Game #85- Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls vs. Phoenix Suns February 21, 2015 United Center This is the Chicago Bulls/Hawks 2.0 trip. Last year my goal was to see both of these teams during my visit to Indiana for work but the “polar vortex” blew through the mid west with -41 degree temps and dumping a foot of snow. Needless to say the 360 mile round trip was not going to be possible in those conditions. This time the weather was going to at least cooperate, meaning it was going to be below zero again but at least the freeways would be open. The first game of this trip is the Chicago Bulls. Growing up in the Jordan/Pippen era I was never a fan of the Bulls. They were not necessarily a rival of my Lakers but for about a decade one or both of these teams would be in the finals. Since then the team hasn’t really fell on hard times but also have not won a championship since 1998 (Lakers have 5 rings in that time span…just saying). The 2015 team has the potential to be top notch. There are three all-stars in the rotation, center Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and one of my favorite former Lakers Pao Gasol. The game started off slow for the home team, being down for the majority of the first half and part of the 3rd quarter. That’s when the game got exciting. Led by Gasol’s 22 points and 14 rebounds the Bulls pushed by the Suns in the last minute of the game to take a 112 to 107 win. Derrick Rose also had a strong game with 16 points, he looked agile on the floor showing no signs of his previous injuries. I don’t know how athletes can come back from ACL surgeries and play these types of sports, every time I run I am super cautious of each step I take. It was good to see him on the floor. Besides the cold weather, the worst part of the game was trying to find a ticket stub. I was in the rafters and no one around me had one. A gentleman told me that they didn’t issue them to the season ticket holders this year, similar to Orlando a couple seasons back. That was frustrating to hear, but as I went toward the exits in the lower level I saw people with hard stubs. After asking about 30 people I finally convinced one guy to give up a ticket. I am constantly baffled on why people are so stingy with tickets when there is a 99% chance that person will be trashing it as soon as they get home.

Finally an update about the arena. I was shocked to not see a lot more Bulls memorabilia around the building. They were a dynasty in the 90’s and had the greatest basketball player ever in that time span. Yeah, it’s great to look at the rafters and see championship banners and players numbers retired, but I would expect a lot more. I found a single trophy case showing off the championship trophies, a randomly placed statue of Pippen’s head in the foyer, and the iconic Jordan statue in front of the United Center…but that was it.