A Thought on Hockey, Bandwagon Jumping and GR

Before you read too far and get mad that I wasted your time, it's a rainy craptastic day here in Chicago and I have absolutely nothing to do...and this post will likely have no relevance to your life...you have been warned.

Ok, I am sitting here in Chicago listening to a spirited discussion about how the 3500 fans that actually went to Blackhawks games when they sucked are somehow better fans and more deserving of a playoff ticket than anybody else and the fact that they cannot afford a playoff ticket is a crime against humanity. They literally hate/begrudge anyone who wasn't standing in an empty stadium during the "dark days". It's quite entertaining

Nevermind that their old owner, Dollar Bill Wirtz (may he rest in peace), for years refused to show home games on TV because that would not be fair to people who bought season tickets. I have never seen a more hated owner.(Think PvP changes for hate level then times that by 10)

But anyway, this whole bandwagon jumping arguement got me thinking. What if GR becomes City of's Stanley Cup run??? What if we go from 3500 die hards to a packed stadium and 900,000 homes tuned in, in Chicago alone, for game 5.

Will we hate/begrudge all the new comers??? Will we say they do not deserve the goodness of our beloved game because they were not here when things were not so good??

Personally I am hoping for a happy go lucky new comer vid like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNn3k1KfOrs

Enjoy.

As a fellow bandwagoneer , I could care less if someone who went while they were bad can't go now . It's called getting better . Sure tons might be back for GR , and I'm sure Virtue and Freedom will be packed to the gills with people , but that means we will just have to go to another server , make a toon and have a good time . Same with Blackhawk fans , if you can't afford to go , watch on TV . Its cheaper , no worries about parking and food or not being able to use the can in peace . Oh and GO HAWKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, the new players will quickly learn to resent and envy our shiny veteran badges no matter how many horror stories we tell of the olden days. At least they probably won't be AE babies - I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts there won't be an AE building in Praetoria.

I'm'a roll me some alts in Praetoria anyway, and I'll be happy to put some newbies on the right track while I'm there.

My hometown team may be down 3-2 in the series, but we've come back from far worse things to get where we are now. Go Flyers!

On the topic, I can't speak for other hockey fans or other players, but I feel that new fans of anything should be welcomed with open arms. For one, we were all newbies once, and it would be hypocritical to persecute someone who is in the same position you were once in. And second, having a lot of fans is a sign, and in some cases like this game the very definition, of success. People do want their favorite show/team/game to be successful, right?

I don't believe we are going to see a huge influx of new players. Some new players, sure, and some returning players, but it's not gonna be CoV all over again. The game has passed its peak.

Should we really be begrudging toward anyone who shows an interest in the game we hold so dear? So what if they only come for GR? At least they showed up, if only for a month or two. That's their money in NC's pocket, and I thought we wanted new player interest to help keep the train rolling. Why should we be bitter toward anyone who wants to play our game? It's not like bandwagoners get to play a better version of game than the diehards, so why even make it an issue?

I don't care who wins the Cup but I might lean towards Philly. Dustin Byfuglen has no class and is a bit of an ****. Can't cheer for that guy. However, Philly has Chris Pronger.... which way to go...hahaha

Also looks like hockey is really gaining momentum again. NBA kinda sucks these days and it is tough watching baseball on most days. I like MLB but man oh man...

I'm perfectly okay with our game's population jumping up by 900k and I would welcome new peeps with open arms.

As far as the Blackhawks go, I'm a longtime suffering fan. I was only 5 years old when they last WON A GAME in the finals (in 1975) and the last time they won the cup was nearly 50 years ago. In the 90s, I watched them make a number of playoff runs with a good, young group of players, only to see those very same players traded away or cast off into free agency because Bill Wirtz didn't want to pay any money for them. I remember Jeremy Roenick, a perennial ALL STAR PLAYER getting traded away for Alexei Zhamov and a sack of magic beans. Then Chris Chelios, Mr. Blackhawk his own bad self, was traded to the Red Wings. THE FREAKING RED WINGS! That was the final straw, and I rebelled with lots of other fans. And you know it's bad when your own Hall of Fame players, like Bobby Hull, have been completely alienated by the franchise.

When Bill Wirtz died, I don't think the body was even cold when his son (and current owner) Rocky Wirtz was on the phone with local TV affiliates. The club has put forth a lot of effort to regain the trust of the fans. Even if the team wasn't in the finals, people would have started coming back to the stadium. Bobby Hull has been seen at multiple games up in the press box high-fiving Rocky after every goal. It's awesome. Bill Wirtz could never have engineered anything like this.

(Please note, by all accounts Bill Wirtz was a nice guy. What he didn't spend on the Blackhawks he spent helping out local charities and such. He just wasn't with the times when it came to modern sports franchises.)