Behold My Monkey!

Monkeys = Funny

Monkeys performing karate = Funnier

Bush Is A Pussy

An article from Forbes this week questions the findings of the Levitt Report, but Gary Bettman has problems with the accuracy of the findings. As the season hangs in the balance, Canadian hockey fans continue to side with the owners and the idea of a salary cap.

If the American Hockey League is merely the little brother of the National Hockey League, then what becomes of the AAA affiliates while the supposed pros are in the midst of a work stoppage?

While many veteran skaters have found work overseas in European leagues, the AHL has been happy to showcase the young talents they had been developing for their big-league counterparts. An attendance bump certainly wouldn’t hurt either. USA Today had reported in an October 12, 2004 article that the Wolves’ season ticket requests had doubled this season, and had already sold 150,000 tickets. Their total attendance last year was the third-highest in the AHL.

One veteran whose name has been thrown around for possible time on the ice in Chicago is Chris Chelios. While participating in his bobsledding expedition this week, it has been rumored that he may be in a Wolves uniform for November 24 when Chicago hosts the Houston Aeros.

The Wolves are off to a slow start this season and haven’t had a home game in three weeks. Three of the team’s four wins have come at the Allstate Arena, so hopes are high when they return to action in Rosemont on Saturday to play the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.

There is a growing sense that minor league hockey in the Midwest is expanding, raising hopes of rivalries and attendance figures. Des Moines will be getting an AHL team next season as an affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, and Peoria looks to be poised to welcome skaters from Worcester (that’s pronounced “WUSS-TER,” if I remember correctly). One report even talked about Omaha seeing hockey action again. Of course not every market is safe, and fans of the 2004 Calder Cup Champion Milwaukee Admirals may need to start supporting their team a little more before it’s too late.

Take a second look at your next Grilled Cheese – you could be rich!

As "Relentless" As Ever

I know what this guy said way back when (and look forward to seeing the footage of him at the Old Vic Theatre), but it's nice to know somebody else wonders what he'd be saying if he were still alive today.

Fever Pitch

Alison True
c/o Chicago Reader, Inc.
11 East Illinois Street
Chicago, IL 60611


Dear Mrs. True:

With the current lockout of the National Hockey League, it appears that there will be no Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 85 years. Of course, in this town - would anyone really care? The Chicago Blackhawks haven't won a playoff series since 1996, and have made only one playoff appearance in the last six years.

Winning hockey in Chicago seems all but a distant memory. Unless you talk to some of the people around Rosemont, Illinois.

The Chicago Wolves debuted in 1994 as part of the International Hockey League. In 1998 and 2000, they were the Turner Cup Champions. After switching over to the American Hockey League in 2002, the Wolves captured the Calder Cup in a dramatic 4-3 double-overtime victory in front of the second-largest crowd in AHL playoff history.

Jumping on the bandwagon of a winning team is nothing new, but could hockey-deprived Blackhawk fans suddenly begin gravitating to Rosemont to fullfill their need to see the puck this season?

While local businesses still cite travelers and concert attendance as a bulk of their business, some Wolves fans are already seeing changes. There's more season ticketholders this year. Some people who weren't always around in years past are claiming to have been there since the beginning. There seems to be an increase in the number of people who - as one fan put it - "come to enjoy the concessions rather than the game."

How has the attitude at the Allstate Arena changed this year? Is the NHL's work stoppage going to spill over to the AHL? Fans seem to be waiting for January, the time of season they say usually sees an increased following as the push for the playoffs begins. If there is indeed no Stanley Cup in a town not recently accustomed to post-season hockey at the United Center, could this be the year that the Chicago Wolves become a household name?

I've talked to residents, Wolves' season ticketholders, and some local businesses in the Rosemont area. The reaction is mixed. While some would enjoy the thought of becoming Chicago's premeir hockey team, others are growing to question the loyalty of these supposed "newfound" Wolves fans. Should the AHL playoffs go through Rosemont again this season, how intense could the feeling in the crowd be this year?

I intend to talk with more residents, season ticketholders, businesses, and even some of the Wolves' front office staff all the way up to the January rush for the playoffs. I think the thoughts of Rosemont-area Wolves' fans on their team's season and their town's heightened profile would fit well in your publication's tradition of bringing a more intimate view to Chicago's suburban communities.

I look forward to continuing my research and interviews for this piece, as well as hearing any thought you may have on possible publication.

Thank you for your time,

Derek Strum
1203 South 6th Street
St. Charles, Illinois 60174

Let Every Vote Count

Thanks to David Madlener's website, I was able to find that Rosemont is the 86th district of the Leyden precinct. Madlener says Rosemont had a 63% turnout for November 2.

How the people of Rosemont voted differs a little from the rest of Leyden, according to the Cook County Election Department's website. In the race for the presidency of the U.S., 15,808 (53.62%) of the 29,483 Leyden voters cast their ballots for John Kerry. 13,450 (45.62%) voted for George W. Bush and 225 (0.76%) opted for Badnarik. Compare that with Rosemont, where Bush pulled in 120 (54.55%) of the 220 votes cast there. Kerry got 94 (42.73%) votes and Badnarik actually won over six people (2.73%).

The race for U.S. Senate was not quite as interesting. Overall in Leyden, Barack Obama took 19,949 (70.33%) of the 28,363 ballots cast. Alan Keyes scored 7,321 (25.81%) votes and Jerry Kohn got five more votes than Albert J. Franzen; 549 (1.94%) for Kohn and 544 (1.92%) for Franzen. In Rosemont, Obama's margin of victory was not as wide. The Democrat took in 137 (64.93%) votes, while Keyes got 69 (32.70%). Again, Jerry Kohn edged out Albert J. Franzen for third place, albeit by one vote this time. Three people (1.42%) voted for Kohn and two (0.95%) for Franzen.

In the race for U.S. Congress (9th), a majority of Rosemont voters went with Republican Kurt J. Eckhardt, who narrowly lost to Janice D. Shakowsky. Overall, the Leyden township (which included precincts 12, 23, 38, 74, 76, 79, and 91 as well) cast 1,239 (50.65%) of their 2,446 votes for Shakowsky, while 1,207 (49.35%) liked Eckhardt. In Rosemont, Eckhardt took 123 (59.71%) of the 206 votes, with Shakowsky gettin 83 (40.29%) votes.

Not Again

I don't know about you, but this didn't make any of my pain/anger subside.

Hungry Like The Wolves

I've been instructed to focus more of this blog's angle on the Chicago Wolves and the wonderful village of Rosemont. The town has a population of around 4,000, considering itself "a top meeting/convention/tradeshow and entertainment center" that hosts an average 50,000 visitors a day. Only 2.5 square miles, Rosemont is 75% commercial/industrial and 25% residential.

Of course, Rosemont has been bogged down by allegations related to criminal activity in the village, but according to a release from the village website on November 2, 2004, a detailed investigation in regard to the state of Illinois' 10th casino license cleared the city and its mayor, Donald E. Stephens, of any connection to organized crime. The investigation was conducted by a former FBI agent and two former U.S. attorneys. The report "conclusively refutes" Attorney General Lisa Madigan's contention that Stephens influenced the sale of Emerald Casino stock.

The FEC contribution search provided some interesting results. Wolves Chairman of the Board/Governor, Donald R. Levin, and Vice Chairman, William "Buddy" Meyers, both seem to favor Democratic contributions. Levin contributed $2,000 to Obama for Illinois and Meyers gave $1,000 to John Kerry for President Inc. The results were confirmed by their business ties - Levin founded D.R.L. Enterprises and Meyers is the principal in the law firm of Meyers, Alexander, & Kosner.

Now, back to that mayor of Rosemont. He seems to be a generous guy. Over the past five years, Stephens has contributed $29,660 for everybody from Black America's Political Action Committee to Bush for President Inc.

In searching around on Lexis Nexis, I was able to dig up a couple stories about the Wolves' hopes to capitalize on the NHL lockout.

Crain's Chicago Business reported on September 27, 2004 about the Wolves using a season ticket promotion to try and attract broken-hearted fans of the Blackhawks. The Wolves marketing offered fans a chance to reseve season tickets for a deposit of $11 per seat. The deposit would be fully refundable if the Hawks played this season, but seeing as the NHL All-Star Game has been officially scrapped, I wouldn't get my hopes too high.

The article notes that most upper-deck Wolves tickets cost $13, while the Hawks charge from $25 to $40. The money is an issue to fans, as a January 14, 2001 article from the Chicago Sun-Times points out. Without a playoff appearance since 1997, many Blackhawk fans became upset with ticket prices that rose but a hockey team who's victories did not. The article cites one fan who had been a season ticket holder for the Blackhawks for six years when his mezzanine-level seats that had cost $17 six years earlier now cost $75. He claimed to be a Wolves' season ticket holder ever since.

The same article noted that the average ticket to a Hawks game cost $46 whereas the average price of a Wolves' ticket was only $14. Another interesting point from the articel was that the Wolves draw over 2,000 more than their league average, while the Blackhawks are 2,000 less than the league average.

Finally, there are no words to eat this week because I've got other stuff that I'm still choking on. I hope the next four years are not as long as the last four. *sigh*