The NHL, not the Chicago Blackhawks or Wrigley Field, will be responsible for doling out tickets to the Winter Classic II next January. So, if you want good tickets to this massive ice party, set to go on at "holy shrine" Wrigley Field, you better be either ...

a. Rich
b. A season ticket holder of the Chicago Blackhawks
c. A season ticket holder of the Detroit Red Wings
d. A season ticket holder of the Chicago Cubs


As "Cranky Blogger" George James Malik of MLive.com opines, this event is more about the Hawks and Wings than promoting the entire NHL, as we are generally told it is.

I think that "this spectacular thing" is all about Bettman partnering with a former president of the Chicago Cubs to raise the national profile of the Chicago Blackhawks. If it was about "the fans," it would have taken place in a much larger venue, and if it was about both teams, it would probably take place in Ann Arbor, where a 100,000-seat stadium would allow the average fan to actually attend the game.

Cranky blogger or not, Malik's feelings are shared, or going to be shared, by a majority of the ticket-hungry public who will find it nigh-impossible to get a good seat, or a seat at all, to this big event.

What Malik forgets is that any major sporting event is going to fall under the same set of circumstances. Do you think the average blue collar fan gets tickets to see Game Six of the Stanley Cup finals, The NBA Finals, or The Super Bowl? Not usually. This is simply a case of market forces at work.

Sadly, any big event is going to involve high ticket prices, ticket scarcity, and Corporate Criminal interests being curried. If you haven't noticed, The Super Bowl has long stopped being about football and has been sidetracked into expensive, overrated TV advertisements, explosive Halftime shows, and excessive overeating.

Look, the Winter Classic is getting the NHL a hefty amount of positive national attention and press that the league has always craved. Even if many average/blue collar fans aren't able to get good access to this game, it still promotes the sport as a whole. Let's give credit to the NHL for making this happen, and for getting such a well-known venue as Wrigley Field to host this event.