Thank You Foley & Tallon II!

What a freakin way to win! Under three minutes from a near death sentence and you score an improbable soft goal. Then not even three minutes into the OT, with the crowd still at a fever pitch, you grind out the series-resetting one. Really, there's nothing better in hockey than that scenario - tying it late and then winning in sudden death. Especially when you get both goals close together, so the excitement from the first rides straight on into the thrill of the second. Throw in the crucial nature of the win and you've got about the best type of hockey game you're ever gonna see.

Awesomely, this is the second time the Hawks have done it this post-season. Game 1 of the Calgary series, with all the pressure and anticipation of the first playoff game in 7 years, the first time being favored in a series in almost a decade and a half, was similar. But last night's was even better.

The stakes were higher - a loss would have sapped any last vestige of momentum and given the Canucks ultimate confidence, plus a commanding 3-1 series lead with two games left in Canada. The opponent was better - both the Canucks as a team and Luongo as a goalie are up near the very best in the NHL right now. And the timing was even more dramatic - not even 3 minutes to go, with the Canuck fans already thinking Western Conference Finals. Ditto for the perfect timing of the second goal - crowd still rocking from the first goal, but with enough time having passed in OT to create the excruciating suspense, especially after the absurd Canucks scoring chance just moments before.


Yes my fellow Hawk fans, this was, short of clinching a series, as good as it gets. And I want to thank two men for making it so for me. Not Ladd and Havlat, or even Khabi or the architect, Tallon. Nope, I actually want to thank Tallon II, and his partner in crime, Foley II.

I'm referring to the Hawks radio team. These guys are freakin amazing, as the high compliment of comparing them to Foley and Tallon suggests. John Wiedeman does the play-by-play, and as I've mentioned here before, he sounds like a younger Foley. Not just in how he calls the game, but the sound of his voice is incredibly close to what we all know and love with Foley.

But more impressive - the guy is absolute bat-shit crazy about the Hawks. Just like you and me, he's been totally taken by the current iteration of this team. The intensity in his voice last night as the Hawks had chance after chance in an effort to save their season was incredible. It made the goals even more exciting than they already were, because as the play was developing, Wiedeman was amping up his call of the game to a perfect crescendo. You could really hear the goals coming, so you already were on the edge of your seat when he did scream "GOAL!"

And did he ever scream. This dude called both Hawks goals like you and I would - as an intense fan who was so excited and elated by what just happened. Loud, fast, high-pitched, barely comprehensible - he was celebrating the score every bit as much as we all were. It was just unreal.

Making it even better was that he wasn't alone - Troy Murray was just as insane about it. Murray, like Tallon before him, is an ex-Hawk who was both talented and had the toughness and grit that Chicago sports fans so identify with. Also like Tallon, Murray still bleeds for the Hawks, years after hanging up the skates.

Together John & Troy were celebrating the goals like crazy, babbling in pure elated excitement. And there was nothing "professional" about it. I don't mean that negatively, I mean that they were not doing a job last night. They were pursuing their passion.

Again, that is a high compliment. They aren't cheesy homers just rooting along for the Hawks. They call an intelligent game, clear and evocative, inter-mixing their full support of the Hawks' cause with necessary critical commentary. These guys know their stuff, they call it like it is, and they do so with both personality and passion for the team.

But most importantly, when the most memorable of moments are happening, these guys shed all that and just called both dramatic goals like a pair of fans. Check it out Ladd's winner for yourself:

http://caster.wgnradio.com/news/laddgoal090507.mp3

(If it plays a bit choppy, just keep trying it - the full recording will play for you.)

Just listen to Wiedeman's voice breaking - that is not intentional, that's the sound of a diehard fan in pure ecstasy. I'm glad I could even find this cut, but I wish I had a cut of the first goal and a longer recording of this one. Because in both cases, John & Troy are at that level of chaotic elation for a good while.

Which is necessary, because you know I was going ape shit right along with them. I was walking through the parking lot of the Cell, listening on a little personal AM radio, when Havlat put his in. Didn't matter that I was the only person in the parking lot with any clue as to what was happening in the Hawks game - I joined in with the celebration, yelling and dancing around as if I was right there in the UC crowd.

For the second goal, I was stopped at a red light - perfect timing to throw full concentration on the game and to just let loose when I heard the score. Yelling, high-fiving the others in my car, and honking up a storm. The whole time John & Troy were in my ear, whooping it up just the same.

So among the many things I feel lucky about with the Hawks, the radio team is certainly on the list. Especially in situations like last night. Not just that I couldn't be in front of the TV for the big plays, but because even if I could, I'd have had to listen to neutral national announcers. Sure Eddie O. is doing color, which means we get way more insight into the Hawks than a normal national analyst, but unlike on his local calls, Eddie can't be a partisan. So while I'm sure they called a solid game, it's not same as hearing your guys call the game from your perspective.

And it's in those exhilarating, insane moments like the two goals last night that you realize how much you want to hear a familiar voice evoking the exact passion and excitement that you're feeling. Last night John & Troy gave me just that.

With more and more Hawks games being pushed over to national broadcasts as the playoff go on, I'm even more grateful to have John & Troy's great calls to fall back on. Hopefully their calls sync up well with the TV, so I can mute the national guys and listen to the Hawks radio call. Maybe not this year, but some point soon the Hawks are gonna score even bigger goals than what they scored yesterday, are gonna win bigger games than what they won last night. And when that happens, I want to hear the voice-cracking passion of a Hawks diehard yelling along with me.