Home Ice
Confessions of a Blackhawks Fan
by Kevin Cunningham
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Pub Date Aug 15 2017 | Archive Date Aug 15 2017
University of Iowa Press | University Of Iowa Press
Description
Home Ice combines memoir and history to explore how the mysteries of Blackhawks fandom explain big questions like tribal belonging, masculinity, and why you would ever trade Chris Chelios. In recounting the team’s—and his own—wins and losses (and ties), Cunningham covers everything from Keith Magnuson’s bachelor pad to the grim early aughts to Patrick Kane’s Cup-winner. Throughout, he explores how we come to love the things we love. Funny and touching, Home Ice is one Blackhawk fan’s attempt to understand why sports fandom is utterly ridiculous and entirely necessary.
A Note From the Publisher
I read four books in third grade. The first was Stuart Little, a kids’ book about a mouse. The second was Chariots of the Gods—only the classics for me—and the third an astronomy book by Patrick Moore, one of those fantastically crusty British crackpots who wore a monocle and after decades of bachelorhood declared women had ruined the world. What can I say? Some little boys dig on dinosaurs. For me it was outer space. Learning about the Messier catalog, which numbers certain objects like galaxies and nebulae, prepared me for French-Canadian hockey names.
I stand by my last choice: Stan Mikita’s I Play to Win. Judging from the rest of the reading list, it was the first grownup book I ever read written by a sane person.
Advance Praise
“This is the book that Blackhawks fans have been waiting for, and I mean really, REALLY waiting for. It was difficult, even as a Blues fan, not to be a little happy for Blackhawks fans these last few years. This book is an excellent argument as to why.”—Will Leitch, author, Are We Winning? and God Save the Fan, founder, Deadspin
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781609384784 |
| PRICE | $18.00 (USD) |
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Featured Reviews
Bookseller 243064
Chelsea Dagger was playing through my head the whole time I was reading this. I am a consummate Blackhawks fan and reading this makes me want to see #19, #88, and #2 at the UC even more!
GO HAWKS!
Lance S, Reviewer
Most sports fans will follow a team or teams beginning in their childhood. That was the case for author Kevin Cunningham as he began to follow the Chicago Blackhawks when he was eight years old. His subsequent obsession with the team is chronicled in this entertaining memoir about his love for the team and the game.
The humor that is plentiful throughout the pages is what sets this memoir apart from most sports memoirs. No matter what stage of life Cunningham is writing about and no matter how well or poorly the Blackhawks are playing, he never fails to drop in something humorous, even if the actual events are melancholy. A good example is the chapter on when he went to a Blackhawks game against Winnipeg on a first date with a woman who later became a girlfriend. The way he talks about the ticket stub he kept from that game for many years made me laugh several times. That is just one of the many passages that will leave a reader laughing.
Hockey fans, even those who are not Blackhawk fans, will enjoy all of Cunningham’s recollection of important games and rivalries from the 1980’s to the Stanley Cup championships of the current decade. Being a fan of the Minnesota North Stars before the team relocated to Dallas, I was especially enjoying the writing about the great rivalry between the North Stars and Blackhawks – even if Cunningham had a strong dislike for Dino Ciccarelli. While I may have been on the “wrong” side of that rivalry according to him, his memes about it brought back some great memories.
Fellow Blackhawk fans will especially enjoy this explanation of an obsession with a hockey team since that is their team. But for fans of the game, this book is recommended for them as well as it just may provide a little insight into the loyalty and passion any fan has for his or her team.
I wish to University of Iowa Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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