Rocky Wirtz interview in The Athletic

zack54attack

Bears
Staff member
Donator
CCS Hall of Fame '19
Joined:
Apr 16, 2010
Posts:
18,635
Liked Posts:
7,648
Location:
Forest Park
My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Fire
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
  1. North Carolina Tar Heels
Some interesting stuff:

Wirtz isn’t on the same page as those fans. Asked about his confidence level in the trio, Wirtz replied, “I think they’re all good.”

Does he envision all three returning next season?

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Wirtz said. “There’s not going to be any changes in the front office.”

Wirtz reiterated that when he was asked about a rumored Bowman contract extension.

“I’ll let John (McDonough) get into all the details,” Wirtz said of Bowman’s contract. “But there’s not going to be any changes, so let’s put that away.”

Full story: https://theathletic.com/1685282/202...-provides-some-clarity/?source=shared-article
 

zack54attack

Bears
Staff member
Donator
CCS Hall of Fame '19
Joined:
Apr 16, 2010
Posts:
18,635
Liked Posts:
7,648
Location:
Forest Park
My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Fire
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
  1. North Carolina Tar Heels
Yep. Not really a shocker.
 

Diehardfan

Well-known member
Joined:
Jun 10, 2010
Posts:
9,234
Liked Posts:
6,641
Location:
Western Burbs
My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
Must be something about being a UC tenant that fogs owner's brains about their front office......
 

hawkinmontreal

Well-known member
Joined:
Oct 13, 2019
Posts:
10,715
Liked Posts:
1,815
Location:
Montreal
My favorite teams
  1. Oakland Athletics
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
  1. Duke Blue Devils
Rocky is out to lunch, how he cannot see the three of these clowns, Bowman, JC and McDo are doing nothing to Improve this team is beyond comprehension.
 

Diehardfan

Well-known member
Joined:
Jun 10, 2010
Posts:
9,234
Liked Posts:
6,641
Location:
Western Burbs
My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
Rocky is out to lunch, how he cannot see the three of these clowns, Bowman, JC and McDo are doing nothing to Improve this team is beyond comprehension.

Say what you want about Mac.....Rocky hired him to build up what at the time was deemed the "worst franchise in all of sports". Under his watch, the Hawks are now one of the top franchises in the NHL with a long streak of sold out games. He did his job....Rocky will always be in his debt. My guess is he only leaves when he wants to leave.
 

Spunky Porkstacker

CCS Donator
Donator
Joined:
Jun 6, 2010
Posts:
15,741
Liked Posts:
7,452
Location:
NW Burbs
Say what you want about Mac.....Rocky hired him to build up what at the time was deemed the "worst franchise in all of sports". Under his watch, the Hawks are now one of the top franchises in the NHL with a long streak of sold out games. He did his job....Rocky will always be in his debt. My guess is he only leaves when he wants to leave.
If the core of the Cup winning team wasn't in place McDick is just another suit, those players were the reason ticket sales went viral not McD. Yes he was very good at the business side of things, but when you have such a hot commodity/product like that is finding corporate sponsors in CHI a challenge?
 
Last edited:

Granada

Well-known member
Joined:
Oct 14, 2019
Posts:
11,439
Liked Posts:
2,751
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the only way this organization will see real change is when fans stop showing up for games. As long they are selling out or close to selling out every game, they will have no reason to change their front office, because at the end of the day, Rocky is just like every other GM on the planet: his bottom line is profit. Yeah, I was just like everyone else who praised him for the changes he made once he took over for Dollar Bill, but then again, those changes (televising home games, Foley, rewarding and retaining star players) were no-brainers. We will really see what kind of owner Rocky is now, and if this interview is any indication, we are already seeing it.
 

Diehardfan

Well-known member
Joined:
Jun 10, 2010
Posts:
9,234
Liked Posts:
6,641
Location:
Western Burbs
My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
If the core of the Cup winning team wasn't in place McDick is just another suit, those players were the reason ticket sales went viral not McD. Yes he was very good at the business side of things, but when you have such a hot commodity/product like that is finding corporate sponsors in CHI a challenge?

Players? That was a bonus. In 2007, he walked into a fuckfest of a team that had no more than 79 pts for 4 straight seasons. The first thing he did was talk Rocky into televising all games.....something that was taboo for the Wirtz family. He called the games "3 hour advertisements of their product". Even got some games on free over the air WGN-TV as well....no small feat given the shape the franchise was in. Toews and Kane came along and he marketed the hell out of them and all right there for fans to see at home on TV.....uptick in season sales was right around the corner. I know he's never been a hockey guy which is probably a good thing when you look at how a long time hockey guy named Bob Pulford left the franchise is disarray. What kind of corporate sponsors do you think they had when they were getting crowds of 5,000 fans?

Let me tell you story about that era......I was watching another awful Hawks road loss and this contest came on called "On the Glass" where if you win you get two tickets on the glass. I'm thinking, there can't be many dumbasses other than me watching this shit, so I entered.....and won. My wife had to work gamenight and none of my buddies wanted to go.....I ended up thrashing the tickets. I never heard a word from the Hawks or anybody about it.....if Mac was there, it would've been a big deal. Probably would have been interviewed on the telecast.
 
Last edited:

Granada

Well-known member
Joined:
Oct 14, 2019
Posts:
11,439
Liked Posts:
2,751
Players? That was a bonus. In 2007, he walked into a fuckfest of a team that had no more than 79 pts for 4 straight seasons. The first thing he did was talk Rocky into televising all games.....something that was taboo for the Wirtz family. He called the games "3 hour avertisements of their product". Even got some games on free over the air WGN-TV as well....no small feat given the shape the franchise was in. Toews and Kane came along and he marketed the hell out of them and all right there for fans to see at home on TV.....uptick in season sales was right around the corner. I know he's never been a hockey guy which is probably a good thing when you look at how a long time hockey guy named Bob Pulford left the franchise is disarray. What kind of corporate sponsors do you think they had when they were getting crowds of 5,000 fans?

Let me tell you story about that era......I was watching another awful Hawks road loss and this contest came on called "On the Glass" where if you win you get two tickets on the glass. I'm thinking, there can't be many dumbasses other than me watching this shit, so I entered.....and won. My wife had to work gamenight and none of my buddies wanted to go.....I ended up thrashing the tickets. I never heard a word from the Hawks or anybody about it.....if Mac was there, it would've been a big deal. Probably would have been interviewed on the telecast.

Kind of off-topic but damn, I would kill for on-the-glass tickets, even back then. The closest I ever sat for a game was about 4 rows away from the glass, West end -- got tickets from a family member who got them (easily) from his company (because no one wanted them). This had to be around the same time -- maybe 2007, 2008 at the latest. Wis was still on the team; they played against Colorado. Wis scored a PP goal from the point; fairly certain Hawks won. I can remember being surprised at the anthem of that game because even though it was nowhere near capacity, it was the first long time in a long time where it was actually loud again.

Anyways, always wanted to see a game from the glass, never have. You hear mixed things of course (if you're at one end, it's obviously difficult to see the action on the other end, etc.).
 

Diehardfan

Well-known member
Joined:
Jun 10, 2010
Posts:
9,234
Liked Posts:
6,641
Location:
Western Burbs
My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
Kind of off-topic but damn, I would kill for on-the-glass tickets, even back then. The closest I ever sat for a game was about 4 rows away from the glass, West end -- got tickets from a family member who got them (easily) from his company (because no one wanted them). This had to be around the same time -- maybe 2007, 2008 at the latest. Wis was still on the team; they played against Colorado. Wis scored a PP goal from the point; fairly certain Hawks won. I can remember being surprised at the anthem of that game because even though it was nowhere near capacity, it was the first long time in a long time where it was actually loud again.

Anyways, always wanted to see a game from the glass, never have. You hear mixed things of course (if you're at one end, it's obviously difficult to see the action on the other end, etc.).

Can't speak for the UC but at the Chicago Stadium, glass seats weren't that great....mostly because of the glass itself. They were all scratched and looking through it was similar to looking through a fog....made things look a bit distorted. My favorite seats will always be the first row of the first balcony around the blueline. Only had those once at the Stadium but had those seats a few times at the UC thanks to my rich son. LOL
 

MassHavoc

Moderator
Staff member
Joined:
May 14, 2010
Posts:
17,576
Liked Posts:
2,626
This place is as much a ghost town as the UC itself right now.
 

Top