Blackhawks convention next week to announce that the Hawks will host the 2009 outdoor New Years Day game at Wrigley Field. The Minneapolis Star Tribune broke the story on July 7th with Chicago media outlets rushing to play catch-up.