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Its time for my annual plug for the . . .

Tuesday Mar 29, 2005

Bulls?!? So I've been accused by many of cheering a bit too hard, a bit too often, and a bit too early for my boys of the Southside, The White Sox. And perhaps those accusations were right and just. But ne'er in my adult life have I ever been guilty of such a crime when it comes to the youngest franchise of my childhood home, The Chicago Bulls.

Somehow, someway, after trading away and letting go of some of the biggest names in current basketball (see Ron Artest, Elton Brand, Jay Williams), the 'Baby' Bulls are back and in a big way.

By the spring/summer of 1998 another championship seemed like an inevitability. Who could touch the Bulls dynasty? I remember passively listening to the finals on the radio whilst on Roadtrip '98 a couple months shy of my 18th birthday. We knew we'd win it was just a matter of how. Would it be a Kukoc buzzer beater, would it be a Kerr coffin corner three, or would it be the classic Jordan fade away 'J' ?

Now, 7 years later, the bulls are just a few wins shy of locking up their first winning season since their last championship and with it a trip to the playoffs. Now for this young group, and I do mean young (45 years of experience on a roster of 14 players, 3 on the average, with three of the players counting for 30 of those years), just reaching the playoffs and putting Chicago's drought to a very sudden end won't nearly be enough. This team believes its good enough to compete for the Eastern Crown.

Can these 'Baby' Bulls overcome a Shaq lead Miami squad? Doubtful, quite doubtful. But if they play their cards right and overcome a faltering Detroit to win their division outright (4 games back with 13 remaining, only 5 against winning teams and 1 of those is Detroit), they can avoid having a date with Miami until the Eastern Conference final. The Bulls are confident, and so am I, that they can play with any team in the East in a seven game series except those pesky Miami boys.

So as long as the Bulls are keeping the basketball season interesting the Sox will remain for the most part unmentioned here. Its been a long time since I heard, "And now the starting lineup for your WORLD CHAMPION Chicago BULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSS!!!!" Now perhaps its only a year or two away.