Oliver: In sports as in life, sometimes good things have to come to an end

As a sports fan, I know that good things don’t last forever. Eventually, change comes, and the only thing to do is to embrace it. That, or to stop watching sports. But that’s not going to happen.

Sometimes, though, that change just hurts.

It’s not that we haven’t been down this road before. After six championships with the Chicago Bulls, my favorite tandem of all time – Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen – went to other teams. Seeing Pippen wearing a Trailblazers jersey and Jordan in a Wizards uniform just felt … wrong.

I’ve had favorite football players, such as Charles “Peanut” Tillman of the Chicago Bears, move on and then retire. Seeing Tillman play for the Carolina Panthers just felt wrong, too.

Let’s not forget watching Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs be traded. They were part of the team that finally managed to win a World Series and to break the “curse.” To see that team dismantled was painful, too. So many of those players went elsewhere that I frankly couldn’t keep up with all of them.

I know I can’t be alone in not wanting the good times to end. A little part of me hangs onto hope until the bitter end.

These past few years of watching the Chicago Blackhawks have been particularly painful. First, to see Marian Hossa retire because of health problems. At least he got his number retired.

Then my beloved Brent Seabrook retired when his body just couldn’t take the strain of being a professional hockey player any longer. Not too long after that, the team traded away the other half of my favorite “D” pair – Duncan Keith. That was something I didn’t think would ever happen. It was hard enough to see Keith not playing with Seabrook.

That left my other favorite sports tandem – Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

I’ve been watching those two since they were drafted by the Blackhawks. Both were so young and inexperienced, yet we all knew that given some time, they would do great things.

Sixteen years and three Stanley Cup championships later, Toews has been dealing with his own health issues, which have been serious enough to keep him away from the game for most of one season and now again.

And then the dagger to my heart: Patrick Kane was traded to the New York Rangers.

I didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it does. I had been trying my hardest not to react to all the trade rumors and speculation. And part of me realizes that he has a much better chance of success there than here.

Still, it feels like a loss of a family member. After all, we’ve watched Kane grow up in front of our eyes. We’ve seen the good and the bad, all while rooting for the kid to mature.

As great as he’s always been on the ice, sometimes his antics off the ice proved to be problematic. Painful even. It took some time for that immature boy of those early days to grow up into the dad of a toddler he is today. At times, it looked as if those missteps of his youth would derail his career altogether.

The good times were incredible. That goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2010, when no one saw the puck go in except Kane, is something I will treasure forever.

Those spin-o-rama goals. The time during the All-Star weekend when he dressed as Superman. His ability to make anyone on his line play better.

And who can forget all the goofy stunts Kane participated in for Blackhawks TV? Or how Kane always played to the crowd when he was interviewed after games after being named the first star of the game?

I’m still not ready to watch Kane in that Ranger uniform. Maybe I’ll be ready once the playoffs start. At least his Rangers will be in them, even if my Blackhawks are not.

I’ll miss Kane as a Blackhawk. But that’s hockey, baby.

• Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.