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Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Sayson: Chicago’s never-say-die attitude
By Homer Sayson
Secondovertime
CHICAGO — I once was behind the wheel of a hot and heavy romance, a marriage that sadly crashed hard into the walls of irreconcilable differences. And while the emotional scars I sustained from that wreck are healed, I can’t honestly say if the experience has made me any wiser.
Obviously, I’m not qualified to be Dr. Phil and dispense advice on the intricacies of love and marriage. But trust me on this one: When a man gets married and is sentenced to life, he’ll quickly find out that the two hardest things he’ll ever get from the wife are permission and forgiveness.
My relationship with you, my dear readers, is like a marriage, sort of. It’s a union between your trust in my skills as a writer and my faith in your loyalty as devoted Sun.Star Cebu followers.
Having said that, and with great fear that our relationship might hit the wall, let me ask you for the toughest thing a man gets from a spouse: Permission and forgiveness.
Permit me to shed some bias towards the Bulls, and forgive me for doing so openly and unabashedly. And almost shamelessly.
I know, sportswriters are supposed to be as neutral as the United Nations army. But can you let this egregious breach of journalistic conduct slide? After all, Chicago is my home away from home, a city that I have come to love as though it were my own.
The NBA and the Bulls organization have both been very kind in giving Sun.Star Cebu credentials to cover the Bulls home games at the United Center. Not only do I seat for free at courtside, I also park free at lot E, a luxury that cost $20 for regular paying fans.
At the United Center press room, some of the best culinary delights are served.
My sportswriting brethren and I pay for the food, but for a mere $6, it’s outrageously cheap. In between quarters, I am allowed to fetch buckets of whatever drink I want to imbibe, while nested in my seat. And during halftime, I don’t have to pay for the fattest cheese cake in this side of civilization.
But the mother of all perks, really, is the rare privilege of going inside NBA teams’ locker rooms and talking to the stars up close. When Shaq and the Heat were here last March 18, I stood less than a foot away from coach Pat Riley. Instead of asking him some questions, I ended up whispering this question to myself: “What on earth are you doing here?”
Well, I guess I’m just a lucky bloke. Or maybe, my hard work as a diligent NBA writer since 1993, back when I was still with The Freeman, has finally paid off.
But then again, pardon me for my inclination towards the Bulls. Even if I didn’t have an NBA pass, I’d still go to the United Center and pay to see them play. It’s worth every hard-earned dollar.
The Bulls are easy to like. They are hard-nosed tough, they execute plays the way coach Scott Skiles wants them to, they play honest defense, and most importantly, they play for each other, a precious little thing that the star-studded New York Knicks couldn’t come even close to doing.
After beating the resting Miami Heat (117-93) last Sunday, the Bulls are safely in the playoffs, and I can’t begin to tell you how profoundly satisfying that feat is. Just last March 22, these very same Bulls fell to 29-39. As they lay bleeding in the ditch of broken promises, they were given up for dead.
But the word ‘quit’ isn’t in Chicago’s dictionary, not in a city where mafia boss Al Capone used to rule. And so with their backs against the wall, the Bulls came roaring back, winning 11 of their next 13 games as they climbed up the playoffs ladder with a 40-41 record as of today.
With the East Conference rankings still up in the air, the Bulls could enter the postseason as high as a No.5 seed or as low as a No.8 seed. A No.8 seed means certain doom because that pits the Bulls against No.1 Detroit. A No.7 seed is also a kiss of death because that means facing the No.2 Heat.
Therefore, I’m pulling for the Bulls to somehow end up as the No.6 seed, which ‘only’ means playing No.3 New Jersey. The Nets are tough with their trifecta of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, but it’s an easier draw than messing with the Wallace boys from Detroit or dealing with Shaq and Dwayne Wade.
As a team that just came back from the dead, a team that wasn’t even supposed to be here, I’m sure the Bulls wouldn’t mind playing Detroit or Miami.
Even though such meetings will end up in defeat, it would still be quite a learning experience for the young group of guys who have swept this city with their heart and never-say-die attitude.
(homsay@hotmail.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 19, 2006 issue)
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