We Got Game

I used to be a huge Bulls fan. Back in the Jordan era, I wouldn’t dare miss a game. My friends and I caught almost every game of the 95-96, 72-win season. Of course as history shows Jerry Krause and Jerry Resindorf got the bright idea to re-build the team and break up the championship team. The past six seasons have been painful to watch. However, this current team has piqued my interest again.

The Bulls are the youngest team in the NBA and after getting off to a 0-9 start now, are four games over .500 and in the 6^th position in the Eastern Conference, which means if the season ended today they would be in the playoffs. All of this excites me. The Bears are currently in a real funk. They have had one winning season in the last 11 years. The Cubs keep breaking my heart and hockey is all but dead.

So, that leaves the baby Bulls. This is a fun team to watch. Ben Gordon has the makings to be a real scoring threat for years to come. Luol Deng is a freak of nature and can do so many things on the floor, that his potential is limitless. Eddie Curry is finally living up to all that hype and making plays. Kirk Heinrich is a legitimate point guard, and Tyson Chandler can rebound the ball with anyone. They play great defense and when they run a fast break it is a thing of beauty.

The credit for the turnaround has to go to John Paxson and his hand picked choice as coach, Scott Skiles. Paxson, in two years has made three great draft picks and has gotten rid of Kraue’s bad contracts. He dumped, Eddie Robinson, Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford. In return he made the team better by getting rid of their bad attitudes and me first mentality.

I am going to the Bulls game this Friday with my wife. This is my first chance to see the Bulls in person this year and I am anxious. After winning the six championships in the 90’s with Jordon and Pippen, the Bulls became larger than life. As much as I loved those teams this one kind of warms my heart a little more. They are the NBA’s underdogs and who doesn’t root for the underdog. So, no matter what happens the rest of the season I want to thank the Bulls for making my winter interesting for the first time in years. I still cannot wait for baseball but the Bulls have gone a long way to filling that void.