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NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

G

GoBucky36

On, Wisconsin!!!!
Im kind of struggling with my NHL fandom. I recently got back into hockey a few years ago and latched onto the Blackhawks (before they won the cup) because they are the closest team to where I lived at the time (grew up about 30 miles south of Madison).
Ive kind of always struggled with cheering against Chicago teams during most of the year and then cheering for a Chicago team during hockey season.
Lately, Ive thought maybe Id start cheering for the Nashville Predators because of their ties to Wisconsin with the Milwaukee Admirals.
My fiance thinks Im crazy and that theres nothing wrong with cheering for a Chicago team considering that Wisconsin doesnt have an NHL team (shes not from Wisconsin and doesnt exactly understand the issues that we have with Chicagoans).
So, what do you guys think: am I totally stupid for thinking about switching to the Predators because they have an AHL affiliate in Milwaukee and because, "dollar Bill" Wirtz cost Milwaukee a chance at having an NHL team (told the league that people in Milwaukee were Blackhawk fans, so a team would never work there) or am I just making waaaay too much out of cheering for a Chicago team.
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

GoBucky36 said:
...or am I just making waaaay too much out of cheering for a Chicago team.
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Yes, you are.

Granted, I grew up a Hawks/Packers/Badgers/Brewers fan, so I've had a lot of time to sort all of this out, but it works just fine for me.

Oftentimes, I see the other fans on TV or at the games and I really can't identify with them. But I'm a fan of the team, not the city, state or other fans.
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

Not to mention the former owner of the Blackhawks is the reason the NHL doesn't have a team in Wisconsin.

Go with the Blue Jackets. Or maybe the Jets. Nobody likes a frontrunner.
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

I say Preds. But that's just my anti-Hawks speak. ;) :D

Any players from college that you could follow in the pros? Being an Admirals fan would make rooting for the Preds easy. Or the Wild or Jets are on the upswing.

And, while I'm certainly one of the first to beat the "you're jumping on the bandwagon" drums every time I hear someone talking about the 'hawks, they are a team that finally put it together after decades of a penny pinching tight a** owner who 1) invested in the Blues just to have a "local" rival during the expansion years from the Original Six and 2) co**blocked the Blues from moving to Milwaukee because he didn't want to lose his "fanbase."

A good chance to test drive a few teams if you want. I had friends who got me hooked on the NHL during the Wings 97 and 98 runs, but I spent the next two or so years trying to root for the Wild, Preds, even the Thrashers, before settling as a Wings fan (even watching those other teams, I'd find myself watching the Wings).
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

johnnypohlfan said:
Too bad there's not a hockey team where you live now.
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The Blue Jackets? Ugh, no thanks. Since I moved to Columbus a year ago, Ive met more than enough idiot Browns, Reds and Buckeye fans to make it perfectly clear to me that Id never want to cheer for any Ohio teams.
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

Gurtholfin said:
If he can't stomach rooting for a Chicago team, the Wild would give him explosive diarrhea.
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Yeah, thats not gonna happen either. I couldnt even imagine wearing a Wild jersey or cheering for them. It would just make me feel so dirty.
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

Brenthoven said:
It's quite simple:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020227

Edit: "Loyalties" is what you are looking for.
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Thats actually quite an entertaining read. I did just kind of randomly pick the Hawks. I told myself that they were the logical choice because they were the closest to where I was living at the time but I have no love for the city of Chicago and the fact that Wirtz blocked Milwaukee from getting an NHL team really sours my opinion of the Blackhawks.
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
I'm biased because I grew up in Minnesota, but I don't know how you could argue that Chicago is not worse than Minnesota. It just doesn't compute.
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Seriously?


The Gophers and (some of... most of...) their fans (when they're acting as fans).

The Vikings.


There is no college rival from Illinois and especially not Chicago. Minnesota is a rival in every college sport that we share.

While I despise the Bears, they aren't the Packers biggest rival anymore and haven't been since the early 90s.


My all-encompassing hatred of the Gophers, Vikings and North Stars makes it very hard for Chicago to even register in my mind anymore when it comes to sports hate.

I'm really only referring to sports - not the people, states or cities even though most Cubs fans make me want to grab something sharp that I could swing.
 
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Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

Wait a minute...

EODS, are you a Badger fan and a Viking fan?
 
Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

Gurtholfin said:
Wait a minute...

EODS, are you a Badger fan and a Viking fan?
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No. What are you, high? :)

But aside from the Gophers, what does Minnesota have that's more loathsome to a Wisconsin sports fan that doesn't have a worse equivalent in Chicago? Back in the AL days, Brewers fans always hated the White Sox more than the Twins. And current Brewers fans can't ****ing stand the Cubs (or their fans). I personally don't take a Packer fan seriously when they say that they hate the Vikings more than they hate the Bears, even if most of us respect Bears fans more than we can ever respect Vikings fans.

Plus, when you look at how much more similar Minnesota is to Wisconsin, culturally speaking, than Illinois is... in my book it's a no-brainer. Illinois sucks.
 
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Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
No. What are you, high? :)

But aside from the Gophers, what does Minnesota have that's more loathsome to a Wisconsin sports fan that doesn't have a worse equivalent in Chicago? Back in the AL days, Brewers fans always hated the White Sox more than the Twins. And current Brewers fans can't ****ing stand the Cubs (or their fans). I personally don't take a Packer fan seriously when they say that they hate the Vikings more than they hate the Bears, even if most of us respect Bears fans more than we can ever respect Vikings fans.

Plus, when you look at how much more similar Minnesota is to Wisconsin, culturally speaking, than Illinois is... in my book it's a no-brainer. Illinois sucks.
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First off, you have a lot of contradictions in there.

Second, historically the Bears are our biggest rival. In the 80s, most definitely so. A Packers season was a success if we just beat the Bears even once.

Since the early 90s? What have the Bears done? Lose to us at home in an NFC title game?

As for the Vikings, I can rattle off any number of things. TJ Rubley, MCMahon beating us in the Dome, the horrors of the Dome, Moss's coming out party, the home playoff loss/mooning, Favre going there and coming back and owning us... and that's just off the top of my head.

During that span it's pretty much been us and them for the division title every year.


With the Cubs, it's a push. They got us early on and we've been better since.

Don't even get me started on the Gophers.


Now if you're talking the people and not the teams, I agree whole-heartedly. Cubs fans could quite possibly be worse than Gopher hockey fans. FIBs in general are different than us in many cultural ways and Minnesotans are essentially the same.

If you're talking the landscape and not the teams, again... Illinois is a barren hell hole and Minnesota is almost as nice as Wisconsin and has almost as many lakes (:p).

As far as the cities themselves, I love both.


Illinois sucks, but the Vikings suck harder (and swallow).



PS I remember the White Sox rivalry quite well. My first 20 or so MLB games were going up to old Comisky to see the Crew play the Sox. Every Harold Baines HR set off a fireworks display.... UGH!
 
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Re: NHL: Who is a Wisco boy to cheer for?

Gurtholfin said:
If he can't stomach rooting for a Chicago team, the Wild would give him explosive diarrhea.
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I agree 100000000%.

Less the Wild (and Hawks if they had a former UW player), I want all teams with former UW players to succeed. I actively root for the Rangers. I latched on to them during the Mike Richter era have never let go. Mc D and D Step are studs. Plus when I played "Blades of Steel" on the old Nintendo, I was always the Rangers, I liked their patriotic colors (I wish it still worked, but mine died). I also root for the Sharks, gotta love the Polish Prince (and Burish).
 
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