Mr. Miller's BLOG
I'm pissed offPosted on March 31, 2010
The Chicago Blackhawks have pissed me off. And from someone who's lived through and dealt with the near-decade long playoff drought, half-empty arenas, Mike Smith and Russians, the continuation of the Tommy Hawk experiment, and created a website called WirtzSucks.com - that's really saying something.
In and of itself, I can handle being shutout in my attempt to get playoff tickets that went on sale just this morning. There are very few, if any really, tickets available for the public and despite getting in to Ticketmaster within seconds of the tickets going on sale, I knew the odds were stacked against me.
It's the John McDonough way. McEgo knows the type of fan he wants and, unfortunately, it's not me.
At least last season, those of us with partial ticket plans were given the opportunity to be part of a pre-sale for playoff tickets. Of course there were few, if any, tickets available then too but at least a few thousand of us had the illusion that we carried a sense of importance to the organization.
This year - obviously not.
As a Blackhawk fan, my so-called resume speaks for itself: 20+ years following the team, attended 15-20 games a year, partial season ticket plan holder since the inception, a marriage proposal by the ice before a game, a Blackhawks themed wedding, and, among so many other things, twin sons whose middle names are those of Blackhawk icons.
Yet through all the smoke and mirrors (a.k.a. his marketing efforts), McEgo doesn't care so much about the fans as he does their money. Yeah, it's a business - I get it - but one would think there would be a shred of respect given for those who spend the money rather than the money itself.
If I don't spend at the United Center, McEgo knows there is someone else who will. It's a formula that worked wonders while he was with the Cubs and one he continues to utilize with the Blackhawks. Keep in mind this is the same guy who oversaw a pseudo-illegal ticket scalping operation which allowed the Cubs to scalp their own tickets which were never released to the general public.
And therein lies the problem: he didn't care if the Cubs won or not. Oh sure, he hoped they did. I mean, in his position, why wouldn't he? But winning wasn't the top priority with the Cubs organization nor is it now with the Blackhawks.
We're all familiar with the moniker "lovable losers". It's sort of a justification that as long as everything is fun and cheery in the stands - and that the stands are packed - the happenings on the field (or ice in this matter) takes second fiddle. McEgo, himself, said when he started with the Blackhawks that he wanted to make going to a game an "event".
"He's running (the 'Hawks) like an expansion team", a friend of mine said recently.
That's not a bad analogy considering expansion teams don't have to alienate long-time fans in order to recruit new ones.
Post a comment/reply at the Blackhawkzone Message Boards.
Previous Page