Call it a championship perfectly earned, acknowledged and celebrated.   You can say it was old school or a refreshing change of pace.  Either way, the Blackhawks’ victory in the Stanley Cup and the city’s reaction to it couldn’t have been scripted any better.

As for the Hawks themselves, how could you not root for them?  The Blackhawks were an exciting, energetic team that appealed to everyone, from young fans to people like me from the Tony-O/Golden Jet/Stan Mikita generation who never got to see that stellar crew win a Cup.  The 2010 Hawks went 16-and-6 over their last 22 games against premiere competition.  They methodically overcame everything that could have been used as an excuse for failure:  losing home ice advantage, questionable officiating, their opponents’ physical play against their speed and finesse game.  They rose to every challenge and won with dignity, class and old-fashioned hard work.

Then came all the celebrations which followed Wednesday’s clincher.  There were so many high points we don’t have enough space here to list them all.  Let’s review just a handful that had me reaching for the kleenex:  Toews’ emerging from the plane in the wee hours of Thursday morning to give us our first glimpse at the Cup; the throngs that greeted our conquering heroes downtown Friday morning; the reception Hossa got up on stage when his name was announced; the young players looking like they were truly soaking it all in and not taking it for granted.  And, when it was all over, the crowd eventually went home, no storefronts were smashed and downtown was left perfectly intact.

I’m proud to be a Chicago Blackhawk fan.  At the same time, I’ve never been prouder to be a Chicagoan.  We showed the world a big city can still celebrate a sports championship the way it should be.