Dorfman: Rahm Inaugurates Bulls Celebration
By Daniel I. Dorfman--
CHICAGO (WSCR) On Monday, Chicago will have its first new mayor in 22 years. The highlight of the day will likely be Rahm Emanuel's speech that he will give shortly after being sworn in. I doubt he will make this address, but it would be fun if he did.
"My fellow Chicagoans. I am proud to serve as your new mayor and I plan to do everything I can on all of the major issues facing this city - be it education, safety or our massive financial problems just to name a few. I will work, cajole, plead, insist, drive and curse, especially curse, at all the problems to try and make things better for all of us. Can I promise things will be markedly different in four years? No, but with your help I will give it my best shot.
"But I have to be honest with you. As much as I wish I could, there are certain things I will not be able to do anything about. I can't give us decent weather, which has not come so far in 2011, I can't stop local TV stations from doing insipid fans-at-bar stories when our sports teams play in big games and despite all my power and my friends at the White House, I can't promise you that we are going to see a repeat of last night's Bulls game anytime soon.
"I want to thank the Bulls for putting all of us gathered here on this chilly morning in a good mood today. It was a wonderful appetizer to start this series, but I caution everyone it is just one game. However, I will ask my police department to see if they can get some tips from a Bulls defense that only allowed Miami only 28 points in the last 21 minutes plus of Sunday night's game and forced LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to miss ten shots each and forced 16 Miami turnovers. That is the kind of protection that will make this city proud!
"Chicago, I will do what I can to make sure we have the hardest working city employees in the land but I can't stand over each and every one of them. There are going to be people who don't show resilience and follow through as much as we wish they would. But to all employees, I ask you to take a look at the Bulls and their 31-8 dominance last night on second chance points, 19-6 edge on offensive rebounding and the bench outscoring Miami's 28-15. We can all take a lesson from dedication and effort like that!
"Finally, I can't promise excitement and exhilaration every day. There are going to be mundane moments and there might be some dull interludes as we try to get the city going in the right direction. But if too many of them settle in, I will order the two Taj Gibson dunks from last night to be shown wherever I can get them on TV. That ought to get our collective blood pumping again!
"So my fellow citizens, we start a new journey today. I can't promise where we are going to wind up, but I can assure you if the Bulls do play as they did last night, in seven more games this 'spring,' we will be meeting again for a party in Grant Park next month."
Do you agree with Daniel? Post your comments below.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a local freelance writer who has written and reported for the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and the Boston Globe among many other nationally prominent broadcast, online and print media organizations. He is also a researcher for 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @DanDorfman To read more of Daniel's blogs click here.
