Blackhawks are Chicago's No. 1 spectator sport; Wrigley stinks

I don't consider it an accident that when Versus just put the Blackhawks on their 2009-10 schedule, six of the eight NHL games to be shown in North America will take place at the United Center. Versus will also show the Hawks' season opener against Florida Oct. 2 in Finland.
Even from Helsinki, the stands are more likely to be filled with Blackhawks jerseys than Panthers jerseys. Wherever they go, the Blackhawks are a name brand. The Florida Panthers are nobodies--even in Florida.
What TV wants is noise. The volume lift on commercials will prove that. No one in the NHL is more equipped to pump up the volume than the Blackhawks fans at United Center.
Maybe in the days of Michael Jordan, the Bulls could have been considered for this debate. Not currently. The White Sox? Not a chance, even when they are good.
Crowd identification and crowd loyalty in terms of how it looks and plays on TV from Chicago is a fight between the Cubs and the Blackhawks.
Even when the Blackhawks degenerated into a farce during the darkest days of Bill Wirtz's rule, they didn't lose their core. That's a smaller nucleus than the Cubs have, even when they are awful, but nonetheless just as essential to how the team is viewed by outsiders.
Versus can't get enough of the Blackhawks now after the team made just five national appearances on TV last regular season: two on NBC, three on Versus.
Rehabbing Marian Hossa (shoulder surgery) is expected to miss the first three United Center games on Versus: Oct. 12 against Calgary, Oct. 26 against Minnesota and Nov. 9 against Los Angeles. He might be back for the next home game on Versus--Dec. 1 against Columbus.
Versus made sure to get two games between the Wild and Blackhawks, figuring Martin Havlat might have something interesting to say both times.
While there will be storylines such as Hossa and Havlat, the main selling point for Versus remains the fans at United Center. As long as the Blackhawks cooperate and give their fans something to scream about, everybody will be happy.
It should be said, as well, that United Center has made a strong transition from Chicago Stadium into an arena that could have been too big for its britches and a cold space, but has morphed into a pretty nice place to watch hockey, basketball, a concert or a rampaging elephant.
The Stadium will always have its defenders, because its cozy confines are unmatched by its successor. United Center, however, has developed a comfortable, updated style all its own.
As someone who has attended games at Wrigley Field since the 1960s, I stand by my position that the old has to be replaced by the new. You may have loved your grandmother, too, but would you want to keep her in the living room when she began to smell rank?
Wrigley Field has seen better days that no facelift can ever fix. Don't you think if you'd lost as much in one house as the Cubs have, you might consider moving or rebuilding?
Wallow in history, if you want, but Cubs fans still come out smelling like garbage.
So I contend that Blackhawks fans actually have it better than Cubs fans. They can watch games in a more state-of-the-art facility than Cubs fans, who need to be drunk to ignore their decrepit surroundings.
Using the United Center as the edge, I think that makes the Blackhawks the No. 1 spectator sport in Chicago. Their fans can choose to be drunk just to enjoy the show.
And when the Blackhawks have a chance to be added to four more NBC Games of the Week in the second half of the season, I believe they'll go 4-for-4.
In part, of course, because they have a competitive, watchable team. But in part, as well, due to Blackhawks crowds. They couldn't do it without you. Don't ever forget that.
You are the music that makes Versus and NBC hunger for the sound.