You and I love our hockey. We’re excited about the Chicago Blackhawks playoff game tonight. However, one must separate the product on the ice from the corporate suits managing it. The team is great; they’re kicking butt. The front office?
Well, they’re a condescending bunch of curmudgeons.
The old men at the top of the Blackhawks food chain screwed over two media members that were very close to them in Susannah Collins and Josh Mora. They screwed over a whole boatload of media in 2009 by kicking them out of the press box when the team got good. Why?
Here’s a great quote from ABC 7’s Mark Giangreco explaining what the Blackhawks, and also most high revenue generating pro sports teams do.
It came while he delivered his acceptance speech for the Ring Lardner award, the Heisman Trophy of journalists.
“I think with leagues and teams controlling their product to a point where they have their own television studios, their own cameras, their own reporters, their own websites, pumping out video- a lot of it is propaganda. I think it’s our duty to take a few shots across the bow just to keep ‘em honest.”
“And I’ve had a good time doing it,” he added.
And the Blackhawks Media and Public Relations are anything but honest. They’re COMPLETELY FULL OF IT.
Remember the fire sale after the Stanley Cup run? You should have seen their press releases when Antti Niemi, Adam Burish, Kris Ver Steeg etc. got shipped out of town. It was unintentional comedy. The press release should have been “Burish traded to xyz” or “Goaltender Niemi shipped to…..”
Instead we got “Blackhawks acquire 765th round draft choice from Toronto” or “Blackhawks acquire some slapdick you’ve never heard of”
And these press releases were written about the exact same transaction! The exact same trade.
Their media release emails were totally worthless, because under the John McDonough regime this organization is all lies. Especially when it comes to sex, and selling sex.
So let’s get this all straight:
Susannah Collins gets fired for so-called “racy” videos she made four years ago? Which I watched. They’re not really SFW but they’re not exactly NSFW soft core porn either. They’re really not a big deal. And the Blackhawks fire Susannah Collins over the “sex” in place of “success” flub.
OMG! SHE SAID SEX ON THE AIR!!!! SOMEBODY COVER MY PURITAN EARS!!!!!
So Susannah is canned for either saying the word sex on air, or for videos she made four years ago that weren’t Puritanical enough for the Blackhawks.
Yet………
…..Patrick Kane is photographed shirtless, passed out drunk, and wearing a shirt that reads in Spanish: “Two fives equal one ten” with a picture of the mediocre looking women in the shirtless limo pic above. So he’s getting wasted and wearing a shirt ADVERTISING that he had a threesome? Got it.
…..the second person in the shoot-the-puck (the most sophisticated and cleverly named promotion ever) EVERY NIGHT is a bimbo in high heels, tight jeans and a low cut top. And the cameras make sure to capture her bending over to…well, yeah. I got it.
….they have the Hooters waitresses on skates zipping around all the time. The Ice Crew girls in their really short skirts and bare midriffs. That’s fine. Got it.
The Blackhawks are displaying numerous double standards all over the place. Some of these situations are even sexist. Maybe the most offensive is their absurd hypocrisy on selling sex and sexiness.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. He’s also an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
Banks has appeared on Comcast SportsNet and the History Channel, as well as Clear Channel, ESPN and CBS radio all over the world. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@PaulMBanks)