Kill Bill (Wirtz), Vol. 2

It seems that a majority of Canada's NHL fans (and who's bigger fans of hockey than the Canadians?) are siding with the owners on the current lockout, which makes it all that much harder if you consider yourself a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The player's union has disputed the financial claims of the owners (19 of 30 NHL teams lost a combined $273 million in 2002-2003), saying revenues were under-reported and expenses were over-reported. But the Blackhawks manage to do okay . . . right?

Thanks to the seemingly infinite resources of Columbia's library, I was able to find that Bill Wirtz was a contender for the title of 2003 Turkey of the Year, as named by the Springfield Journal-Register on Novemeber 26, 2003.

Also, the July 2002 Entertainment Law Reporter had said that Mark Weinberg, the author of the Wirtz-bashing "Career Misconduct," was not allowed to sell the book within 1,000 feet of the United Center without a permit. Weinberg alleged the ordinance did not apply to his book, and if it did, it was unconstitutional.

The Sporting News reported on April 9, 2001 that after first-year coach Alpo Suhonen quit because of health problems, Wirtz insisted assistant coach Denis Savard be named the replacement - mostly with the hopes that the new coach's name would fill seats and not necessarily win games.

Crain's Chicago Business did a more lengthy piece on Wirtz and family on April 14, 1997, detailing many of the Wirtz holdings, including 50% of the United Center, many parking lots in the area, and around 100 buildings near the lakefront in Chicago and Evanston. In addition, Wirtz' Judge & Dolph Ltd. sells 54 % of all wine and liquor in Illinois, their Nevada distributorships accounting for about 50% of liquor sales and 30% of wine sales there. The article also said Wirtz has an insurance agency, horse farms in Illinois and Ohio, and is a significant shareholder in many regional banks. The Wirtz Corp. was cited as growing 7% to 10% annually, living off of Arthur M. Wirtz's simple motto: "Buy smart and hold."

As many originally thought/predicted/feared, the once-smaller hockey leagues are eager to eat up the puck-deprived fans of the NHL. Come January (the supposed deadline for a possible shortened-season if the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement has been figured out), hockey fans may give the Calder Cup more recognition than Lord Stanley.

And, once again (sigh), it's time for Derek to "Eat His Words!"

Kill Bill (Wirtz), Vol. 1

As far as utilizing the databases of the Census and such, I wasn't able to dig up anything I found particularly startling. I did manage to find a few "business patterns" for the area around the United Center, which could be broken up by zip code or county, but I'm not sure what you could really conclude from the numbers I found.

The Cook County report for 2001 said there were 23,573 total "Accomodation & Food Services" establishments. That's up from 2000's 23,423 total establishments, but still just lower than 1999's 23,579 establishments in the county. The total number of employees in the county for Accomodation & Food Services in 2001 was 416,554, which is yet another increase from the 406,601 in 2000 and the 405,927 in 1999.

Looking at the same group by ZIP code (60612), I found that there were 759 total establishments within the area. That total is lower than both 2000's 771 and 1999's 762. The number of people employed in these establishments in 2001 was also at a low for the three-year time frame with 33,292 employees compared to 33,666 in 2000 and 33,544 in 1999.

The Verizon site offered a little more help via their yellow pages but, again, nothing much.

The Blackhawks ranked 27th out of the 30 NHL teams in home attendance, which makes one wonder exactly how much local businesses are missing the NHL - especially when it is noted that the Bulls (who also play an equal 41 home games at the U.C.) draw the NBA's third highest average home attendance.

While some of the cheaper eats and drinks around the area like Kentucky Fried Chicken (1606 W. Madison St.) and Church's Fried Chicken (1755 W. Jackson Blvd.) are not as likely to take an Eddy Curry punch to the sack, spots like Billy Goat Inn (1535 W. Madison St.), Moretti's (1645 W. Jackson Blvd.), Cafe Penelope (230 S. Ashland Ave.), and Palace Grill (1408 W. Madison St.) have all benefitted from home games in the past.

With the Bulls' home opener on Friday, it should be interesting to see if the establishments in the area are really all that bothered by the lack of NHL action or if, as long as there's still NBA ball, nobody really misses the biscuit after all.

Oh, and by popular demand - Let's all watch as Derek once again gets to "Eat His Words!"

Take Two

Who’d have guessed? Yeah, a topic change seems in order.

Did you see the terrific seven games for the Stanley Cup last year? Most people didn’t, so would anybody really miss the NHL this year?

More than 25 % of NHL players have decided to head for Europe while there’s rumblings that “replacement” players could become a reality. Don’t let the NHL hear anybody talking that way, though.

The work stoppage has plenty of history and lots to consider. In addition to Europe, could smaller leagues around the country begin to capitalize off the NHL’s troubles?

I would like to cover the current NHL work stoppage, keeping an eye on current (and maybe former) Chicago Blackhawks who may look elsewhere for work. Who is really losing because of this lockout? Can the NHL recover from all the money being lost? Could the Chicago Wolves come away a big winner in all this?

I’d seek out fans of the Wolves and/or the Blackhawks to get personal views on the consequences of the work stoppage. Hockey insiders could offer insight on progress being made during the talks. P.R. reps or the front office for the Wolves could offer insight into how the lockout helps or hurts the Chicago AHL franchise. In addition to seeking out these people, I intend to follow attendance patterns in the smaller leagues, stay up to date on where the marquee NHL players decide to go, and hopefully offer up some kind of conclusion about what the future of hockey holds in the United States.

It appears that what some of the NHL’s players decide to do could get pretty interesting.

We've Got The Beat

While there may be no happier time for me than post-season baseball, the sad reality is that I will have to begin following another sport come November.

That sounds relatively simple, but as a lifelong Chicago Bears fan - Can you really expect me to get enthusiastic about football here this year? Sure, I'll watch every Sunday and cling to some pretty crazy dreams (victories, division title, etc.) with some pretty clipped wings (injuries to Grossman, Urlacher, Brown, etc.) that may amount to . . . five, six wins? Certainly not the playoffs.

It's usually around the time of the NFL playoffs that I regret not following the season's top teams a little more closely, as evidenced last year by the lone player for the NFC Champion Carolina Panthers I had heard of. So this year, I need to get a head start.

Perhaps it was the recent ESPN movie about Pete Rose, or maybe it was the five-part series the network tied in with the film's hype, but I found myself strangely attracted to the thought of gambling on football this season. But on the Bears? C'mon.

The reason for this increased interest in making money off of football has a little something to do with scraping together funds for a plane ticket to a cousin's wedding next year. The reception is a little bit of a haul. And that's not even considering the cost of a date, but I still haven't decided who I want to ask yet.

In marrying these two predicaments, I discovered the team/the beat I'd like to follow: The 2004 Seattle Seahawks.

You see, there's family out there in Washington state (including the groom-to-be). Following this rag-tag group of grid-iron misfits will not only be fun to watch this season (have you seen where they play?), but will allow me to look like some sort of genius when this smaller-market team makes it to the Super Bowl. "I was saying that all season," I'll tell my relatives.

I intend to follow the Seahawks for the remainder of their season and spend most of my time patting myself on the back about how right I was. Or I could end up publicly kicking myself for being far too arrogant right from the get-go. Who knows?

"But, Seattle? In the Super Bowl?"

Listen. Aside from their dominant home record since moving into Qwest Field (undefeated at home last season, longest current home-winning streak in NFC), the Seahawks have one of the strongest defenses in the NFL, allowing only 13 points in their first three games.
Did I mention their division? The NFC West is so weak and pathetic that even Seattle's opponents are conceding it's not their year. Fans in St. Louis, San Francisco, and well, if there are any Arizona Cardinal fans - all are giving their props to the Seahawks.

It's hard to imagine that Seattle couldn't ultimately finish with the best record in the NFC, securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Donovan McWho?
I will keep an eye on key injuries, the team's relations with local media, and preview their next opponent.

If I get the balls to put any money down on this team, I may lighten things up by talking about that, too. Something tells me it might not be in the best interests of my "journalism" angle.