Friday, April 22, 2011
Posted: 6:58 p.m.
By David Kaplan
CSNChicago.com
Bears player rep Robbie Gould was extremely candid in his comments about the NFL lockout when he spoke to me prior to singing the 7th inning stretch at Wednesday night's Cubs vs.Padres game.
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"Look fans don't buy tickets to see Virginia or Brian McCaskey. They don't buy tickets to see Jerry Jones. They pay to watch Brian Urlacher, Drew Brees and all of the other great players. This lockout is all because of the owner's greed. I'm sorry if that sounds cold but it is the truth. "
On the topic of players missing game checks if the lockout goes into the regular season he was also very frank.
"I have been saving my money for this lockout for three years. We have known it was probably coming and we were advised to save our money. I know a lot of guys who prepared for this and are fine. The guys that didn't know it was coming or plan for it that is their fault," he said.
The Blackhawks force Game Six
When the Hawks trailed 3-0 to the Vancouver Canucks as the week began not many people gave them a chance to make the series competitive. However, after thrashing the Canucks 7-2 at the United Center and then dominating them 5-0 on Thursday evening at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, suddenly the Hawks are back in the series.
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So what changed? First, Vancouver tough guy Raffi Torres took a cheap shot at Brent Seabrook. Second, the Canucks started losing their edge, taking undisciplined penalties and doing a very poor job at helping out their fragile goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Now Luongo has shaved his playoff beard to try to change the direction of the series, which is certainly seeing a huge shift in momentum. Can the Blackhawks come all the way back?
Only time will tell, but you have to believe that the Canucks look at the Hawks like the White Sox do the Minnesota Twins or the Cubs do the Pittsburgh Pirates. Like kryptonite, which they just cant deal with.
The United Center should be a tremendous advantage on Sunday evening. Now lets see if the Blackhawks can take advantage and force a decisive game seven on Tuesday night.
That would prove what many believe: That game sevens in the NHL Playoffs are about the most exciting contests in sports.
David Kaplan is the host of Chicago Tribune Live on Comcast SportsNet. Follow him on Twitter @thekapman.