Harris: Let The Bulls Guide You Through Dreary February
By Adam Harris--
The month of February is underway, normally the most depressing sports month of the year in Chicago.
The Bears are finished, baseball spring training is still a month away, the Big Game will come and go in the first week of the month, and the Bulls and Hawks are in mid-season form, normally waiting for a second round bow out of the playoffs.
I am here to say, that this year is different from most.
Last year Chicago was able to follow the Blackhawks with high expectations which got our city through this horrible month; the same can be done this year with the surging Chicago Bulls.
I wrote at the beginning of this Bulls season that fans need to simply enjoy watching Derrick Rose develop, working with Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah to eventually contend for a title. It is OK for the Bulls to not win a championship this year because they are finally on the right track to eventually do so, and the exciting thing is that year's track is moving even faster than I originally thought.
This year is different from the years when Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni and crew would be happy with a first round playoff victory over the Heat and then a loss in the second round to the Pistons. This Bulls team has a core group of players considered to be in the upper echelon of the NBA. This team cannot be counted out of any seven game series in the playoffs against any team.
The Bulls play 10 games the rest of this month, five of which are against below .500 teams and most likely wins (at Golden State, home vs Charlotte, at Toronto, at Milwaukee, and at Washington). The other five games are against above .500 teams, and very good ones at that. The Bulls will face Portland, Utah, New Orleans, San Antonio, and Miami. These all promise to be great games to watch and judge where the Bulls actually stand in the NBA.
A win against either San Antonio or Miami, which are both played at the United Center, will be a big statement for this team. Playing in Portland, Utah, and New Orleans all next week will be simply fun basketball to watch, as they are all toss up games.
If you want to get to know this Bulls team, and have been distracted this winter by the Bears and the NFL, take the "boring" month of February as an opportunity to develop a fanship for a team that could surprise us all in the NBA Playoffs in June. This month is full of fun matchups, and with the Bulls only three games from the top spot in the Eastern Conference this month could be a make it or break it for the Bulls' seeding.
The month of February does not have to be a boring one sports wise for us Chicagoans. There will be games that will go down to the wire having you jump out of your seat late at night waking your kids or neighbors with good or bad screams.
There is a team on the west side creating a stir nationally, so tune in now before the stir passes you by. There is still a reason to be excited to rush home from work and plop down on your couch. The next day, the office will start to buzz about this Bulls team, so be a part of it. Let the Bulls get you through the crappy month of February.
