>>>Just popping in for a funny. I saw in the paper this morning that Al and Tipper Gore have split up after 40 years of marriage. They have not given any explanation. I bet it's because Tipper decided global warming is a hoax ;-)
>>>
>>>OK, back to your pitched battles. I really am sitting out for a while. This was just too much to resist. Also better to depart with a smile than to go on arguing with everyone.
>>>
>>>PS -- Oh, some other interesting reading from the Tribune today, from the sports section --
>>>
>>>http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/ct-spt-0602-pronger-blackhawks-flyers20100601,0,5900248.story
>>>http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/smack/chi-bhawks-smack-jun2,0,277350.graphic
>>>
>>>Believe it or not, the next two games will not be on TV for many Chicagoans. They are on a channel called Versus which is on some but not all cable systems, and in an extra-cost tier in some of those. I have Dish Network and it's not available at all.
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>>You can't get Versus on Dish? We get it on DirecTV, although we didn't for about half the season because they were fighting about the contract.
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>>I HOPE the NHL can get a deal with ESPN or some real network now that their popularity is on the rise. Being relegated to a third rate cable channel really stinks.
>
>Dish does offer Versus, but only in their top package (250 channels), which is not the one I have.
>
>As you might imagine, the Blackhawks are red hot in Chicago at the moment. Everyone loves a winner. As you might also imagine, there is some resentment from long term fans who stuck with the team through the (many) lean years. Quite similar to what we went through when the Cubs won a couple of division titles. The old fans who sat out there in September with 5000 other souls were not too happy with all the new yuppie fans who bought up the expensive seats and talked on their cell phones when Sammy Sosa wasn't at the plate.

yeah - Those are the ones that make the prices go way up. They're also the ones that can move a team out of town when they quit buying those expensive seats when they aren't trendy anymore.