I'm not telling Valley sports fans how to spend their time, but if we're not willing to brave shorter commutes to games than most major cities, we had better be prepared for criticism.

Craig Morgan

Commuting cupcakes?

It was a balmy 8° when my dad and I hopped in the car in Chicago's northwest suburbs to head downtown for a Blackhawks game against the New York Rangers just after Christmas. The skies were predictably gray, the wind compounded the cold, and the Kennedy Expressway was a mixture of brown snow-sludge, rock salt, imperceptible lane lines and angry drivers.

It took us 90 minutes to reach Chicago Stadium with the usual backups at the toll plaza near O'Hare Airport, and along Ogden Ave. We didn't care. That was a normal drive from one of Chicago's mid-distance suburbs and it put us in the proper mood to watch a thoroughly washed up Tony Esposito surrender seven goals in a 7-4 loss of his final pro season.

We didn't even stay until the final buzzer. That was my dad's habit. When his disgust level with William Wirtz's on-ice product had reached a certain level, he stood up, waved his right hand in dismissal at the ice, and we were off to brave the now sub-zero temperatures on our way back to Arlington Heights.

When the next home game arrived — even if I was back in school in New Hampshire or Connecticut or Wisconsin — he'd make the trek again, rarely missing a game in his 17 years as a season-ticket holder, and never watching his beloved team hoist the Stanley Cup in his time as a paying patron.

The point of this column isn't to reminisce on my time as a Blackhawks fan. It's to point out a flaw in Valley sports fans that has seeped into my own blood. We're soft. We're not willing to brave much inconvenience to watch our teams play and when we do, we whine about it.

This became clear to me when I reported that the Coyotes were closing in on a plot of land in northeast Phoenix that could become the site of their new arena if they are able to cross a hundred figurative bridges to close the deal. I noted in subsequent interactions with fans that the site is basically the same distance from my house as Glendale. Some took issue with this assertion, citing their own anecdotal evidence and saying that the traffic on the 101 North is not that bad at the evening rush hour time.

My statement was not anecdotal evidence. It was cold hard data gleaned from Waze's thousands of crowd-sourced drives and GPS technology. It's 35 miles from my house to Gila River Arena (or whatever the hell they're calling it now) thanks to the newish and lightly trafficked southern loop of the 202 around South Mountain. It's roughly 28 miles to this new location in northeast Phoenix. According to Waze, the latter trip would take me 50 minutes at the time of day at which I'd need to leave for a game. Again per Waze, that's the exact same amount of time required to reach Gila River Arena. The traffic along the 101 North makes up for the shorter distance in miles.

From a commuting standpoint, the northeast Phoenix location is no better than the Glendale location for many residents in the southern half of Gilbert and Chandler who use the southern 202 loop to get to the west side. More to the point, the failed Tempe location, and the more recently reported northwest Mesa location, are better locations for a far greater number of Coyotes fans. Those sites are more centrally located near the city's core. That fact is indisputable.

But this location isn't about the location of a hockey team and its arena so much as it's about a real estate deal — a frustrating reality for sports fans who must now accept that their teams are part of a greater investment plan, rather than the investment plan of an owner who simply wants to win games and championships (where have you gone, Jerry Colangelo? Our city turns its lonely eyes to you).

But here's the greater message, which goes back to my Chicago days. Fifty minutes is not a long commute relative to other major sports markets. Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States by population, and the 10th largest by greater metropolitan population (including suburbs). If I were in cities larger than Phoenix such as New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, I would expect a much longer commute to get to games from the same distance. I already mentioned Chicago's issues. When I drove the 20 miles from Manhattan's lower west side to UBS Arena for a Coyotes game against the Islanders, I left in the early afternoon and it still took me two hours. Los Angeles is unpredictable, and usually in a bad way.

The same goes for those greater metropolitan areas such as Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Miami and Boston. Driving to games in those cities is often nightmarish. Any of those markets would take a 50-minute commute for a 30-mile drive.

Look, Valley teams haven't exactly given us reason for dedication. The Diamondbacks are the only major men's pro team to win a title in the Valley's entire pro sports history, but that was also true of Chicago when I was growing up until Michael Jordan came along. The Cubs and White Sox were working on a century of futility, the Bulls had never won, and the Blackhawks and Bears hadn't won since before I was born.

I'm not trying to tell Valley sports fans how they should spend their time. There is a certain logic to investing in a team that is actually investing in you, but if we're going to whine about about 50-minute commutes, we'd better be prepared for the external criticism of our conviction. When it comes right down to it, we've got it better than most major metro areas when it comes to getting around town. And if we're still not willing to brave those shorter commute times, it's fair for outsiders to label us soft.