Archive for May 2010
The Pending Blackhawks Stanley Cup: What it Means to a Fan and to a City
Dustin Byfuglien celebrates a game-winning goal against the Sharks in the Conference Finals
I have a sordid hockey past.
Growing up for a few years outside of Ann Arbor, the sport is very much a part of the culture. The Red Wings are huge everywhere given their two-decade history of success, and people come out in good numbers to watch the University of Michigan. Living in proximity to Detroit and not supporting the Wings is tantamount to living in Nebraska and not supporting the Huskers. Where the Michigan/Michigan St. rivalry divides, Red Wings hockey unites.
Moving to central Illinois made it hard to follow the Wings. Televised coverage was limited to national broadcasts alongside those few games where the Wings battled it out with their division rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, at Joe Lewis Arena.
Still, I loved the game of hockey. I found myself watching the Hawks play other teams besides the Wings, and would discuss these games with a classmate and lifelong Chicago supporter. I gradually became what my childhood mind would have thought impossible two years prior: I became a Blackhawks fan.
I even started hoping they’d beat the Wings.
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Chris Chelios, my all-time favorite Hawk
Not that the Blackhawks teams from my youth (or early adulthood, for that matter) were any good. They weren’t. Some were mediocre. Some were less than mediocre. And from 2003-2007, they were horrible. I mean, really, really horrible. Worst franchise in all of professional sports horrible.
Still, if being a fan of Chicago sports teaches you anything, it’s patience. You suffer in hope that one day, you’ll be rewarded for your faithfulness. In the meantime, you enjoy all the free tickets you’re offered, and take advantage of discount prices for students.
The Blackhawks aren’t the Cubs, the third-most popular team in the league, playing in the historic and beautiful Wrigley Field, with national exposure through WGN. The Hawks play fifth fiddle in this town, behind the Bears, Cubs, Bulls, and White Sox. Unlike the Cubs, when the Hawks are terrible, nobody pays attention to the fact that they are terrible. Prior to the Western Conference Finals this year, nobody talked hockey on Chicago sports radio, which is understandable: nobody was interested.
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Keep it like this all year, every year
But people are interested now, thanks in large part to owner Rocky Wirtz’s dedication toward winning. Blackhawks mania is everywhere in Chicago, and people are starting to take notice of what a great game hockey is.
Some will call it bandwagoning. I suppose it is. But bandwagon fans can only be a good thing for hockey in this city; increased interest will lead to increased expectation, and hopefully we won’t see another Hawks team with 43 losses in a single season. Mainstreaming hockey in Chicago stands to benefit old-time hockey fans the most, since we will no longer feel like our interest is slightly less obscure than those who care about the MLS Chicago Fire. And we’re all but guaranteed a better product on the ice.
So, if you’re in Illinois, hop on the bandwagon. As far as I’m concerned, we’re happy to have you.
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Some will, no doubt, accuse me of counting my chickens before they hatch by claiming victory for the Chicago Blackhawks, and maybe I deserve it. But with a 2-0 lead in the series as of this evening, I feel fairly confident calling this one for the Hawks.
And if I’m wrong, and the heavy underdog Flyers come back to pull things out?
No problem. Chicago sports teaches patience.
For You Mullet Lovers Out There…
For some odd reason, I get a dozen or so hits per day from folks searching for information on mullets. So for all of you mullet hunters out there, this post is for you.
First: “[Patrick] Kane’s mullet is playoff ready,” from the Toronto Sun.
Second, this t-shirt, available for purchase from the NHL store:
Third, a picture of the man’s mullet itself, which he acknowledges as “trashy”:
And finally, what the mullet means for Chicago:
One Week To Go…
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, `I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you you shall go,
and whatever I command you you shall speak.
Be not afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.”
Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”- Jeremiah 1:5-10
The Wrath of Kahn – Robot Chicken Style
Kahn! Kahn! KAAAHHHN!
Some Tom Jones I Can Stand Behind
What Good Am I by Tom Jones by seaninsound
“What Good Am I?” is from Dylan’s 1989 release Oh Mercy. Jones recorded the song for his upcoming album Praise and Blame.
What really impresses me here: Jones seems to understand that the song requires a certain voice, and he nails the phrasing. Dylan’s songs — and everything composed with the actual lyrics in mind (a novel concept, I know) — require a level of emotive commitment in order to convey the subject matter. Jones gets it.
Where Did iBreviary Go?
If you use the Apple iPhone/iPod/iTouch app iBreviary, you’ve likely encountered the following message:
L’applicazione è in fase di aggiornamento e non sarà utilizzabile per circa una settimana. Ci scusiamo per il disagio ma stiamo lavorando per una nuovissima versione, contenente grandi novità!
E’ in arrivo… iBreviaryPRO!
In the likely event that your Italian is as good as my Klingon, this roughly translates to:
The application is being updated and will not be usable for about a week. We apologize for the inconveinience, but we are working on a new version, containing great news! It’s coming… iBreviaryPRO!
Until then, hang in there. As a friend of mine (also a transitional deacon) told me, he’s blown the dust off of his paper copy and is good to go.
Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going
As I posted previously, I’m officially done with seminary.
I say “officially,” because technically, I still have two quick papers to write and hand in before I get the 100% all-clear. Having the degrees – M.Div. and S.T.B. – in hand makes it even more difficult to summon up the motivation to finalize things.
Since January, I’ve been working a parish assignment. An awesome experience all around. Great people, a great pastor, and a great chance to reconnect with parish ministry. A part of me wishes I could simply stay on as a priest.
All good things coming to an end, however, I’m finishing there this weekend. And I’m off to.. off to…
I don’t know where I’m off to, exactly. I’m in a strange situation right now: I don’t technically belong at the seminary, but I’m yet to be assigned parochial vicar to a parish. Until word comes down from on high, my belongings will remain at school. I lack the proper motivation to move once, let alone twice. Best just to know where my junk is headed before I clean the place out.
In my immediate future: the Ordination circuit. First to Chicago, then to a First Mass in Rockford. The week after that, Springfield. Then I believe I’ll be attending my own. And after that, there’s a slight chance I might head out to New York to see the last of my classmates ordained.
It’s a pretty exciting time, but it’s also a time of transition. Pray for all of us who will be ordained in the coming month, that we keep our ears fixed on the One who calls.
My Back Pages
Finally finding a little free time, I managed to update the blog layout. The purpose of the change was to bring the format of the blog out of 2007 and into the newfangled world of 2010.
Ok, you got me: the real purpose was just to dink around with site design, something I like enough to make things look right, but not enough to make things look original.
Comments didn’t disappear. You can find them in each particular post, by clicking the title header.
On My Official Status as a Seminary Graduate
Ah, my friends from the prison, they ask unto me
“How good, how good does it feel to be free?”
And I answer them most mysteriously
“Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?”
- Bob Dylan, “Ballad in Plain D“