William Wirtz -- They'll lie about ANYBODY who dies these days!!!

[godofthunder9010]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2003906491_digs27.html

NHL
William Wirtz, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, dead at 77: William Wirtz, the longtime owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, died Wednesday at age 77.
In an announcement on the team Web site, the Blackhawks said Wirtz died at Evanston Hospital after battling cancer.
The family, led by Arthur Wirtz, purchased the Chicago Blackhawks in 1954. In 1966, William Wirtz became team president.
Wirtz was chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Hockey League for 18 years and helped negotiate the merger of the NHL and the World Hockey Association in the late 1970s.
"Bill Wirtz was a giant presence in a giant city, his beloved Chicago, and an even greater presence in the National Hockey League," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

Okay. Reality check. Until the man died William Wirtz was BY FAR THE MOST HATED MAN IN CHICAGO!!! Yes that's right ladies in gentlemen, the man who singlehandedly ran the Chicago Blackhawks franchise into the ground just became "A giant presence in a giant city", "Beloved by Chicago" ... all because he died. WTF???

Isn't it amazing? This should give absolutely anyone hope. Everyone alive can hate your guts, but as soon as you die somebody somewhere will make up some bull:cen: about you being wonderful and great.

My condolences to his family. I'm sure this must be a sad experience for them. But how dare ANYONE say that Bill Wirtz was anything resembling a competant Hockey Team owner.

A more accurate assessemnt of the reign of Bill Wirtz:
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...,1,5560438.story?coll=cs-blackhawks-headlines

Bob Foltman: Hawks just a business to Wirtz

September 26, 2007, 9:35 PM CDT


Certainly one would have to look long and hard to find much good that occurred during Bill Wirtz's 41-year reign as president of the Blackhawks, and in the end, you likely would come up empty. He was not a good steward for a public entity, which is what a professional sports team really is.

Rich people own sports teams the way children own toys: to play with, to show off, to have as a source of pride. With Wirtz, however, one got the impression that the Hawks were no different to him than his other businesses.

Perhaps if Wirtz had some Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban or even George Steinbrenner in him, the last four decades would have been different and Wirtz would be remembered in a different light. There was a time when Jerry Reinsdorf was as unpopular as Wirtz. Six NBA titles and a World Series championship go a long way toward repairing relations with the paying public.

There were no Stanley Cup titles under Wirtz's rule, though. Only frustration, an ever-declining fan base and a once vibrant sport on life-support.

Perhaps Wirtz's public legacy will be his part in building the United Center and in turning around a blighted neighborhood. Michael Jordan was the main architect of that urban renewal, but Wirtz played an important role.

That is not an insignificant achievement, but unfortunately, it won't be the first thing that comes to mind in recalling Bill Wirtz.

Why did the reign of Bill Wirtz see a downward spiral in the Chicago Blackhawks fan base? For starters, he did what most crappy team owners do: He simply refused to spend the money to be able to build a top notch team. But even that strategy has accidentally landed a team or two a championship or two.

The BIG thing Bill Wirtz will be remembered for.

To hockey fans, William Wirtz will be remembered as “Dollar Bill,” the tight-fisted owner of the Chicago Blackhawks who kept home games off TV and let some of the team’s biggest stars skate out of town.

That's right. If you want to watch a Chicago Blackhawks home game on television, you can't/couldn't. Made no difference if the game was sold out or anything. Only if the Blackhawks were playing on somebody else's home ice would you have ANY chance of watching the game -- and that's only because you can't tell the other Hockey team that they can't have the game on TV. If he could have, he would have blocked that as well.

The most appropriate thing (from the Hockey fan perspective) that I heard immediately following his death: A Chicago Sports Talkshow Host played the sound clip from the Wizard of Oz of the munchkins singing, "Ding dong, the witch is dead ..."