Remember, just one week ago how deflating it felt to be a Blackhawks fan after that Friday debacle against the Red Wings followed up by the Sunday loss to the Blues? Remember how important that seemed, how much time those hockey-related thoughts dominated your mind?
I promise that was only one week ago, although it probably feels like a decade given the inexplicable events unfolding in the real world.
Even the Blackhawks’ last game, played just five days ago, feels like ancient history: a 6-2 thumping of the Sharks at the United Center that was as thrilling as it was baffling because of how good this season’s Blackhawks team can look juxtaposed with how bad it’s looked in other instances.
None of that matters anymore, though, does it?
Not now, it doesn’t.
But sports are still part of our DNA. Like many of you, I’m still giving passing thoughts to what the Blackhawks could look like in upcoming seasons if everything goes right. I’m still excited to see what the future holds for rookies like Adam Boqvist and Kirby Dach, who’ve each shown flashes of the talent that made them top-10 selections in the past two NHL drafts, respectively. I’ve been able to kill some time in this sports-less world by imagining what a resumed season or abbreviated Stanley Cup Playoffs could look like.
But the majority of us can’t spend as much time on those thoughts anymore, can we? I’d believe most of us are adapting to this new way of life that has been forced upon us by an external force that cares not for our desire for live sports. Our minds are going to be consumed with things far away from 1901 W. Madison St. as we figure out how to move ahead in the upcoming weeks, how to socially distance from people we love to be around and how the hell we’re going to get some damn toilet paper.
In the present time, though, sports are a luxury we can no longer afford, so they must go away for the time being. And while sports are gone from our lives, my biggest hope is we realize we’re all on the same team here, with “we” being the entire human race. There are always things that put us on different “teams.” It starts with trivial things like sports but the stakes seem to go up when things like politics, religions or nationalities divvy up our allegiances. But that should stop for a while, because we are all on the same team now, with “we” being the human race in a battle against this worldwide pandemic.
When sports do come back — because they will; believe that — hopefully we’re all a little more grateful to have them and a little less hostile toward each other, a little less likely to send unnecessary threats on Twitter because someone has a slightly different viewpoint than us.
As for this corner of the internet, we’ll be doing our best to keep the lights on. It probably won’t be anything too serious, given the uncertain nature we’re all facing at the moment. But we’d like to do something, anything to bring as much “normal” to be a daily life that will be severely lacking that trait for the upcoming days, weeks and months.
Thank you to everyone who frequents this website and we’ll work to provide as much levity to your lives as we can as long as it remains appropriate. And we welcome all suggestions.