Chicago Tribune takes back part of its tribute to Boston sports teams

Chicago Tribune | Boston Magazine | Bostinno

“Hang in there, Boston”: That was the big-hearted message the Chicago Tribune’s sports page sent with an extraordinary tribute the day after the Boston Marathon bombings. “We are Chicago Celtics,” the front page of April 16’s sports section read in part. “We are Chicago Bruins.”

Those good feelings have apparently evaporated with the Stanley Cup finals, in which the Chicago Blackhawks face the Boston Bruins. An image in a supplemental section Wednesday called “Hawkeytown” shows a hand tearing out the Bruins logo from that page with the legend “Yeah, not right now we’re not.”

“It’s kind of clever but we’re pretty sure there’s an unspoken ‘no takeseys-backsies’ rule in place when it comes to heartfelt tributes to the victims of a national tragedy,” Eric Randall writes in Boston Magazine. “No disrespect to Boston was intended, and we regret that some readers were offended,” a Tribune spokesperson told Randall in an email. “Our original sentiments of support for Boston and the victims of the recent bombing still stand.”

Here’s the Tribune’s sports page from April 16:

And here’s a longer explanation of how it came together.

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