[Dion]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing! I never knew it was that bad in Chicago before his son took over the team.

Dollar Bill

Bill Wirtz was not a beloved figure among Hawks fans. Their dislike of him stemmed from the perception of money-pinching ways that contributed to the departure of many of the team's star players throughout the years, including Bobby Hull, Ed Belfour, Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte and Chris Chelios. There were other reasons, of course, namely stubbornly maintaining Arthur Wirtz's policy of refusing to put home games on television, the firing of popular announcer Pat Foley and the estrangement from the franchise of many of the Hawks' legendary players, including Hull and Stan Mikita.

Whenever Bill Wirtz, who was nicknamed "Dollar Bill," would make an appearance, fans would jeer him mercilessly. It got so bad that many fans booed during an Oct. 6, 2007 pregame ceremony at the United Center to honor him with a moment of silence.

Even before bringing McDonough and Blunk on board, Wirtz had begun the process of televising home games. It was a subject Wirtz would broach with his father over the years to no avail.

"I kid about it, but if you wanted to get disinvited to Thanksgiving dinner you would just bring that up right before," Wirtz said with a laugh. "He knew where I stood. I just said, 'I'm sorry, I disagree with you.'"

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#sectio.../p2p-94693250/