jaster
Take me off ignore, please.
- Jun 8, 2007
- 13,315
- 8,588
Some valid points here, no doubt, but as a Detroit fan who has lived in Chicago for 17 years, that hasn't exactly been my experience. I think the cooling off started only about 10 years ago, after realignment.the hatred for Detroit is simmered down quite a bit in the past 20 years. When was the last time we were both competitive at the same time? That brief overlap at the end of 2008-09? And before that I can't even remember a time they were both competitive at the same time.
Also since moving to the East the rivalry has fallen off considerably.
For most of us Hawks fans, once Kaner signed with Detroit we adopted Detroit as the team we are rooting for in the playoffs this year. That's how much we love Kane and also how far the rivalry has fallen off.
As for the DETROIT SUCKS chants, we've been doing that since the 80s and 90s starting with the Bad Boy Pistons during the beginning of the Jordan era. Never gonna stop that, it's our signature chant. We even chanted that for years at Bulls games and Bulls rallies even well after Detroit stopped being competitive.
Both teams were competitive playoff teams at the same time for a 8-year run between 2008-2016, a period where neither team saw their win% dip below .567, and they had 11 100+ point seasons between them. I recall plenty of hatred in that time when the Wings would come to Chicago. Totally anecdotal, but I remember one game where a fan walking around the 300 level concourse was taking a black sharpie to Wings jerseys as people walked by. Maybe he did that to other fanbases too, but I kinda doubt it.
I haven't heard of many Chicago fans actively rooting for Detroit. I play on two men's league teams, mostly with Hawks fans, and while several have expressed hope that Kane does well in Detroit, I haven't heard any of them say they're also rooting for Detroit lol. You're right though, the vitriol for Detroit has indeed cooled, with both teams being pretty bad the past 6ish years and being in different conferences, but the undercurrent obviously remains.