Paul Sullivan looks at life after McDonough and brings up a sore spot that happened in the final years of Dollar Bill - the firing of Pat Foley.
I can tell you with certainty that the current Bruins radio play by play announcer Judd Sirott has a clause in his contract that he can leave if either the Cubs or Blackhawks play by play job is offered.
Sirott is only the second broadcaster of Bruins games not to have New England roots ( the team has been on radio since their very first game in 1924 ) and Bruins fans have tolerated him but they miss Dave Goucher who took the VGK TV job.
Could Foley be 'retired'?
I am rereading this book and in the end it is all about family.
Column: Chicago Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz is a popular team owner. Will that change after he fired John McDonough, the man who made him?
Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz is the rare owner of a Chicago sports team whose popularity has remained intact in spite of his team’s bout with mediocrity.
Bulls and White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has always had his detractors, even while bringing seven championships to this city over the last three decades. Many Sox fans blamed Reinsdorf for his role as a hawk in the 1994 players strike that canceled the season with his team in first place. And as “The Last Dance” reminds us, he made the worst decision by a Chicago sports executive in history, choosing Bulls general manager Jerry Krause over coach Phil Jackson, which led to Michael Jordan’s departure.
Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts had an easy act to follow when his family bought the team from Tribune Co. in 2009. But Ricketts quickly learned that ending the team’s 108-year championship drought in 2016 didn’t provide him with a lifetime pass from Cubs fans spoiled by the success of the rebuild, and he was booed at the Cubs Convention this year for moving telecasts to a team-owned channel many couldn’t watch.
And as much as everyone respects Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, there has never been any love lost for her two sons who have run the team, Michael and George.
But you seldom hear a discouraging word about Wirtz, and if you do, it’s usually in hushed tones. How can you possibly dislike someone nicknamed “Rocky”?
But after McDonough was abruptly fired as Hawks president without reason Monday, we’ll soon find out whether Rocky’s Teflon image will also bite the dust. After all, McDonough made Wirtz, whether the Hawks chairman cares to admit it or not.
It was McDonough who transformed the Hawks from laughingstock to league power, who brought back iconic players Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito as team ambassadors and who rehired beloved broadcaster Pat Foley after the Hawks had let him go for being too honest about the team.
Before agreeing to become Hawks president, McDonough made it a condition that he would be allowed to rehire Foley. Over the last two seasons, Foley was often the only reason to continue watching games once the snow melted and the playoffs were a mirage.
I can tell you with certainty that the current Bruins radio play by play announcer Judd Sirott has a clause in his contract that he can leave if either the Cubs or Blackhawks play by play job is offered.
Sirott is only the second broadcaster of Bruins games not to have New England roots ( the team has been on radio since their very first game in 1924 ) and Bruins fans have tolerated him but they miss Dave Goucher who took the VGK TV job.
Could Foley be 'retired'?
I am rereading this book and in the end it is all about family.
Column: Chicago Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz is a popular team owner. Will that change after he fired John McDonough, the man who made him?
Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz is the rare owner of a Chicago sports team whose popularity has remained intact in spite of his team’s bout with mediocrity.
Bulls and White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has always had his detractors, even while bringing seven championships to this city over the last three decades. Many Sox fans blamed Reinsdorf for his role as a hawk in the 1994 players strike that canceled the season with his team in first place. And as “The Last Dance” reminds us, he made the worst decision by a Chicago sports executive in history, choosing Bulls general manager Jerry Krause over coach Phil Jackson, which led to Michael Jordan’s departure.
Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts had an easy act to follow when his family bought the team from Tribune Co. in 2009. But Ricketts quickly learned that ending the team’s 108-year championship drought in 2016 didn’t provide him with a lifetime pass from Cubs fans spoiled by the success of the rebuild, and he was booed at the Cubs Convention this year for moving telecasts to a team-owned channel many couldn’t watch.
And as much as everyone respects Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, there has never been any love lost for her two sons who have run the team, Michael and George.
But you seldom hear a discouraging word about Wirtz, and if you do, it’s usually in hushed tones. How can you possibly dislike someone nicknamed “Rocky”?
But after McDonough was abruptly fired as Hawks president without reason Monday, we’ll soon find out whether Rocky’s Teflon image will also bite the dust. After all, McDonough made Wirtz, whether the Hawks chairman cares to admit it or not.
It was McDonough who transformed the Hawks from laughingstock to league power, who brought back iconic players Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito as team ambassadors and who rehired beloved broadcaster Pat Foley after the Hawks had let him go for being too honest about the team.
Before agreeing to become Hawks president, McDonough made it a condition that he would be allowed to rehire Foley. Over the last two seasons, Foley was often the only reason to continue watching games once the snow melted and the playoffs were a mirage.