Bull Jive

THE NEW, RELIABLE BULLS

We were all crushed, weren't we? A magical Bears season, two weeks of hype leading to a home playoff game and what do we get? Steve Smith and Jake Delhomme treated Soldier Field like they're playing two-on-none in a Carolina backyard.

I was visibly angry Sunday night. Two hours of "24" and the invincible Jack Bauer brought me no joy. I had to apologize to my Payton jersey for the Bears' performance before he went back in the closet.

Monday morning heading to work was like a forced death march. Tuesday was a dull, pounding headache. Wednesday I woke up from a dream in which Jake Delhomme was taunting Bears fans at the post-game press conference. Obviously I slipped back into the Sunday night anger-fest and started talking to the jersey again.

But Wednesday night the Bulls played the Knicks and Chicagoans everywhere were granted a three-hour reprieve from the mental prison we had all been locked in.

Eddy Curry was back in town. There was overtime. Little Chris Duhon tried to take on Maurice Taylor in a 21st century version of Jo Jo English versus Derrick Harper. There was the little matter of Antonio Davis leaping into the stands to defend his wife from a less-than-imposing balding 22-year old. And we capped the night off with a buzzer beater from the smoothest player Chicago has seen since you know who.

Ben Gordon sent Bulls fans to bed with sweet dreams and all the talk since has been about basketball, a player's wife, and a dude named Axlerod. The next time I hear about the Bears it better be concerning who we're going to draft in April.

Yes, it's time to focus on the Bulls. We can only mourn our football loss so long and with the collection of young, underachieving talent at the United Center, so long was about 10:30 Central Standard Time Wednesday night.

This used to be so easy for Chicagoans. Back in the 90's the Bears were miserable just about every year, but come mid-November we could always rely on Michael, Scottie and Phil to carry us through the failings of our Bears, Cubs, and White Sox until June.

It was easy to forget about December blowouts to the Packers and Vikings when Michael was leading the league in scoring, Scottie was revolutionizing the small forward position, and Dennis Rodman was doing body shots off of transvestites at the Crow Bar.

Bulls GM John Paxson has put together a team worth getting excited about. Sure, Gordon is not Jordan, Luol Deng is not Pippen and no one, for better or worse, will EVER be another Rodman. But with a trade or two (how about Chris Bosh or Drew Gooden?) the Bullies can make it back to the playoffs and maybe even past the first round.

And Wednesday night was the unofficial start of it all. Buzzer beaters, fans and players rubbing shoulders, and a new Bulls-Knicks rivalry is born.

The Bulls surge and falter like any young team. But at least they are always doing something. When other teams simply isolate a match-up every time down the court and eight guys watch a little one-on-one, the Bulls pass, cut, and screen away. It’s almost as if they’re actually playing the team sport of basketball, a rarity in the NBA.

There’s even a native New Yorker in Gordon, who loves ripping out the heart of the team he grew up cheering for. This is some sweet stuff, converting a Big Apple baller into a Second City transplant. Yeah, I have a Second City complex, but that’s what makes this rivalry so good. It’s like Yankees-Red Sox, but the “inferior” city has always won (not counting the ’94 Hugh Hollins phantom foul. I still remember putting my fist through my turtle tank. Good times).

I just hope the Bears can keep us happy until January (or February, anyone?) next season. The Bulls are good, but turning our attention from football to basketball in November is so last decade.