A Lighthouse at the end of the tunnel?

One of the many reasons I stuck with sportswriting in my bygone days of journalism and resisted any attempt to make the shift to hard news was politics. I can't stand them.

The Lighthouse Project is, of course, all about politics. If it was just about a new building for Long Island's only major professional sports franchise, we'd be enjoying a New Coliseum already, with triple the luxury boxes and all the sushi and barbeque and gourmet pizza you could eat.

So what a shock it was that soon after Charles Wang announced his October deadline to say go or no-go on the Lighthouse -- and not long after Garden City attorney Kristen McElroy announced that she would run against Kate Murray for the Town of Hempstead supervisor's seat -- did Murray extract her head from the sand and agree to meet in person with Wang and Nassau County supervisor Tom Suozzi about the Lighthouse.

And lo and behold, what a surprise that the three emerged from that meeting holding hands and agreeing, according to Newsday, "to work as a team to expedite approvals" for the project, and creating a draft timetable for the project.

Nothing like a deadline and political reality to get something moving forward.

Suozzi has wanted a "hub" at the Coliseum site for years, and now it is finally looking like the wheels are in motion. Suozzi trumpeted the need for the project at a county planning commission meeting on June 11, where several other officials spoke out in favor of the Lighthouse.

Greg Logan's blog also noted that, "On July 7, the Town of Hempstead is expected to vote on the draft EIS and then hold public hearings within 30 days. But one of the most important signs of progress, Wang said, came when Gov. Paterson assigned his two top aides, Tim Gilchrist and Larry Schwartz, to monitor the project. Gilchrist is a transportation expert in charge of infrastructure and stimulus funds for the administration."

So can Islanders fans finally breathe easy? Is the Lighthouse more than a 50-50 proposition?

And if all goes well on July 7 -- and particularly if the Islanders draft John Tavares with the No. 1 pick on June 26 -- will Wang finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and be willing to spend a little more money than the bare minimum to add some talent to the roster, knowing that in a few short years he will have everything he wants off the ice?

We can only hope. But after the way things have been the past 9 months, at least we have some reason to believe.

Blackhawks are Exhibit A: There is hope

Are you rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks? I am.

Not just because they have one of the coolest uniforms ever. And not only because they have exciting young talent like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. It's because the Hawks represent what's possible for a team like the Islanders. That you can be face-down in the gutter one day, and on top of the world the next.

Chicago's 7-5 victory over the Canucks sent them into the Western Conference finals, and whether they get eliminated there or go on to win the Stanley Cup -- which would be the Hawks' first championship since 1961 (kinda makes 1983 look like last week, doesn't it?) -- this season has seen a remarkable turnaround for a franchise that was, just a couple of seasons ago, among the worst in all of sports.

Prior to this season, Chicago had missed the playoffs in nine of 10 seasons, including five straight. They had just 59 points in 2003-04, followed by seasons of 65 and 71. Things were so bad that you could get rinkside seats for almost nothing. They started showing some mojo last season, with Kane and Toews providing the spark, and then this season they shot up like a bottle rocket.

So what changed? Well, owner "Dollar" Bill Wirtz died in the fall of 2007. Known as a generous and fiercely loyal man in private, he was hated by Hawks fans for his stinginess. They booed during his moment of silence, for God's sake! This was a man who had home games blacked out on local television. And I get pissed when the Isles are on MSG Plus 2 and not in high-def!

Control of the team fell to one of Bill's sons, Rocky, who got the Hawks back on local TV, hired former Cubs executive John McDonough to be the team president, and retained GM Dale Tallon. They changed the culture. They went with youth. They rebuilt burnt bridges with stars like Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull.

Not only did the Hawks make the playoffs this season, they drew more than a million fans to the United Center. One. Million. Fans. In this economy.

I can hear some Islanders fans already saying, "See? We need to throw out Wang and Snow! That will change things!"

Well, no. Wang -- his regrets aside -- is the only reason the Islanders are still here on Long Island. You try spending $23 million a year on a sports team knowing you're going to keep on losing money. And Snow's rebuild has only just begun. We'll see what he does with the No. 1 pick, but if the performance of guys like Kane and Toews tell you anything it's that if you can get superstars, you grab them. Hello, John Tavares!

Wang is desperately trying to change the Islanders' economic reality with the Lighthouse Project, which -- if it is approved, as it should be -- would put the club in a better financial position, allowing it to be more aggressive in adding to the roster. They have a couple of possible future stars in Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey.

Of course, it would help if local government was more supportive. While county executive Tom Suozzi has been a staunch supporter of the Lighthouse as a lynchpin of the future development of Nassau, Town of Hempstead supervisor Kate Murray has been the fly in the ointment and a superior example of why politicians get such a bad rap. How important is the Lighthouse Project to Ms. Murray? So important that she didn't bother to show up at a project meeting on Monday. You can't make this stuff up.

The point is, change on the ice can happen and it can happen faster then you think. The Bruins are another example of a team that -- under the same ownership, by the way -- has gone from basement to penthouse in a couple of seasons thanks to better management and outstanding young players.

So I'll be rooting for the Blackhawks and the Bruins to meet in the Cup finals. Two Original Six teams showing the league how it's done. Hopefully, the Islanders and their fans are paying attention.

Once proud? Always proud

When the Islanders dropped a 9-0 decision to the Hurricanes a week ago, ESPN featured it on their NHL highlights package and referred to the team that came out on the short end as the "once proud" Islanders.

And when the Isles finished the season Sunday with a loss to the Bruins, the team's fourth straight loss, another media outlet described the Isles as "lowly."

Fine. The Isles finished with the worst record in hockey and had one of the worst records in team history. But as a fan -- at least, as a fan who likes to keep things in perspective -- I wouldn't call this team "lowly." And I'll never not be proud to be an Islanders fan.

We knew going in -- before the season-ending injury to Rick DiPietro and before the other injuries that piled up like so much firewood --- that this could be a rough season. No expectations. We liked a lot of the young players and liked guys like Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek and Doug Weight. But with a new coach, a new system, very little firepower (the team finished with no 20-goal scorers for the first time ever), and with a clear mandate to get the youngsters a lot of playing time, the playoffs weren't likely. But it was a step in a new direction.

Once D.P. and the others went down, the writing was on the wall. The rest of the season would be an experiment. Bill Guerin left for Pittsburgh. We had Joey MacDonald and Jann Danis as our goalies. A lot of players saw time who otherwise wouldn't have made it to the big leagues.

But you know what? The team showed signs of life. Prior to the final four losses, the Isles were 14-14-5 over 33 games. So they basically played .500 hockey in the second half, and STILL secured one of the top 2 draft picks.

That's half-glass full thinking, but I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy. I don't have the time or the energy to be negative.

And whether the Isles get the No. 1 or No. 2 pick, they know they'll either get Tavares or Hedman, a win-in if there ever was one. Of course, almost every fan wants Tavares, who could be the marquee offensive threat this team has been dying for. But if they end up with Hedman, they have a backline anchor for the next decade. Coaches love that.

Was the season a failure? Whenever you don't make the playoffs, it's a failure, and 14 other teams failed. But did we really expect that this season? What we did see was plenty of promise from the likes of Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Sean Bergenheim and even Jesse Joensuu, and a terrific season from Mark Streit.

Getting Tavares or Hedman will be a huge addition to a young team that is trying to build for the future, and literally build a new home.

For me, there are only two disappointments. The continuing mystery over the health of DiPietro, and the politics of Kate Murray and her gaul at sending a mailer to county residents as part of her misguided effort to get stimulus money to renovate the Coliseum and derail the Lighthouse Project.

Hey, Kate! Nassau County wants it. Tom Suozzi wants it. Based on most public feedback, the majority of residents want it. Islanders fans certainly want it. The NHL wants it. Plenty of unemployed and underemployed Long Island residents want it.

Someone needs to vote her off this Island.

Anyway, as far as still being proud to be an Islanders fan, I have a quick story. My son plays deck hockey and for some reason likes playing goalie. When he does, he wears a blue Islanders jersey instead of his team T-shirt because it fits over the pads.

After one recent game, he walked off the court raising his stick and yelling, "Let's Go, Islanders!" To which the opposing coach, wearing his Rangers hat and satin jacket, said something like, "Oh, too bad."

In my younger, pre-parent days I might have fired back with a sharp retort and a promise to back it up with Jack Johnson and Tom O'Leary. Instead, I patted my son on the head and told him to keep it up.

Let's go, Islanders.