THANK YOU CHICAGO BULLS

I am a born and bred Chicagoan.  I have never entertained the thought of moving out of Chicago, and i am the first to stick up for my city when people claim the suburbs or other cities are better.  I am a fan of every single sports team in Chicago, except the Cubs.  So I will, like millions of other Bulls fans, get up and tip my hat to the Chicago Bulls, despite being crushed and decimated after last night.  This morning  I am still proud to be a Bulls fan and will rock the hat and shirt hard!

No one, and I mean absolutely NO ONE, predicted we would have been this good this year.  No one saw a team, with so many new players, new coaches and NEW FANS, have the potential to storm the league the way they did.  They covered their flaws with heart, hustle, desire, determination, and raw love for the game and this city.  People across the country began filling in fan applications again because we embodied what people loved about team sports.  We also had an exciting young player who acted like a Man and shouldered the blame, spread the fame, and played the game all while carrying this City's name.

We won 62 games, and lost 20, and in every one of those games we appreciated the effort.  In the playoffs, we cheered and shouted and rooted for this team in hopes our collective energy could will them to the top as much as their will pushed their strengths and covered their weaknesses.  Yet, they did more for us than we want to realize at times.  They made our city proud and gave us great moments to be cherished and talked about. They gave us hope.  Hope that we are relevant in the NBA scene again.  Hope that we will compete on the big stages repeatedly and with the same class as our other champions.  The Bulls werent supposed to be this good this soon, but they were.  Having expectations is what makes people great and inspires others.

I watch my son pick up a ball and practice his Derrick Rose feints and fakes, and shot.  He mimics his free throw routine, and defiantly throws it down with a two hand flush full of the same power and fury that D.Rose does.  He heads to youTube to watch D.Rose videos and is mesmorized by the well crafted highlight clips thousands of inspired fans have created.  Yet, it is not limited to him.  I am inspired by a kid who is 11 years younger and 1000000 times more athletic.  I am happy my son likes him, and his favorite player Luol Deng, because they are easy to like and represent a great ideal.  My dad even gets into the mix loving every energy exhausting play Joakim Noah makes.  The list goes on and on and on.

This morning, people are going to tell us what we need and how close we were.  I would like to tell them...WE KNOW.  We won 6 championships with the greatest player of all time at the helm.  We havent forgotten the feeling or the price for that that feeling.  The heartache those teams went through before bursting through.  The pain that came before the Reign of Jordan.  We also know we are on our way with this crew who is hell bent on being like those teams instead of shying away from that historical load.

Thank you: SHIEK, Taj, Big Sexy, RON RON, Hot Sauce, CJ WAAATson,  (bench mob)
Thank you: Bogans and BOOZ
THANK YOU: COACH THIBS, LUUUUUU, and the immortal JOAKIM, and yes...STACEY KING
BIG THANK YOU: D. Rose...southside legend

Now go take a month off and get ready for next year.  It will suck not watching you guys play 48 minutes of terrifying defense.  It will absolutely suck not catching more highlights of D.Rose.  We will miss your games and your hustle, but thanks for the great year.

-iz3y!
Chicago Fan 1977-?
I do it - Big Sean (song from d.Rose crazy light commercial)