Why I like Hockey better than Basketball

This year's championship teams display perfectly why I enjoy Hockey more than basketball. The Blackhawks won the stanley and although I would rather see Detroit hoist the cup, I have been impressed with how this young team has handled the victory. They won it in Philly and after partying the whole plane ride back to Chicago, the team was out and about Chicago all night. There are numerous accounts of players signing autographs, and letting fans touch the cup. There was even an account of the team captain going out back of a coffee shop to sign kids autographs the next morning. They called into radio shows, and were back out the next night displaying the cup in nightclubs, signing things, letting people drink from the cup and sharing the victory with the city. Not that I want to promote drunken debauchery, but it is just great to see professional athletes fully embrace their fans, and their city. Beyond the players, the owner of the Blackhawks has shone a great love of the game. Rocky Wurtz took over this team when his father passed on and brought about one of the biggest franchise turnabout since Detroit went from the Deadwings of the 70s to the Dynasty of today. The sport of hockey was forgotten in Chicago, the games were not televised and the Redwings fans outnumbered the Blackhawk fans whenever Detroit came here to play (perhaps that is the reason for Chicago's hostility towards Detroit, but I digress). Rocky hired a new PR team, televised the game and brought in a management team that actually new how to win (the name Bowman ring any bells?) All those early draft picks paid off and suddenly Chicago is Blackhawks crazy. Rocky has made a point of saying since he took over that that they owed the fans a championship. Hockey players and owners just seem to be more fan friendly and down to earth. It seems to be one of the last sports that the athletes and owners (if not the commish) realize that without the fans, they don't have a sport.

In contrast, I despise both of the Basketball teams playing for the championship. The Lakers have Kobe, the alleged rapist and mister "Im fouled every time I shoot and I'm too good to play defence" Bryant and Ron Artest, the instigator of the fight at the Palace. A fight that still casts a shadow over Detroit when the guy who started it is still in the league making millions. Can't root for L.A. The Celtics have Rondo, who threw Kirk Hinrich over the scorersw table last year and didn't miss a minute of that game. If Kirk had been a bigger star and whined about it instead of getting up and chest bumping Rondo, he would have been ejected for that game and possibly the next. That entire series against the Bulls, Garnett was out injured, but somehow was healthy enough to shout curses at the bulls from the Celtics bench. I'm all for educating young fans, but swearing and poor sportsmanship are not what we should be teaching them. They also have Rasheed Wallace, who I believe could be blamed for a couple of the Pistons play off exits during his tenure in Detroit. He disappeared against Heat when they won the NBA championship, and his technical fowls in his last season with the Pistons gave up a ton of points, including I believe the series losers. Basketball seems to promote individual achievement and showboating. Look at the biggest star in the game right now. He refuses to shake hands with the winners, won't admit when he has a bad game and now is holding the city of Cleveland hostage with his free agency. But I guess that is what we should expect from "King" James, I mean Jordan is his Idol, and we all heard about his hall of fame induction speach.

The sad thing is, my favorite basketball team ever is despised throughout the league and thought of as dirty. The Bad Boy Pistons of the eighties. Hear me out, I know they fouled a lot, but these guys played as a team. Isiah has proven to have character flaws, but the rest of the team played hard and accepted their roles and won championships without a Jordan, Kobe or Lebron. They did it by playing D and working hard. Its a winning formula that pops out once in a while in basketball, but can be seen in every hockey team that advances beyond the first round of the play-offs.

But thats just the opinion of one meat-head-Hockey-fan, so what do I know.