No one is happier than I now that the Chicago Blackhawks have won their third Stanley Cup Championship in six seasons, but this was a tough season, tougher for the fans than the two previous Cups in my opinion.
This year’s team has had more inconsistent play; injuries; bad losses than in previous years. It’s been harder to watch them. In 2010, coming off a surprising Western Conference Final appearance, those Blackhawks led the league in giving up the fewest shots on goal; they weren’t the President’s Cup winner (team with the most regular season points), but they were only a couple of points off. They were young, talented and while they had tough series against Nashville and Vancouver, they swept the Sharks in the Conference Final and they were honestly more talented than the Flyers, who were the number 8 seed in the East and only made the playoffs on the final day of the season. We pulled hard for that team because of the 47 year championship draught.
It was apparent that the players had a true Stanley Cup Championship hangover during the 2010-11 season, made even more difficult due to the need to cut payroll be getting rid of almost half of the championship team from the year before. The team suffered another first round loss the next season. After two first round exits, the 2012-2013 season didn’t even start until January 19, 2013 because of the owners’ lockout. These Hawks had gotten their act together, registering a point in an NHL record 24 straight games to begin the shortened season. This team steamrolled to the championship, avoiding only a 3-1 deficit to the Red Wings on the way to a truly titanic final against the Bruins.
Last season, the Hawks were trying to repeat and were only an OT goal in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against he Kings kept them from going to the finals again. All of the pundits picked the Hawks to be strong contenders if not favorites this season, and the team roared out of the gate amassing lots of points in 2014. They struggled in the new year however, posting a decent but not awesome 23-18-4 record. Part of this could be linked to the broken clavicle suffered by Patrick Kane against Florida in February, an injury that was supposed to keep Kane out until the Conference Final at the earliest (and if the team made it that far).
As the season wore down, the Hawks were always within striking distance of the Blues and Predators in the division, but also very close to 4th place Minnesota. Everyone in the division except Minnesota had a bad stretch run – things did not appear favorable.
Kane returned earlier than anyone would have suspected, in the first round of the playoffs, and the Hawks continued the Predators’ woes, knocking them out in 6 games. The Wild continued red hot, blowing out the division champion Blues, but the Hawks swept the Wild in four. (Perhaps the Wild were spent with their tremendous stretch drive just to make the playoffs then beating the Blues?) Injuries on the blueline gave Anaheim a target – hit, hit, and hit the defensemen often and hope that they would wear down. Instead the Hawks won in a decisive game 7, 5-2.
In the first four games of the Finals against Tampa Bay, the Lightning outplayed the Blackhawks most of the time, making a crucial mistake in game 1 in playing prevent to try and hold onto a 1-0 lead for most of the third period. The savvy Hawks scored twice down the stretch and stole the first game. Tampa Bay came out and defeated Chicago in game 2 then came into the United Center and won again. The fans saw doom – they Hawks were going to come up just short.
Injuries to goalie Ben Bishop and a broken wrist on Tyler Johnson both suffered in Game 2 were unknown but guessed at. All of the games were one goal affairs, the closest series in years. After being down 2-1 in games, the Blackhawks played better every game, eking out a win in Game 4, playing better in game 5, and shutting down the Lightning and shutting them out in game 6 to wrap it up.
In many ways, as I’ve said, this was the most difficult championship. Despite the preseason hype, the Hawks were always good, but were so inconsistent; they were considered 7-1 to win it all, behind the Rangers at 5-1 and just above the Blues at 15-2 odds. The Hawks were probably that high because odds makers probably thought they were driven by the 2014 loss, and while the Rangers did win the President’s Cup (which should have made them longer shots since the President’s Cup winner only wins Lord Stanley’s Cup 34% of the time), I still think that New York bias was the only reason that the Rangers were rated that high.
This was Coach Joel Quennville’s best coaching job. Conn Smyth Trophy Winner (Playoff MVP) Duncan Keith solidified his road to the Hall of Fame, where he will join Marion Hossa, Quenneville, and probably Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane when their careers end.
Congratulations boys – I’m just glad I didn’t need the defibrillator.

Sports are supposed build teamwork and sportsmanship. Rules of fair play are important for young people to learn to help navigate the world they live in. Unfortunately, winning seems to be the only thing that is found to be important, and the corporate attitude that anything is fair as long as you win, goes against the foundation of sports.
But no one likes losing; winning feels much better and is much more profitable. We have just come off “Deflate-gate” the deflating of footballs, apparently at the behest of New England Patriots’ QB Tom Brady. Brady has been suspended for the first four games of next season (pending appeal of the suspension in an upcoming hearing), but the Patriots situation pales in comparison to the new case.
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating whether officials within the St. Louis Cardinals organization hacked into a Houston Astros database of player information. The Cardinals were concerned that former front office official Jeff Luhnow, whom the Astros hired as general manager in December 2011, was using a computer network similar to the one they used in St. Louis. They looked into passwords used by Luhnow and other staff members who joined him in Houston to gain entrance into the Astros’ system.
The investigators have reportedly uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials broke into an Astros network that had databases the team had built that included internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports. It’s has not been made public who in the Cardinals organization knew about the hack and whether it was directed by high-ranking officials or was a rogue move by an employee. An investigators’ report stated that subpoenas were served to both the Cardinals and Major League Baseball as part of the investigation. A spokesperson for Commissioner Rob Manfred told the New York Times that baseball “has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database.” (One sports law firm says that it is telling that Major League Baseball is already calling it an “illegal breach” rather than an “alleged illegal breach.” The way this is phrased, it appears that someone broke the law.)
Of course, St. Louis has been one of the model franchises over the past several decades, replacing players with unheralded players who become good if not great players. Despite the turnover which included the defection of Albert Pujols to Anaheim several years ago, the Cardinals are always in the thick of the NL Central chase. They have been considered marvels of scouting and money management, but what if they are cybercriminals?
Cheating is a part of baseball: spitballs are illegal, but Gaylord Perry is in the Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes to hurt people; teams are constantly trying to steal the other team’s signs on the field. In the 1950s and 1960s, reportedly the White Sox knew that Mickey Mantle was allergic to newly mown grass, so when the Yankees came to town, they always cut the grass more frequently. As relatively harmless as these incidents were, perhaps as the money involved got bigger, the scandals became much bigger: gambling and use of performance enhancing drugs have made the earlier incident seem quaint, pedestrian.
If this is true, what else have the Cardinals been doing? One has to ask why hack into the Astros’ systems, since they have been one of the worst teams of the past few years; but this year’s Astros are in first place in the AL West. The question remains, however: have the Cardinals taken advantage of other teams by hacking into their information and databases? The team has always talked about “The Cardinal Way” – being better than the other teams’ front offices. Is “The Cardinals’ Way” better or made easier by stealing more than just signals?
If so, the punishment should be severe.

I do spend a fair amount of time on Facebook reading interesting articles on various topics. Some are funny; some follow my favorite musicians, comedians, sports teams or athletes. It’s fun. Once in a while, however, there is a piece that gets me thinking deeper. This is not one of those times…
But Salon.com posted an article in which the author says that he is going to Hell, and purgatory for him is not going to filled with fire and brimstone or torture for millennia. Hell to the author is being in a windowless room and forced to listen to bad rock bands. Of course, the list is basically an excuse of listing his most hated bands and artists. As a music maven, I am always interested to see what other people like (I admit that when I am in someone new’s house, I look at their CDs or albums or books to get an idea of whet they like).
I could certainly buy into this concept of Hell and so I decided to put together music Hell for me. Before I begin however, let me show you the article’s list and my comments on his picks:

1. Counting Crows – I have never hated this band; in fact I like a lot of their music. That said, an eternity of it would probably drive me insane.
2. Beach Boys – See my comment for Counting Crows.
3. Billy Joel – I have one Billy Joel song on my iPod and that’s enough.
4. Weezer – I like Weezer more than Counting Crows, but a steady stream of it would get tiring.
5. Eric Clapton – Spoiler Warning: see my list.
6. R.E.M. – I am a huge fan of the Athens, Ga. Quartet/trio. Other than the Up and Reveal CDs, I have to strongly disagree with this pick.
7. Oasis – Beatles-lite are ok.
8. Sting – yes, he’s a pretentious, self-important prat, but he’s done enough good music to keep him off this list for me.
9. Creed – they suck, but this pick’s too easy.
10. Pearl Jam – I don’t know why people hate PJ so much? I like them a lot.

So, who would be on my list of music to torment me forever? First, I’m keeping it to the rock genre; again, its too easy to count Justin Beeber and a lot of pop music. Celine Dion and others get off on this exception. Let’s begin in descending order:

10. Red Hot Chili Peppers – I don’t hate this band, I have all of their records, but they are the cotton candy of rock to me. I like their music but as the current album gets more airplay, I quickly tire of them. A millennium of more than “Suck My Kiss” would be Hell indeed.
9. Talking Heads – I used to love this band. In fact, they are one of two bands that I never saw live that I would go out of my way to see if they reformed (The Smiths are the other). This one I blame squarely on WXRT. They have played them to death for decades and have ruined this band’s music for me. I cringe when I hear one of their more popular songs come on.
8. Motley Crue – poseurs singing about sex. They have always bored me. I’ve never seen what their appeal is.
7. Styx – a Chicago staple, their operatic music was always enough to make one vomit.
6. Foreigner – a critic once wrote that he didn’t give a damn is Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm gets laid or not. I couldn’t agree more.
5. Grateful Dead – I respect this band a lot, but the unending 30 minute jams put me into a coma. I worked a couple of Dead shows back in the 1970s and I tried to “get it,” but I never did. It has saved me a lot of money because I have no interest at all in seeing one of the final shows in Chicago and in California.
4. Bryan Adams – since the Indignant Wife is Canadian, it is always an easy to bring up Bryan Adams, the worst import to enter America ever. He is the epitome of boring and monotonous. Fortunately, Canada has given us Arcade Fire, Neil Young and even Rush to counterbalance Adams, Celine Dion, Anne Murray and Gordon Lightfoot.
3. Coldplay – to most people, the mid-tempo arena crap from Chris Martin and company would be Hell personified. Putting them on this list is almost a “gimme” like Creed or Nickleback, but Coldplay’s popularity and occasional good song, and having Gynneth Paltrow as Martin’s ex-wife distinguishes them from the other two horrible bands.
2. Bon Jovi – back when Stevie Ray Vaughn died in the helicopter crash near Alpine Valley Music Theater in Wisconsin, one comic said that life isn’t fair – Stevie Ray Vaughn died and we can’t get Jon Bon Jovi anywhere near a copter pad. That he is from the same state as Bruce Springsteen makes me wish there was a real New Jersey Devil and someone could send it to devour every member of this band.
1. Eric Clapton – I do not mean Cream; not Derek and the Dominoes; not the Yardbirds; just E.C.’s solo output. Never has such a fine musician been proven to be a bad writer and make such horrible choices of songs to cover. Only his pure blues CD – From The Cradle – is good. The rest are horrendous. Cocaine, Lay Down Sally and especially I Shot The Sheriff are three of the worst songs in rock history. A steady dose of Clapton solo music would be one way to get me to commit suicide.

So, those would be my versions of Musical Hell.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This chestnut of a quote is used a lot, but it is particularly relevant to many sports officials and referees. Many officials quietly wield their power, like Sepp Blatter. While we can only imagine the billions of dollars he plays with like Monopoly money, it doesn’t show up on the field, or pitch, or ice.
Ever since I wrote for the Sportswriters, I have railed against on-the-field/court/pitch/ice officials who have an overinflated sense of importance, like people are paying to watch them work. Athletes are the reason people pay to watch sports, not to watch the officials. In the official egotism Hall of Fame are boxing’s “TV” Carlos Padilla, who broke up fighters just so that he could get seen on television; Hockey’s Andy van Hellemond, too many baseball umpires and NBA officials to count. (Note however, that NFL officials have never made this list. I can’t explain why except perhaps for the fact that there are large teams working together which seems to keep egos low.)
I hadn’t heard of any flagrant cases of unbridled ego among officials for awhile; I think the mass firing of baseball umpires years ago plus the monitoring of strike zones electronically had really reduced the egos in that sport, but it appears that rampant egos are still running wild in the NBA. With less than a minute to play in the second quarter of Game 4 of the 2015 NBA Finals, Cleveland Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov tried to plead his case to the referees after getting called for a foul. Referee Joey Crawford had no interest in listening to Mozgov, telling the 7’1″ center to “shut up.”
Now Mozgov has only been a journeyman, playing for the Knicks, Nuggets and now the Cleveland Cavaliers; the refs are clearly deferential to the superstars. Rookies and “average” players can’t be allowed to show up the refs, or they would as Jake O’Donnell once said “show them who’s boss on the floor.”
For a very long time, I have said that this behavior is not acceptable. The players shouldn’t be able to intimidate the officials, nor treat them with disrespect, but the players, especially playing in a league final, are playing for the ultimate goal. Emotions are higher then normal. The players’ eyes are really “on the prize.” Officials and referees and umpires should not be sending messages; invoking their wills or egos; that’s beyond the scope of their duties.
Will the NBA penalize or punish Crawford? I sincerely doubt it. But they should, if for not other reason to remind the officials who puts fannies in seats.

Soccer is, on the face of it, a simple game. All you need are a ball, open space and something to act as a goal: two poles, lines on a wall, anything to distinguish a goal area works. I believe that this is one of the main reasons for the sport’s popularity, especially in impoverished nations (along with tradition). People who have played the sport of course, know that it is anything but simple: the strategy and other things that if you’ve never played, would be lost on you.
I am not a soccer fan; I never hardly played as a kid, but I do appreciate the athleticism of the players of both sexes. Up to now, I think the perception was that road bicycle racing was the most corrupt sport, with Lance Armstrong and others doping so much that they were almost not human beings. It looks now like soccer is the dirtiest sport on the planet.
I don’t know if anyone is following up on it, but there was a report on REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel last year that showed how players are systematically bribed and games fixed. A couple of players were interviewed and they said that they had gotten paid by gamblers and other disreputable figures to throw matches. Then of course we have the explosion that is the FIFA corruption scandal. The repercussions of the indictments and arrests and the resignation of Seth Bettier will take months to be sorted out. Still, the reputation of the sport, which was always rumored to be dirty, is now officially tainted.
There is a common adage that things happen in threes, and in this case, soccer is in the midst of its third scandal. Perhaps the best player in the world (certainly the most famous active soccer start) Barcelona forward Lionel Messi lost a motion to drop charges against himself and his father Jorge that they defrauded Spanish authorities of €4.1 million in unpaid income tax. Now the two will stand trial.
Spanish newspaper El Pais published the following report: “the Barcelona Provincial High Court believes there is evidence that the Argentinean forward ‘benefited’ from a network of companies that allowed him to defraud the Spanish Tax Agency of €4.1 million in income tax, regardless of whether or not he had knowledge of the structures in place.”
Goal.com reported that Jorge “assumed full responsibility when the case began” for allegations he sold his son’s image rights to companies in countries such as Belize and Uruguay. Agreeing to such deals allegedly allowed the pair to sidestep paying tax in Spain.
Three counts of fraud between 2007-09 are set to be investigated. Messi’s defense suggests the 27-year-old has “never devoted a minute of his life to reading, studying or analyzing” the details of companies his father set up when he was still a child, El Pais reported. It seems however, that Messi’s fame almost got him off. El Pais noted that the state attorney was keen to absolve Leo of wrongdoing but that the Tax Agency insisted he be prosecuted alongside his father.
The question is what did Leo know and when did he know it? It seems very similar to the case of Steffi Graf’s father, who was convicted of tax evasion charges when he was managing his daughter’s finances. Peter Graf served time in prison. The main difference is that in the Graf case, his daughter was only in her teens, and a strong case could be made that she really had no idea of what her dad was doing. Messi, was between 19 and 21, so how much did he know? Both athletes are national heroes whose conviction would upset a lot of citizens who consider them national icons.
It will bear watching what happens in this case along with the other scandals.

One of the expansion ideas that has had mixed success for the National Hockey League has been starting or moving franchises in warmer climates. The belief was that hockey fans from the Northern States and Canada that settled in Florida and Arizona would flock to watch the sport.
As I mentioned before, the experiment has had mixed success; Tampa has one a Stanley Cup and is in the Finals again, but in years where the team has not been a serious contender, attendance has declined.
The other Florida franchise: the Panthers, headquartered in Miami, have never been a big draw. This season, the previously moribund team, showed signs of life and made a serious playoff run before time ran out on them. Attendance was boosted, but earlier in the season, embarrassing pictures of nearly empty stands went viral. And, of course, two franchises began in Atlanta and did not survive: the Flames moving to Calgary, and the Thrashers moving to Winnipeg to become the new Winnipeg Jets.
No franchise has been more troubled than the Arizona Coyotes, which began as the original Winnipeg Jets. Despite being coached by Wayne Gretzky who also had a small ownership interest, the Coyotes showed limited success on the ice, which translated into poor attendance. The franchise nearly went bankrupt until it was taken into receivership by the league, which owned and ran the team for three years until new ownership was found.
It appeared that the bad old days were over with the new ownership group that promised to keep the team in the Phoenix area (actually Glendale). Stability appeared assured when the City of Glendale and the Coyotes signed a 15-year, $225 million agreement they reached in July 2013 to play in the Glendale arena. At the time, the move was expected to keep the financially strapped franchise in Arizona for the foreseeable future.
Well, that is now over and the Coyotes don’t know where they’ll play in October. The Glendale City Council voted to terminate its arena lease agreement with the Arizona Coyotes. Apparently, the local officials didn’t like the old agreement. The city council had indicated its willingness to renegotiate the lease, but this week in a 5-2 vote, decided to void the lease.
The Coyotes and NHL are both angry, and of course, out come the lawyers. Coyotes co-owner Anthony LeBlanc issued a statement: “(w)e are disappointed with the city’s decision to violate its obligations under the agreement that was entered into and duly approved only two years ago. “We will exhaust any and all legal remedies against the city of Glendale for this blatant violation of its contractual obligations to us.” The Associated Press reported that the Coyotes plan to sue the city of Glendale for $200 million and will look for a judge to file a temporary restraining order and “injunctive relief.”
Unlike the past when there were few cities who wanted an NHL franchise, the popularity and increased revenue generated by the league has cities clamoring for a team, and if its one that isn’t starting from scratch, so much the better. Expansion into Las Vegas is progressing with a requirement of 10,000 to 15,000 season ticket orders has reportedly been met. Quebec city in Canada has been pushing for a franchise to replace the Nordiques. There has even been talk of a second franchise in the Toronto area based on the large population of hockey mad fans and the nearly 50-year Stanley Cup draught by the Original Six Maple Leafs.
What hasn’t been apparent from what I’ve seen is the reason for the Glendale City Council to go to the “nuclear option?” Were negotiations so stagnated and contentious that they felt the only way to send a message was to void the lease? Of course, a lease is a contract, and while I know nothing of Glendale, Arizona’s finances, most states and municipalities are still hurting from the recent recession. Taking an action that could cost the city $200 million doesn’t seem like a smart move.
Plus, fans in the area are already showing their displeasure. A young woman in a Coyotes’ jersey addressed the City Council and was fairly blunt in calling out the Council on the decision. I have always been of the opinion that if fans are supporting a team, that team should remain where they are. Considering all of the hoops that the NHL made the new Coyotes’ ownership team jump through to buy the team regarding its willingness to remain in Arizona, this is a bizarre move. All of the comments I had seen from Arizona officials was that everyone wanted the Coyotes to stay.
I am always against civic blackmail by professional sports franchises, but a deal is a deal. You want hockey people in Arizona? Then you have to pay for it.

I know that the Stanley Cup Finals have just begun and my beloved Chicago Blackhawks are up one-game-to-none over the Tampa Bay Lightning. As many as six games remain to be played and a champion crowned. Still, pundits are wondering if this run, the third Stanley Cup Final, five conference Championship series appearances in seven years, is soon to be over.
The salary cap, which appears to be about to rise by a paltry $3 million per team and the dual big money contracts to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are supposed to hamper the team back to mediocrity. Some predict a wholesale sell off of talent like the Hawks experienced after the 2010 Stanley Cup. But I don’t see it – some players are going to leave, but the core will remain and there are some solid young players ready to take their place.
First, who’s leaving? Antoine Vermette, acquired from San Jose, was a end of season only situation. Vermette is an unrestricted free agent and will find a solid contract elsewhere. The same can be said for center Brad Richards. After being demoted during the New York Rangers’ run to last season’s Stanley Cup Finals, he signed a one year, $2 million deal. At 34, Richards wants one more big, longer term contract before he retires. He won’t get that in Chicago. Michael Rosival was already headed elsewhere or into retirement before he fractured his ankle in these playoffs; that’s $2.2 million. Kimmo Timonen will retire at the end of the season – that’s a $3.5 million hit gone.
I think that Bryan Bickell will be playing elsewhere next season. He has not been the player he was in the 2013 playoffs; he adds grit and hits, but he doesn’t score enough and he has not caught fire in these playoffs as he did in 2013. A solid player, but at $4 million, an overpaid one; and one has to wonder if there’s a message in Bickell being a healthy scratch for game 7 against Anaheim and game 1 against the Lightning.. Johnny Oduya has been a blue line stalwart for years, but he was too inconsistent and made too many turnovers during the regular season. Agreed, he has been much better in the post season, but at $3.375 million and a UFA; he will not be returning.
So, we have freed up $18.8 million – admittedly, that’s very high because I am counting an entire season hit for Vermette, and Timmonen. But even at half of that let’s say $9 million. Now, it could get painful – if the club needs more money, we have to look at the possibility of trading Patrick Sharp and his $5.9 million cap hit. Besides being the ladies’ favorite because of his good looks, Sharp is still a very good, if streaky, scorer. At 33 however, one has to wonder if Sharp is on the downside of a fine career. I don’t believe that the Blackhawks would trade Marion Hossa, despite being 36 years old. Hossa still does the little things on the back check, on defense, and he remains almost impossible to knock off the puck with one man. But he may not be the scorer he was. However, if Hossa decides to retire, that would be another $5.275 million.
Now to the additions: first, the playoffs may be the beginning of “Teuvo Time” – Teravainen, the young Finnish center tied the score and assisted on the winning goal in game q against the Lightning. He could be the third big star, and he’s more of a center than wing. Most people believe that Richards has just been keeping a seat warm for him. Plus. Brandon Saad deserves and will get a big raise. He’s a restricted free agent, and GM Stan Bowman has said that resigning the forward is the number one priority in the offseason. Marcus Krueger is also a free agent who will be looking for more money. I have to say its 50/50 on Kruger/
The Hawks signed 24-year-old KHL star Artemi Panarin in April. At 24 and with considerable experience, he is expected to be with the big club next season. He has been an All Star in the KHL and reportedly has tremendous hands and nose for the net.
On the blue line, Trevor Van Reimsdyk broke in with the big club at the beginning of the season and only a broken wrist kept him from playing the whole season. Now prepared to play in game 2 of the finals series, barring injury or regression, he will be on the blue line next season. David Rundblad and Kyle Comisky have played big minutes in the playoffs after Rosival got injured. This is their chance to shine.
Both goaltenders: Corey Crawford and Scott Darling are signed for next season. It would be a shame to allow Annti Raata to languish in the minors however. He would be a sold number 2, perhaps number 1 netminder on many clubs. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him traded for draft picks.
I know that most Blackhawk fans are firmly “in the moment” – concentrating on a third Stanley Cup Championship in six seasons, but for every story about the current team, there is another story (in some cases anxiously awaiting) the downfall of the franchise. Remember that Scotty Bowman coached Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings teams that were good for a very long time. Son and Hawks’ GM Stan Bowman learned from his dad and the great Detroit front offices, and they want to make the playoffs for decades, like the Red Wings have done.
I think they can do it. The building blocks are in place.