Isn't It A Little Early?

by McClure on Nov 19, 2009 10:24 AM CST Comment 33 comments

Normally, the Tribune waits until two rounds deep into the playoffs to have anyone other than Kuc or Rosenbloom try to form a thought on the Blackhawks, but, as many of you noticed during shots of the game on Sunday, David Haugh, normally of the NFL beat, was in McDonough's pressbox. Predictably, here is the multi-part bukkakke party in McDonough's honor.

After Two Years At Blackhawks Helm, John McDonough Still Looking Ahead

John McDonough's Path To Success

10 Steps In Transforming The Blackhawks

Hey David - You've never really been anything but a windsock in the football department, so why should anyone give a shit what you have to say about hockey, particularly in an obvious fluff piece such as this. Look, we know the Bears have a longer week this week, but there's no need to suck this guy off yet again. Just another example of how embarrassing sports writing as a whole is in this town- the third largest market in the country- and why print journalism is dying.

Correction- One facet of print journalism isn't dying, and that's the drunken dick-joke hockey paper facet. -Sam

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WOW

really great piece McClure. “windsock in the football department” is probably what’ll be written on his tombstone

Windy City Hockey

by The Admiral on Nov 19, 2009 10:31 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

The sooner the better.

"Call Detroit, tell dem... BULLSHIT!"

by Hungryhawk on Nov 19, 2009 3:41 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

windsock

I approve of this metaphor.

by cliffkoroll on Nov 19, 2009 10:40 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Must be added to the Chicago Blackhawks Urban Dictionary

by cubs22 on Nov 19, 2009 1:46 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

is it just me

or does the middle link look like he just posted a section of his interview notes? I’d love it if I could half ass my work like that and still get paid.

by runningquicklynowhere on Nov 19, 2009 10:53 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

There is actually a really good reason for that....

At the beginning of September Haugh was promoted to the In the Wake of News column in the sports section. Since then he has gone from a Bears beat writer to a general Chicago sports columnist. I have always found him to be by far the most knowledgable and honest writer the Trib has. I’m a little defensive because the rest of the writers (Rosenbloom and Morrisey) suck so much ass that the sports section is dying.

That said- that was a total fluff piece and Haugh is capable of much better work

by ChargingMajor on Nov 19, 2009 10:54 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I was unaware of his promotion, but I don’t feel that warrants any changes to what I wrote.

www.secondcityhockey.com

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

by McClure on Nov 19, 2009 10:57 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Thats cool

Just pointing out that he isn’t bandwagon jumping on the Hawks, its his job to cover all 5 teams now so there will be more Hawks articles to come. And the part where I disagree about being a “windsock in the football department”- you can tell I was a fan of his work on the Bears

by ChargingMajor on Nov 19, 2009 11:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

His work with the Bears was hit and miss. Occasionally he would have a point, but then he would undermine it with a subsequent column. I seem to remember him going back and forth numerous times with the whole Orton/Grossman thing, hence my labeling him as a windsock.

But I agree with you, he IS capable of a lot better, and that’s why this is particularly infuriating for me, because it was obvious this got written because the Bears weren’t playing and he had good seats, and that completely shatters any credibility he had with me.

www.secondcityhockey.com

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

by McClure on Nov 19, 2009 11:06 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

In the Wake of the News hasn't been worth reading

since Bob Verdi was writing it. And the torch of worthlessness has been passed, I see…For fuck’s sake, I-would-be-writing-a-fashion-column-if-my-parents-were-more-accepting – Skip Bayless, was once writing that piece!

Well, welcome aboard the bandwagon David! First lesson – it’s about the guys on the ice. Try learning something about them at least before writing more drivel about front office types.

"What the hell, let's review it." - Dale Tallon
"They are!" - Pat Foley
"What a farce." - Dale Tallon

by HawkVision on Nov 19, 2009 11:38 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

10 Steps

Great work McClure, even though it is like shooting fish in a barrel. What a pile of tommyrot those 10 steps are. How about the day they drafted Toews or Kane? Havlat’s surgery and finally playing a full season? Rocky taking over? Seabrook and Keith growing into one of the best defensive tandums in the league? Acquiring a puck moving D-man in his prime (no matter what many people think of him now)? The Hawks returning to prominance happened by them getting good, not because of whatever gimmicks McDonough has brought. They were a hot ticket in the late ’80’s and early ’90’s because they were good, they fell off the face of the earth because they were terrible, unlikeable, and had a jag off for an owner. McDonough did not change any of that. All he has done was add a convention and fire the guy that built a good team at an inexplicably odd time.

by 329Fan on Nov 19, 2009 10:54 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Some of what you suggest

like the drafting of Toews and Kane, Havlat’s surgery, etc. happened before McCubGenius came on board.

by Scott13 on Nov 19, 2009 12:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I can’t tell whether i am more angry that the hawks don’t get the coverage they deserve or, when they do get coverage, that it is done so incompetently.

This really only becomes an issue between game days as i just get impatient waiting for the next game.

by SLoop on Nov 19, 2009 10:58 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

July 14, 2009: Dale Tallon is ousted as GM and replaced by Stan Bowman, another sign that sentiment is nice but winning is nicer.

I’m rooting for stan to do a good job and Tallon was not without his faults but that is absolute revisionist history just to be a suck up and keep your precious access to upper management.

seriously, when you’re done giving a knobber to mcdonough, go fuck yourself.

by SLoop on Nov 19, 2009 11:04 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

that quotation is ridiculous

“sentiment is nice but winning is nicer.”

Yeah, Tallon had nothing to do with getting the team to the WCF

"...but the devil lives inside this kid, I swear it. It rises out of him in a mist, this baby-faced defiant wrathful version of Pat Kane, escapes his bodily confines to perform satanic miracles all over the offensive zone. The only thing more fearsome than that assist was the keep-in preceding it. The only thing more unholy than his face is his black magic." GMH

by Illini0509 on Nov 19, 2009 11:31 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Can McDonough go back to the Flubs

This guy is such a snake

Lets Go Hawks!

by CubsBall2202 on Nov 19, 2009 11:13 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Didn’t everyone get over the McDonough wankfest well over a year ago? Part of the fun of the Blackhawks being relevant again was we were actually supposed to be talking about the Blackhawks.

According Twomey

by hawksfan21 on Nov 19, 2009 11:28 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Cheers McClure ("tink")

I won’t read any of the shit in the links, but the last four words of your own piece really made my day. It’s one of the themes I adhere to these days. I can spend an hour on this or any of the other Hawks (for example) blogs and glean a fuck of a lot more up-to-the-minute, insightful, engaging, though-provoking, insider, interactive, and unique perspectives than these old windbag dinosaurs can generally muster in a lifetime of so called journalism.

"Call Detroit, tell dem... BULLSHIT!"

by Hungryhawk on Nov 19, 2009 11:45 AM CST reply actions 1 recs

'windbag dinosaurs'

Love. It. The most accurate description I’ve heard/read. Thank you.

"What the hell, let's review it." - Dale Tallon
"They are!" - Pat Foley
"What a farce." - Dale Tallon

by HawkVision on Nov 19, 2009 11:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Hear Hear !

Well said, hh. (tink)

by K_Dog on Nov 19, 2009 11:56 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Just to clarify...

You learn more spending an hour on this site than you do not reading any of the shit links?? You’re doing it wrong.

by ChargingMajor on Nov 19, 2009 12:09 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

OK, I did it right...

…and read these.

One of McDonough’s “personal tenets”: “Embrace failure. It’s the residue of creativity and innovation.” Succint description of his Cubs experience. The casual fan doesn’t appreciate the creatviity and innovation that went into that failure- thus, they failed to embrace it.

“April 3, 2009: The Hawks beat the Predators to clinch a playoff spot, return to the postseason for the first time since 2002 and begin a memorable trip that didn’t end until losing to the Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals.”

The Hawks began a memorable trip last April! Isn’t this almost the definition of the bandwagon-eye view of things?

“sentiment is nice.” I love all those sentimental draft picks Tallon made.

I felt a bit like I was intruding, as if Haugh wished I would quietly close the door on my way out so as nto to interrupt the fellating.

by cliffkoroll on Nov 19, 2009 12:52 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

OK, I read them...

…and it’s official now – just as all the trustworthy opinions on this blog indicate, the contents of the links is pure shit. I knew it would be.

However, my post was neither an opinion nor a comment on McClure’s links to Haugh’s stellar cock-gagging. I was simply giving blatant praise to the proverbial blog over institutional, ivory tower mainstream media. Specifically, I was commenting on “why print journalism is dying.”

Then I figured, what the hell? I’ll take a page outta ol’ McDonough’s “path success” (wtf? – see what I mean?) and trust in him that “Listening is the most powerful tool.” I listened to Ha… (gag)… Ha… (gag)… Haugh’s content so no-one would accuse me of not being “well read” (success key #13) and frankly I don’t feel very “well read” for it. I feel used, dirty, bored at best, and mostly like I just wasted 10 minutes of my life.

Now back to some real material on SCH ; )…

"Call Detroit, tell dem... BULLSHIT!"

by Hungryhawk on Nov 19, 2009 2:45 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

haha

well done. As I said earlier I totally agree it was a fluff piece

by ChargingMajor on Nov 19, 2009 7:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Such is the price of being "relevant".

by fourstringninja on Nov 19, 2009 12:04 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Fuck it

they should all write about the Hawks all the time. This has been a great interlude from fighting with each other.

by Scott13 on Nov 19, 2009 12:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Predictably, here is the multi-part bukkakke party in McDonough's honor

LOL!

by G8K33P3R on Nov 19, 2009 1:25 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Nemlig McClure

SKÅL

by dkdan on Nov 19, 2009 1:35 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Hey McDonough, Why the long face?

by G8K33P3R on Nov 19, 2009 1:42 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

That is awesome

One of my favorite jokes, coupled with my favorite team, makes the joke even better.

So the original joke could be modified to fit your idea:
John McDonough walks in to a bar, where a horse is the bartender. McDonough sits down, bartender asks “hey buddy, why the long face?”.

by K_Dog on Nov 19, 2009 4:06 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Haugh has admitted publicly that he’s a casual Hawks/hockey fan so I wouldn’t put much stock into anything he’s writing about the Hawks. I’m sure his editor sent him to the UC for a story while the Bears were off that Sunday. McDonough put on his two-faced charm routine and that’s what came out. I wouldn’t put any stock into it. I like Haugh’s technical writing skills (that’s how the BSU Journalism Dept rolls), but after years of reading his ND coverage for the South Bend Trib, I can say that’s his strength…college FB..he’s covered it for years and he played at BSU. A college FB writer in Chicago isn’t necessary so he’s relegated to covering the meh that is the Bears, and then outsourced to the UC to cover a hockey story during a Bears-free weekend. It is what it is, and the Hawks are currently the best team and story in the city.

by Crease Monkey on Nov 19, 2009 3:44 PM CST reply actions 0 recs