This past weekend, the Cubs and White Sox played the first half of their annual home and away Crosstown Classic at Wrigley Field. Since both Chicago teams have struggled mightily this season, much of the city’s attention was focused on the magical Stanley Cup run of the Blackhawks.
On Sunday, with red and white hockey sweaters interspersed with the blue and black jerseys in the stands, the Blackhawks were honored before the game (which also featured two no-hit bids into the seventh inning by the Cubs’ Ted Lilly and White Sox’ Gavin Floyd). The highlight had to be when all three teams posed for a picture around the Stanley Cup. It was a notably gracious gesture by the Blackhawks to let Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster, a Canadian and a huge hockey fan, pose next to the Cup.
When I first saw this picture, I wondered if three professional teams from at least two different sports have ever posed together on the same field wearing their uniforms.
It also made me think about the ways in which baseball and ice hockey could blend or at least link in deft ways (for example, starting points could include the catcher behind the plate who may need similar skill sets in stopping an errant pitch in the dirt as a hockey goalie would in stopping a low shot on net). Blending or linking two entirely different sports or nodes like baseball and ice hockey, played on two diametrically opposed surfaces, could be challenging, but the possibilities are nonetheless endless.
Feel free to share any of your ideas about building the Chicago Blackhawks-Cubs-White Sox or linking or blending baseball and ice hockey.
