UMFan83

LOL...and it began...

If you ever wanted to start one, WAKA Kickball is probably where you'd want to start. They do a lot of the organizing for you supposedly. ok enough derailing LETS GO HAWKS!

I know I was watching the Hawks earlier than this, but the youngest Hawk memory I can pinpoint was watching the 95 WCF as well. Specifically game 4, which was back and forth and the Hawks starved off elimination for a game. I also remember watching Chelios score in OT to sweep the Canucks in (i think 1997). I remember that Avs series too, that was annoying

No [expletive]? I was going to make fun of you but quickly realized I'm jealous. It sounds dorky but its actually a lot of fun. I was in a league with all hipsters (nothing against you if you are a hipster) and none of them could catch or field and couldnt kick the ball out of the infield, so I switched to Chicago Kickball with a buddy of mine and its much more competitive, but not so competitive that it's not fun. And then afterwards the bar that sponsors us gives us $2 drinks and free food all night. Thursday mornings are among my least productive each week.

You play kickball every week. The Blackhawks never gone for a 3-0 lead in the SCF in your lifetime. True..the tease is that I think I can do both. I always think I can do both. I say I have a legit 50% chance of making it home after the game without hearing the score. Once I get to that point I can fastforward through the commercials and intermission until I catch up, but I won't be able to be on NSBB or any other Hawks forums during the game.

It's not worse, it's just....odd. You went from a Hawks fan to a Wings fan to a Hawks fan? Is that even possible? Did you take fandom tips from that cardslesson guy? To each his own though

I'll be on a plane for game 6, out of the country for game 7. Poor planning.

I have a kickball game tonight at 7:15. I look forward to these games all week. I do have the ability to DVR the game, but when I've tried that in the past I've never ever been able to withstand either hearing the score of the game or giving in and looking it up. I was assuming it was gonig to be rained out all day, but now apparently the games are on...This is going to be tough.

It's disconcerting that appears as if at least Larry, if not both him and LeBron, appear to be under the impression that MJ owns the Bulls. Yeah, I left that part out mostly because it confused me. The transcript must have missed something, because there's no way LeBron thinks that MJ owns the Bulls. If so, Wade were quickly set him straight.

I think the main thing to be somewhat excited about is that he doesn't at all sound like he's committed to Cleveland, and he also seems like at this point he really has no idea which way he wants to go.

Yeah, that one raised my eyebrow a bit. Even the angry fans who want everyone to believe they know something secret that nobody else does -- I can't believe they're going for Sopel jerseys. Yeah because those people still hate Brent Sopel. They'll admit he has significant value on the PK, but he makes too much money to suck as much as he does full strength.

That's kind of how I am. I would publically like to say I am a 2.5 (inbetween a 1 and a 5). But if you put a gun to my head, I would have to admit I leaned 1. I grew up watching hockey. I used to like hockey more than baseball. I watched every Hawks playoff game in the early to mid-90's. As I've mentioned here before I moved to NH in 1999, and as I moved from a teenager to adult, I had to reconnect with all my Chicago teams at one point, learning how to follow them from far away. I never quite reconnected with the Hawks. If you asked me the day after a game whether the Hawks won or lost yesterday (or tied) I could probably tell you. If you asked me in September what moves the Hawks made in the offseason, I could probably give you a player or two off the top of my head. If you asked me what the Hawks lines were, I wouldn't know (Except the ABC Line, everyone knew Arnason/Bell/Calder). Sadly, I drifted away from the Hawks as they crept into irrelevence. I moved back to Chicago and found out the Hawks didn't exist anymore. I went to 2 games total between 2004-2008, and one was free. But this team really got me back to hockey as a whole. If the Hawks sucked next year, I'd still be on board. If Bill Wirtz rose from the grave and took back the team, well I'd have to think about it. But I rediscovered my childhood love for hockey that had died over the years. I still watched my college team (UNH), the Stanley Cup, and the Olympics so it's not like I was clueless about hockey until 2 years ago, but I wasn't a fan. I watched as many games as I could this postseason. I loooooooooove hockey beyond the Hawks.

Every time I predict the Hawks lose badly, they surprise and win (and sometimes by a lot). I just have this feeling we see the Hawks A game tonight, and we win 4-2. This team on the road doesn't scare me. They are the most adaptable team I've ever seen. We yell at the Bears because they never make any damn adjustments. This Hawks teams sniffs out a strategy and makes adjustments on the fly. They can win at home, on the road, fast paced hockey, grind it out hockey, they can handle all types of forechecks, they can play a trapping style, they can open it up, they can play aggressive hockey, they can play conservative hockey, they can play for speed and finesse, they can play physical, they can play with the lead, they can come from behind. They can win because of their forwards, they can win because of their defense, they can win because of their goalie. They do everything. Not to say that they can't be beaten. While I'm predicting a win here, a loss wouldn't shock me at all, and if they did come out and lose, it wouldn't change my impression of them. There are two teams involved in this competition, and there are too many little breaks and lucky bounces that can occur. The Flyers have proved themselves a formidable foe, and their confidence is justified. They can beat this team. They honestly can. But they can't beat this team when the Hawks are playing their "A" game. Maybe they know this deep down...maybe they don't. But it's very likely they will find that out before the end of the series.

Would anyone trade Grabow for Gregg upfront if they were the Cubs GM and it was offered? I am not sure, but I think Gregg is only signed for this year so I'd probably do it. What I don't get is....most reasonable baseball men would agree that stuff like ERA and WHIP and SV/SV% and W-L are extremely variable statistics, even more so for relievers that pitch 80 innings or less. So if that is the case, why do people keep giving people like Gregg shots, when they have maybe 1.5 halfway decent seasons (on the surface). They fail for 3-4 years in a row and the next year another team gives them a NRI, and if they pitch ok in Spring they feel so tempted to keep that player over a rookie because of that experience factor. I just wonder if half of the mediocre relievers in the league over the age of 30 just disappeared randomly from the face of the earth and were replaced by that team's top pen arms in the minors, if the league's bullpen ERAs would change at all, up or down.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE FUTURE!?! Did a cat leave tomorrow's newspaper at your doorstep this morning? (Early Edition reference)

Blah. We've been fine without him, but I would have liked to see him out there for his physical presence. I was going to say I would like to see him play some time in the series so he can get some SCF ice time too, but I forgot he has played in a SCF before, so while it's definitely a big deal for him to play, its not like he's missing a once in a lifetime opportunity.

No one realizes that the real curse was the curse of Ty Conklin, which was snapped because the Blues didn't make the SCF this year, thus allowing Hossa to win his championship. Hossa was just an innocent bystander that gained all the noteriety.

Hockey season's almost over, So you better get ready for a new Cup owner Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Hawks are gonna win today! They're singing... Go Hawks Go! Go Hawks Go! Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Hawks are gonna win today! Go Hawks Go! Go Hawks Go! Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Hawks are gonna win today! They got the power, they got the speed, To be the best in the whole damn league, Well this is the year and the Hawks are real, So head to the UC to show 'em how we feel We're singing now... Go Hawks Go! Go Hawks Go! Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Hawks are gonna win today! Go Hawks Go! Go Hawks Go! Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Hawks are gonna win today! If you have Comcast, no need for curses, You can catch it all on some channel called "Versus" So scream through the anthem with gusto and swagger But save some voice for 'Chelsea Dagger" You're singing now... Go Hawks Go! Go Hawks Go! Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Hawks are gonna win today! Go Hawks Go! Go Hawks Go! Hey Chicago, whaddya say? The Hawks are gonna win today! Yeah, slow day at work....

It's funny how many times we've been on the winning side of close games lately. Like we've won 7 in a row, but only 2 of those really were somewhat comfortable wins (Game 6 vs. Vancouver, Game 2 vs. San Jose). The other 5 games included 4 one goal wins, and the other one was a two goal win only because of a final minute empty net goal.) We've won 7 in a row, but our goal differential is only +12. I think part of that might be a little luck on our side because you need a little luck when you are constantly playing tight games and coming out on top every time, but a lot of that is just because a team that does a lot of little things slightly better than the opponents. The Hawks ability to clamp down on a small lead in the 3rd period is really amazing. They didn't look great yesterday, but some of the other 3rd periods we just completely took a lot of the drama out of the game. The Hawks are a team that has the ability to turn a 3 period game into essentially a 2 period game.

Yes. It's well-known around the league that he can't skate at all anymore, but he keeps getting high-profile games. on the bright side I am almost positive I read that he's retiring after the playoffs

Hope all the NBA fans have enjoyed the 5 day layoff of no basketball. I almost forgot they still had another series to play.

2-1 series. Honestly, I'm really interested to see how much more onesided they can get away with.

Not just calling you out, but everyone with that line of thinking. I've heard too much of that in the last 24 hours. In a perfect world, the Hawks sweep the Flyers and win it on Friday. We're all Cubs fans here. Do I really need to say anything else? But in a perfect world, losing is not an option. They will win in this perfect world and kujay thinks it would be perfect to win at home. In a perfect world, the Hawks play Game 4 at home :) But yeah, I don't care where they win it. As long as they do. It would be nice to see them at home, but I'd rather them win by virtue of a sweep. I learned after 2003 to never cheer for a scenario where your team loses a precious playoff game. Not that I was really doing that, but I wasn't offended by the sentiment that many people had.

For some reason, despite me calling him a douche and whatever else I said earlier, I kind of like Pronger. I certainly don't like facing him, and I'm not a fan of cheapshotting any of my players, so I guess I don't like that part of his game. But some of the psychological tactics he uses to get into people's minds are awesome. He's a guy that seems like everything he says on the ice and to the media is calculated.