Chicago is sports crazy. It hosts top class sports 2 or 3 times per week, all year round. During the summer it is baseball; the Cubs at Wrigley Field and also the White Sox who play on the south side at the Guaranteed Rate Field. However when autumn arrives the scene changes to basketball, ice hockey and football.
The United Center is a multipurpose arena that is home to both the Chicago Bulls of the NBA and the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL. It seats around 20000 fans and nearly all games sell out. Apart from sports it hosts concerts as well. During my time in Chicago the arena not only hosted games for the Bulls and the Blackhawks but also concerts by Phil Collins and Elton John.
I saw the Bulls play the Detroit Pistons. It was a close game that the Pistons edged 118-116. All the players were really fast and evasive. Until you see a game yourself you might not appreciate how physical basketball is. I can assure you that if one of those guys bumped into you, you would definitely know about it.
A few days later I saw the Blackhawks. Once again the arena was packed but the atmosphere was very different. The Blackhawks played the New York Rangers. Chicago versus New York makes for a spicy contest. The game is very fast and very, very physical. There are lots of collisions and from time to time some biff. This provokes and excites the crowd to be loud and raucous. Blackhawks won the contest 4-1.
I was lucky to have a prime seat, right behind the Rangers interchange bench. When you are close to the play you don’t just see the hits you hear them as well. It was an education for me to sit next to Nick, an avid fan of the Blackhawks. He kept me informed about the game whilst he tested the safety glass that separated us from the Rangers bench.
It was a great night’s entertainment. I loved it.
At the game I met Stan and Tom. Stan is the bearded gentleman on the left and his buddy Tom is on his right. They are big fans of the Blackhawks. Stan had recently visited family in Leeds so I had a good chat with him. He told me that he visited a pub in Leeds city centre that had a fountain inside. He could not remember the name of the pub so if anybody has any suggestions please let me know.
Gordon's Gubbins. 