Don't Believe the Hype: Sex Does Not Weaken Legs

I haven't played organized athletics in quite a while. Don't get me wrong, I'll still get together with friends to play basketball, football, or baseball once in a while, but the last team I belonged to was in high school. I remember playing football back then, and every Friday before a game we would basically have a walk-through of Saturday's game-plan.

At the end of every Friday practice, before the team would "break it down" our coach would give us a little speech about that week's game. When he came to the end of this weekly speech, he would always tell us the same thing.

"Boys, no sex tonight."

Continue reading at FanHouse

Patrick Kane Is a Winner

While the Bulls can't seem to do anything right these days. They've taken any kind of goodwill they may have garnered by landing the first pick in the draft and thrown it out the window after Jerry Reinsdorf spent too much time worrying about his feelings for Doug Collins, and then hired Vinny Del African-American instead.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the United Center where they keep the guys with the funny accidents and mullets, the Blackhawks have been doing just about everything right. They missed the playoffs this season, but they stole all the winter attention away from the Bulls with their improved play and public relations.

Now next season all of their games will be televised, and they'll even be playing the Red Wings at Wrigley Field. All of which means I'm going to be spending a lot more of my time watching the Blackhawks next season, and of course, that would mean seeing a lot more of the new Calder Trophy winner, Patrick Kane.

...when 18-year-old forward Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

Kane led rookies with 72 points, including 21 goals. He is the first Blackhawks player to win the trophy since goalie Ed Belfour in the 1990-91 season. Kane, who had the best first month by a rookie since 1992 when he posted 16 points in October, topped Chicago linemate Jonathan Toews and Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom for the award.

As mentioned in the quote, Chicago's other kid, Jonathan Toews finished in second place, and had he not missed a month due to injury he probably would have won the award. Not to say that Patrick didn't deserve it, but he seemed to wear down toward the end of the season a bit (he is rather small), while Toews finished pretty strong. Either way, the future of Blackhawks hockey keeps looking better everyday.

The Blackhawks Will Be Playing At Wrigley Field

It's been a few months since the talk started that the Blackhawks were possibly going to be playing a game outdoors next season, whether it was at Wrigley or Soldier Field, and today there's news that it's just about official.

The Blackhawks will be facing off against the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field next season.

The Blackhawks are expected to play the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field in January in the NHL's Winter Classic, Comcast SportsNet reported Wednesday night, with an official announcement perhaps coming this week.

Hawks president John McDonough has been pushing for an outdoor game after the success of this season's Winter Classic on New Year's Day at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium. A league-record 71,217 fans saw the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Sabres 2-1 in a shootout.

Though I preferred that the game be played at Soldier Field, as more tickets would be available for the game, increasing my chances of actually attending it, this is still awesome news.

The announcement comes at a good time for the Hawks as well, because after spending the winter slowly starting to wrestle attention away from the Bulls, they've been thrown on the back burner again since the Bulls landed the #1 pick in the draft and continued their coaching search that finally ended at Doug Collins.

It's still too early to make concrete plans, as the game hasn't even been officially announced yet, but I think this game would be a good place to hold some kind of Foul Balls gathering. Details possibly to come!

They're Still Playing Hockey

I haven't had a chance to watch either of the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, but going by the scores I've seen, and the things I've read, I'm not missing much. Sure, the NHL has to be happy that Sidney Crosby is playing in the league's premiere event, but his Penguins just aren't as good as the Detroit Red Wings and it's showing.

Hell, it was obvious before the start of game one that the Penguins just weren't going to be able to hang with the mighty Red Wings. Just look at this video of Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fluery entering the ice before game one.

On the bright side, at least he didn't drop any trophies or anything.



(Both videos via With Leather)

This Kid Needs a New Hobby

You know, I remember when I was a kid I used to imitate my favorite players as well. I'd sit in my living room watching the White Sox play, mimicking Frank Thomas, and Robin Ventura, and even Ozzie Guillen while my mom yelled at me that I better not break anything with that bat.

I did break something once, but to this day, my mom still hasn't found out about it.

Anyway, as I was saying, I understand where this kid is coming from but I think he's taking his obsession with Miikka Kiprusoff a bit too far. Though to be fair, I get the feeling his parents probably put him up to this. I mean, he didn't buy all that gear himself, and he damn sure didn't give himself that beard. I'm also guessing his mom dresses up the family dog in cute outfits.

So I guess what I'm saying is that his parents need to be shot, and if they keep dressing the poor kid up like that, he'll probably be the one who does it eventually.

The White Sox and Blackhawks Are Working Together

The Blackhawks season came to an end on Sunday, and even though they didn't make the playoffs, anyone who doesn't think it was a successful season had unrealistic expectations. Not only did the team play well and grab some attention from the city as the Bulls and Bears sucked the winter away, but they also joined the 21st century. The biggest change, of course, being that the team is going to televise all 82 of it's games next season. While that's a large step in the right direction to getting the Blackhawks back in the public consciousness, John McDonough realizes that television alone won't do the trick.

Which is why he's found a new partner in the city to help spread the word about Blackhawk hockey.

The White Sox and Blackhawks [Tuesday] will announce a far-reaching marketing partnership in which each club will promote themselves in the other club’s building and within the other club’s media inventory, a rarely heard-of practice for clubs not controlled by the same ownership group. The pact, signed for one year but eyed for a longer term, will begin [Tuesday] at the White Sox’ home opener with a video to be shown at the stadium that will feature Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane and C Jonathan Toews in White Sox hockey jerseys. Other activations in the partnership include a Shoot The Puck promotion on the top of the White Sox dugout during each game at U.S. Cellular Field, a Blackhawks night at the ballpark set for August 23 and Blackhawks theming in White Sox game presentations, such as the use of the hockey goal horn for home runs. Similar activities, such as a White Sox night at United Center, are being developed for the '08-09 NHL season, and some ticket sales activity will occur at each other’s games as well.

Neither side is giving away any of the financial details of this cross-promotion, but the Blackhawks will be paying the lion's share as they'll be doing most of the "gimmicky" stuff at The Cell throughout the season.

Regardless, this is a very interesting idea that doesn't happen much around the sporting world. I can't help but wonder if the rest of the NHL would be better served to take notice of what the Blackhawks are doing, and can use it themselves to help get the game back out to the masses.

Blackhawks To Televise Every Game Next Season

I know I haven't been covering them as much here, but you have to believe me when I tell you I've been watching and following the Blackhawks a lot more this season than I have in the previous five years. There are a few reasons for this, with the biggest one being that the team is actually pretty decent this season. They're going to miss the playoffs, but at least there's some real hope for the immediate future.

Another factor, of course, is that they started televising some home games this season, and it's a lot easier to follow a team when you can actually watch them play. Well, I'd be expecting a lot more Blackhawks posts next season because the team will be showing every game on television next season.

The Blackhawks plan to broadcast some very good news Tuesday—all 82 of next season's games will be televised.

The deal will be particularly satisfying to hockey fans who don't have cable TV. Industry sources say that as many as 20 games will go to WGN-Ch. 9, which carried the Hawks in the 1960s and early '70s.

The bulk will go to the Hawks' main partner, Comcast SportsNet, which televised 50 games this season, leaving about 30 unavailable to Chicago viewers.

Let me say this: It's about god damn time. It's pretty sad that it's 2008 and we're finally now able to applaud the Blackhawks for doing something any sports franchise with a brain has been doing for 25 years, but I'm not going to dwell on the idiocy of Bill Wirtz's reign of frugality.

Not only is this great news for all those die-hard Blackhawks fans (they still exist, it's true, I even know a few) who finally get to follow their team all season long, but it makes sense for the organization as well. The only way to build a fan base in a city like Chicago, one filled with so many other options for it's sports fans, is to allow them to actually watch the team play.

This should be a very large step towards making the Blackhawks and the sport of hockey relevant in this city again.

Stick a Fork in the Blackhawks

What? You thought I'd forgotten about them?

Well, you were wrong, I've been keeping an eye on them, and last night my eye saw their playoff hopes basically come to an end.

After their 3-1 loss to the Red Wings last night, the Blackhawks find themselves seven points behind the Vancouver Canucks with twelve games left to play. As if that gap wasn't enough, there are also three other teams between them and the 8th seed right now, so the odds of reaching the postseason are astronomical at this point.

''We probably need to win nine,'' Denis Savard said. ''That's probably too much to ask right now, but we'll take them one game at a time, starting tomorrow.''

It doesn't seem fair, really, that while the Blackhawks have played well this season (they're actually over .500) and have been fun to watch, the team they share a building with, the Bulls, doesn't even seem to care yet find themselves only a half-game out of the playoffs.

Still, this has been an incredibly successful season for the Blackhawks, and we've seen a lot of promise for the future. Watching youngsters like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane along with Patrick Sharp has given me confidence that the Hawks are going to get to the postseason next year, and now they've got a young goalie who looks like he can be something special as well.

Corey Crawford got the loss last night, but it wasn't because he did anything wrong. After shutting out the defending champion Mighty Ducks last week, Crawford made 44 saves against the best team in the NHL last night.

This team officially matters again, I mean, I'm even writing about them. While this year has been a rebirth of hockey in Chicago, I get the feeling next year will do even more. Next season all games will be televised, the youngsters will all be a year older and better, and the Bulls will probably still suck.

So things are all set up for the Hawks to rule this city again next winter, and I gotta say, I'm looking forward to watching. I even plan on paying attention the entire season.

The Blackhawks Commit To The Trading Deadline

The NHL trade deadline is today, and already the Blackhawks have been busy. It was announced a little while ago that the team had completed a trade and sent Tuomu Ruutu to the Carolina Hurricanes for Adam Ladd.

Ladd, 23, is 6-2 and 201 pounds. He was Carolina's first-round pick and the fourth overall in the 2004 entry draft.

‘‘Andrew Ladd is a very good young forward who won a Stanley Cup with Carolina as a 20-year old,'' Hawks general manager Dale Tallon said. ‘‘We acquired a very good young player in Andrew Ladd and in doing so had to give up good young player in Tuomo Ruutu.''

Ladd has nine goals and nine assists in 43 games this season.

Ladd's production isn't exactly stellar, but it's actually better than Ruttu's. In 60 games this season, the former 1st-round pick has only managed 6 goals and 15 assists. Not exactly the Peter Forsberg like numbers the Blackhawks told us to expect when they drafted Ruutu in 2001.

Ruutu probably won't be the only Hawk on the move today, as the team sent out an email on Monday night listing all the players they're willing to trade. Ruutu was on that list, along with Nikolai Khabibulin, Martin Havlat, Robert Lang, Martin Lapointe, Yanic Perreault, Andrei Zyuzin and Rene Bourque.

The bad news for the Hawks is that the big name they were pursuing, Tampa's Dave Richards, has already been traded to Dallas in a five-player deal.

The Hawks are also talking to Pittsburgh about Jordan Staal.

What I'm yet to figure out is whether the Blackhawks are making these moves in hopes of making a playoff run, or if they're thinking next season.

UPDATE: The Blackhawks have also shipped Martin LaPointe to Ottawa for a 6th round draft pick.

The Blackhawks At Wrigley Field?

The Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 last night at the United Center, giving the team their first shutout of the season, and Nikolai Khabibulin the 37th shutout of his career. They've now won five of their last seven games, but their improved play over the last few weeks isn't the big story with the Blackhawks right now.

No, that would be the team's current plans to play a game outdoors within the next year or two. As for where they'd play the game, team president John McDonough was on 670 The Score this morning, and he says he'd like the game to be played at the site of his last job: Wrigley Field.

Blackhawks president John McDonough is considering hosting an outdoor game at Wrigley Field.

‘‘We had a meeting with the commissioner four weeks ago, and that was one topic we wanted to discuss,'' McDonough said on WSCR-AM (670). ‘‘It would be a huge event for the city of Chicago and for the NHL.

‘‘In the event we should be so fortunate to get the game, all venues would be in play. We've heard from most of them already, so we'll see where we would go. There's been a lot of talk about Wrigley, and I think Wrigley would be a terrific place for it.''

If the game were to happen, and I'm hoping it does, other options would be at Soldier Field and US Cellular Field. Personally, I think Soldier Field would make more sense.

Soldier Field can not only hold more people, and I'm guessing demand for tickets will be high, but it also provides better sight lines than Wrigley Field can. The problem is I'm not sure that's going to matter to anybody making the decision.

If NBC is going to broadcast the game, they're going to want some say in where it should be played, and they may be looking for something new after having Buffalo and Pittsburgh play earlier this season in Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo.

Wrigley Field would provide an entirely different atmosphere, as NBC could use the novelty of people in the stadium's bleachers, or across the street on the rooftops watching a hockey game.

So in the end, I think this game will end up getting played at Wrigley Field whether it makes sense for the actual game and fans or not. Of course, it's not like if the game is played at Wrigley, I'm going to boycott it or anything. I'm just excited by the fact that this whole thing could possibly happen.

It's just we'll all have a better chance of seeing it for ourselves if they play the game at Soldier Field.

Foul Balls

Bears Continue To Rebuild Offensive Line - Unlike last offseason, every move the Bears have made so far this offseason has pleased me. Most especially, the decision to cut Fred Miller on Monday.

Well, I'm happy to report that the Bears are aware that Fred wasn't the only problem on the offensive line, as they've also cut guard Ruben Brown.

The Bears will cut ties with veteran offensive guard Ruben Brown, coach Lovie Smith said Thursday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

The team is clearly rebuilding the offensive line after also releasing veteran tackle Fred Miller earlier this week.

Brown didn't finish the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He had expressed optimism that he would be back with the Bears.

Brown was no where near as useless as Fred Miller last season, but after getting another year older, and having to undergo the shoulder surgery, it's best that both parties go their seperate ways.

As for who Brown's replacement will be, and keeping with my "think big" logic that led to wanting Randy Moss, I'm hoping the Bears will look at Steelers guard Alan Faneca who's a free agent this season.

Brian Carlwell Leaves Illinois - When the Illini first recruited Brian Carlwell out of my high school's arch-rival Proviso East, they did so hoping that he'd grow to become one of the more dominant big men in the Big Ten.

Unfortunately for Brian and the Illini, the only thing Carlwell became known for in Champaign was for being the guy teammate Jamar Smith left for dead after getting into a car accident last season.

Now, after hardly getting any playing time this season thanks to the severe concussion he suffered in that accident, and a knee injury he suffered during one of the few games he did play in, Carlwell has decided it's time to move on.

"Anybody who has injuries like that is set back," Carlwell, wearing a Shaun Pruitt jersey, said before watching his former teammates play Wisconsin. "It might have even set the program back, I'm not sure. I really felt like this year would be my year to contribute, then I had a knee injury and that set me back.

"It was time for a fresh start for me and for the program," Carlwell said. "I hate to have to do it, but … I'm not doing anybody any good with all the injuries.

"I'm going to have to work 20 times harder to get back."

Well, good luck, Brian. Just don't let Jamar give you a ride back home to Maywood.

Wrigley Field's New Field - Getting back to the topic of Wrigley Field, let's not forget that the Cubs tore up the old field and put a new one down this offseason. How would playing a hockey game affect the new sod? I mean, if a Jimmy Buffet concert can tear center field to shit, who knows what a Zamboni could do.

Anyway, the guys over at Home Run Derby dug up (Get it? Dug up. I'm hilarious.) a video that shows the entire process of tearing up the old field and laying down the new one. It's kind of cool to watch, but don't take my word for it, judge for yourself.



Tiger Woods Is Still Awesome - Rare is the occasion in which I talk about golf here at Foul Balls, but after seeing what Tiger Woods did yesterday, I'll make an exception.

Tiger is currently at the Accenture Match Play Championships, and in his first round matchup he found himself going against the legendary J.B. Holmes (Who? Exactly.) Somehow Tiger found himself down three holes after only playing five, and then he was still down 3 holes after the duo completed the 13th hole.

So Tiger had five holes left to make up a 3-hole deficit. What do you think he did?

When Skate Meets Face

I know I don't spend too much time talking about hockey around here, and the way the Blackhawks are starting to fade, I don't expect that to change too much.

Still, anytime a referee takes a skate first kick to the face and a brawl ensues, if there's video, I'll post it.

Dapuzzo suffered a broken jaw, and needed 60 stitches to close the cut.

(Courtesy of The 700 Level)

Commit To The Controversy

So the Blackhawks are starting to work their way back into the public consciousness of Chicago sports fans. That's great. Really, I mean it. As I've often said here in the past, I have nothing against hockey and I used to enjoy it a bit. It was just that Bill Wirtz caused me to abandon the Blackhawks, and the strike caused me to abandon the sport all together.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who left for these reasons because now that Dollar Bill is dead, people are showing up to the United Center again, and people are actually talking about the team again. Seriously, you hear about the Blackhawks on sports radio in this city again. For the last five years or so, the only time you heard about the Blackhawks was if somebody was making fun of them.

Still, being back in the public consciousness also leads to problems. When nobody pays any attention to you, you can do whatever the hell you want and not worry about the consequences. When they are paying attention to you, you can get yourself in trouble from time to time.

Which is what seems to be happening at the moment. Remember last week when coach Denis Savard ripped into his team after a 1-0 loss, and told them they had to "commit to the Indian?"

Well, as you'd expect in this politically correct world we now live in, the phrase has rubbed some people the wrong way. Take the Chicago Sun-Times' Carol Slezak for instance.

The phrase has struck a chord with Hawks fans, many of whom would like to adopt it as the team's slogan. President John McDonough has been inundated with e-mails suggesting ways the Hawks can market the phrase, and you already can buy ''Commit to the Indian'' T-shirts online. Clearly Hawks fans are rediscovering their passion for the team, and that's great. But not everyone is happy about the way they've latched onto Savard's poor choice of words.

Count Podlasek -- executive director of the American Indian Center at 1630 W. Wilson on the North Side -- among the unhappy.

''For a fan base to use that statement as its motto is terrible,'' he said. ''What are they teaching the kids? These old symbols perpetuate the belief that American Indians are a thing of the past and that natives don't exist.''

Hey, it's Chief Illiniwek all over again!

I'm not going to get into a big debate about whether or not teams should have an Indian as it's mascot, but I will say that it doesn't bother me in the slightest. What I don't get is how the Blackhawks using an indian head logo is going to "perpetuate the belief that American Indians are a thing of the past and that natives don't exist."

Really?

I'm willing to bet that if the Blackhawks weren't named the Blackhawks that the majority of children in this city would grow up never knowing what in the hell a Blackhawk was, let alone whether or not they ever existed.

Now some people might say that I don't know what it's like since I'm not a native American, and I can't possibly know what it feels like to see my heritage exploited. These same people ignore the fact that as an Italian, I've spent my entire life seeing Italians in movies portrayed as nothing but members of the mob.

When I meet somebody and they hear my last name, I'm inevitably going to get the "Are you in the mafia?"

Does this bother me? No. Just like it doesn't bother any of my Irish friends that Notre Dame calls it's sports team the Fighting Irish, perpetuating the stereotype that all Irish people do is drink and fight. (Actually, that's not a stereotype. That's 100% true except they also eat a lot of corned beef and hash in between the two.)

The truth is that sports teams are just entertainment sources for people, they're not the moral compass of our society. Anybody who thinks otherwise isn't somebody you should be listening to.

Foul Balls

Bustin' Caps At Kams - I wrote about this at FanHouse last night, but I'm going to write about it here as well because I can. Yesterday it was announced that the Illini had suspended freshman linebacker Erique Robertson indefinitely for violating team rules.

That's all we got at first, but then later in the day Robertson appeared in court, and we all found out exactly what he'd done.

University of Illinois football player Erique Robertson has pleaded not guilty to felony charges for allegedly firing a gun at a Champaign bar.

The 19-year-old freshman is charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of weapons. Both are felonies.

Champaign police spokeswoman Rene Dunn said Robertson was arrested about 1:45 a.m. Sunday in front of Ellusions, a local bar. No one was injured.

I have no idea why Robertson brought the gun to the bar, and no idea why he fired the thing. What I want to know is where the hell is Ellusions? It sure as hell wasn't there when I lived in Champaign, and I don't remember seeing it anytime I've visited since then. Is it a townie bar?

No, wait, it can't be a townie bar. They wouldn't let a 19-year old into a townie bar, and everybody has a gun.

Any U. of I. students want to fill me in in the comments?

Gilbert Gives Leitch Two Thumbs Up - I got my copy of Leitch's "God Save the Fan" last Thursday, and I was finished reading it by Saturday. I don't tell you this to impress you with my reading skills (admittedly it goes over great with the ladies) I only say it so when I tell you it's a good book, you know I've actually read the whole thing.

But hey, if you don't want to take my word for it, take Gilbert Arenas'. From Gil's blog,

Have you seen the new book that came out, God Save the Fan? Will Leitch came out with the book. Thank you Will Leitch! Got to give a shout out to Will Leitch and Deadspin for coming out with the book God Save the Fan. I’m just going to tell you guys to go get the book, because I’m in Chapter 2. I mean, the title might be a little hard for some of you to read, especially since me and LeBron James are best friends. It’s about me and LeBron and it’s somewhere along the lines of “Why Gilbert is Better for the Game than LeBron” … it’s somewhere along those lines. I don’t want Cleveland fans to get mad at me, I didn’t write the book, I just read it. It’s kind of funny because me and him have been best friends over the five years since he’s been in this league. I was just grateful being mentioned with him. When I’m done playing and after all is said and done and he’s compared in Jordan likeness, I’m going to show my kids the book and be like, “Look at this here. Y’all see this, kids? Told you I was somebody. Y’all thought I was playing.” LeBron and I are really friends though, the whole free throw thing in the playoffs was just trash talking.

I know what you're thinking, and I'm shocked as well. I had no idea athletes could read either. Kinda makes me want to watch what I say around here.

Michael Wilbon Had A Heart Attack - When I sat down to watch Pardon The Interruption yesterday, like I do every day, I was pissed when I saw that Michael Wilbon wasn't on the show. Instead he was replaced by J.A. Adande, and I told myself "At least it's not Dan Le Batard."

Tony Kornheiser explained Wilbon's absence saying he was under the weather and had some minor chest pains. Turns out, Willy Buns had a heart attack.

Michael Wilbon acclaimed longtime columnist at the Washington Post and Pardon the Interruption (PTI) co-host suffered a minor heart attack this morning. It was reported that at 3 a.m. he complained of chest pains to his wife who took him to the hospital. Doctors found minor blockage in his heart and performed an angioplasty, which successfully removed the blockage.

Though he is weary he is expected to be back at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona tomorrow.

Get better, Wilbon. And lay off those sticky buns.

Are The Blackhawks About To Matter Again?

I have to make a bit of a confession. I've been keeping a secret from all of you, and I just can't do it anymore.

I've been watching the Blackhawks this season and, this is hard to admit, I'm enjoying it. Whether it's the fact I've only just recently entered the world of hi-def television, or whether it's because they're actually playing well, I'm watching hockey again.

I'm not back in full blown hockey fan mode like I used to be or anything, but I'm at least paying attention.

I wasn't going to say anything about it this early though. I talked to Panger about writing about the Blackhawks over the weekend, but I decided to hold off on it originally. Yes, they're playing well but it's still way too early in the season to get excited.

Though the two rookies, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, are two very good reasons to be excited about the Blackhawks future. Kane is leading the team in points, and Toews has scored a point in every game he's played, including insane goals like this one.

See what I mean? There's actually talent on the team now.

Still, I'm not ready to write the "Blackhawks are for real" post just yet. The only reason I even bring them up today is because it looks like the team has finally decided to join us in the 1980's, and televise home games.

In his first major move with the Blackhawks, Rocky Wirtz is trying to do what fans long have asked for: televise the team's home games.

In a Monday memo, Wirtz told employees that Blackhawks representatives met with Comcast SportsNet executives last week about getting some home games on the air during the current season.

"It's important to understand that CSN's current schedule was developed well over a year ago, so fitting the Hawks into that schedule can't be done overnight," wrote Wirtz, who succeeded his late father, William Wirtz, as head of the family's $1.3 billion business empire earlier this month. "But it can be done and ... we are convinced it is the appropriate next step to re-energizing Chicago hockey fans and creating new fans."

A source within Wirtz Corp. says up to a half-dozen home games may be broadcast this season, the majority of them coming by the end of this year. The first game most likely will be Nov. 11 against the Detroit Red Wings.

It's happening! Dear God, it's actually happening!

This is the best thing to happen to the Hawks since Bill Wirtz died! And it's only happening because he died! Bill Wirtz is a hero.

Obviously the most important thing about all of this is that right now is the perfect time for the Blackhawks to finally grab this city's attention again. Putting the home games on television will help the team pick up more support, but it wouldn't work on it's own.

Whether they're on television or not, if the Blackhawks suck, nobody's going to watch. Believe me though when I tell you that this Blackhawks team doesn't suck.

I can't remember the last time I saw a Blackhawks team with so much talent. Keep in mind, they've gotten off to their current start without their leading scorer from last season, Martin Havlat.

I'm not asking all of you to get on the Blackhawks bandwagon just yet, or to start embracing hockey and filling the United Center, I'm just giving you a fair warning. You may want to start paying attention to this team again, I don't think you'll be sorry if you do.

Bill Wirtz Is Dead

The Blackhawks are in the middle of their preseason schedule right now, and as they get ready to start another season, it will be the first Blackhawks season since 1966 that Bill Wirtz wasn't running things.

Wirtz died earlier today at the age of 77.

In an announcement on the team Web site, the Blackhawks said Wirtz died at Evanston Hospital after battling cancer.

The family, led by Arthur Wirtz, purchased the Chicago Blackhawks in 1954. In 1966, William Wirtz became team president.

Wirtz was chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Hockey League for 18 years and helped negotiate the merger of the NHL and the World Hockey Association in the late 1970's.

Now I am most definitely an asshole at times, but I'm not going to make fun of Bill Wirtz. The man has a wife, children, and grandchildren who aren't happy to see him go. I didn't like Wirtz, I don't think any Blackhawks fan did, but I'm going to show him more respect than he ever showed me.

Still, that doesn't mean I'm heartbroken here.

Honestly, this could be the best news for Blackhawks fans that they've had in a long time. I've no idea who is going to take the team over, but whoever it is, maybe they'll realize that showing Blackhawks games on television in Chicago will actually help get people to the United Center. Not keep them away.

The thing Bill Wirtz never understood as time went on was that with so many options for sports fans these days, if they couldn't see the product, they didn't even know the product existed.

The Blackhawks haven't mattered in this city in a long time, which is sad because they used to be huge, but now the team has a chance to try and get our attention back. Winning would be nice, but then again, this is Chicago. We'd been rooting for the Cubs, Bears, and White Sox for years without getting a title. We like losers too, just as long as the losers make us feel as though they like us back.

I hope whoever takes over the Blackhawks now realizes this, because somewhere, deep inside me, I miss hockey.

Your Bi-Annual Blackhawks Update

Hey, did you know the NHL had its draft in Columbus, Ohio last night?

Did you know that the Blackhawks had the first pick in the draft?

Neither did I.

Well, it seems like all that losing and sucking finally paid off because the Hawks did have the number one pick and they used it to draft some high school kid I never heard of.

His name is Patrick Kane.

Kane, a 5-foot-9, 160-pound right winger, is a native of Buffalo, N.Y., who scored 62 goals and had 83 assists in 58 games last season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Kane, rated the No. 2 skater in North America by the NHL Central Scouting Service, is expected to give the Blackhawks, who were 31-42-9 a year ago, a creative scorer and deft puck-handler.

That's according to ESPN, but what the hell do they know about hockey? They don't even show highlights on SportsCenter anymore. And since I'm not exactly as informed as I used to be, I know when I need help.

That's why I turned to Eric McErlain.

Eric not only writes for the NHL Fanhouse, but is also an NHL columnist for NBC Sports, and finds the time to keep his own hockey blog Off Wing Opinion.

In other words, if you ever need to know anything about hockey, Eric is the man you want to ask. So I did. Here's what Eric had to say about your newest Chicago Blackhawk.

Kane is a heck of an offensive talent, and clearly the best in this draft.

Played great at the latest World Juniors Tournament, but comes with some caveats: Needs to work on his play in the defensive zone, and some are worried that he's not willing to pay the price to be able to score at the NHL level as he's had some problems with bigger and physical wingers.

That being said, he's got an incredible shot. He's a pure goal scorer,and it won't be long before you see him in Chicago.

Well, it wouldn't be a long time until we saw him in Chicago if Bill Wirtz actually let us watch him play in Chicago.

Still, I hope that Kane turns out to be a great player for the Hawks. I know I don't really follow hockey anymore, but there's a part of me that wants to. Maybe Kane will be the player that finally helps me fall back in love with the sport. If not, I'll always have the Ice Girls!

Somebody Won A Trophy

Before I even get started with this post, I feel it's important to let you know that I did not watch a single second of the NHL playoffs this season. In fact, I think I only watched about 30 seconds of the NHL this season all together.

That being said, I'm told that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks won the Stanley Cup last night when they beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 to win the series in five games.

Good for them. It's a truly touching story when a team named after a team in a movie that wins a championship, can win a championship for themselves. Though it would have been a lot sweeter if Emilio Estevez and Joshua Jackson could have skated around the ice holding the cup.

I think they earned that right.

Being A Goalie Takes A Lot Of Hard Work

If you read this site often enough, you're well aware of the fact that I'm not exactly the biggest of hockey fans on the planet. I just don't watch it anymore.

In fact, the only exposure I get to the sport these days is reading the NHL Fanhouse. It's just that good. An example of their brilliant work is the following video they found of The Office's Steve Carell showing us all how he honed his amazing goalie skills.

Snoop Is Down With Hockey

This video made the rounds yesterday, but since I was having so much trouble with the computer, I never had a chance to post it.

The only question I have is how high was Snoop? I'd have to be high to watch a hockey game right now, so you know Snoop was.

(From the authority on all things YouTube, We Are The Postmen)

Barbaro Hates Hockey

There's a special circle of hell awaiting the blaspheming Sabres and Rangers.

Hockey Players Are Stupid, Ugly, and Hate Women

I've generally lived my entire life by a code. Hot chicks get to do whatever they want, wherever they want. It's a time-tested tactic to use when trying to get them to sleep with me.

And when that doesn't work, I just show them how super sexy I can be.*

The New York Rangers though, live life by a different, stupider code.

During commercial breaks, teams of three Ice Girls clean loose ice known as "snow" in the goal and the blue-painted goaltender's crease in front of the goal line. But Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist declined to move and used his stick to whack the squeegee Kelli Higgins, 23, was using to push the snow into a pile during the first TV timeout, knocking the butt end of the squeegee stick into her stomach.

"I said 'Excuse me' maybe two or three times," Higgins said Wednesday. "He didn't move and didn't say anything, so I gave up and went around him. "The tip of my squeegee kind of hit the tip of his stick. I don't know if he thought I did that on purpose or whatever, but he took a big windup and slashed the squeegee pretty good. It startled me a little bit. It didn't feel great, but I wouldn't say I was injured or in a ton of pain. I was shocked."

It didn't end there, either. Another Ice Girl, Chanel Benson, claims one of the Rangers spat on her as she left the ice.

I didn't even know Pacman Jones played hockey!

Rangers beat writer Steve Zipay questioned whether or not the Ice Girls should be on the rink in the first place.

[I]t raises the question of why trios of bare-midriffed young ladies are swirling around to perform a job efficiently handled without fanfare by rink personnel in many arenas. Yes, at some arenas and at the Coliseum, male fans ogle the girls in what passes for "entertainment" during TV timeouts. Confession: I'm usually typing during timeouts so I don't even notice. So I'll ask: Should the "Ice girls" even be dressed up and shoved out for display in the lion's den?

That's the dumbest God damned question I've ever heard. Regular readers here at The Balls know how I feel on this situation, but in case you're new here I'll answer again. Hell yes, they belong on the ice! As I already said, hot chicks should be allowed to do whatever the hell they want, when they want! What don't you understand here, Steve?

I also took the time to ask all hockey fans if they thought the girls should be on the ice.

Both said yes.

*I get them reeeeeeeally drunk

(via the new NHL Fanhouse )