Chicago Bulls Talk: Chicago Is a Basketball City!

I have a confession to make: I haven’t watched the last two preseason games that the Bulls have played in. I’m a staff writer here on Pippen Ain’t Easy and I haven’t even watched 2 out of the 3 preseason games. In my defense, my university cable provider in the dorm room that I live in doesn’t provide WGN-Chicago or NBA TV. So, there wasn’t any possible way that I could watch the game on Saturday night. Live streaming could be an option; but I got a nasty virus when I tried doing it last season and I’ve been wary of live-streaming ever since. I couldn’t watch the game on Tuesday due to lack of time because I was swamped with homework.To make up for my inaction, I have poured over the highlights and story lines following these games, so I’m still somewhat in the loop with the going-ons of the Chicago Bulls.

Oct 11, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) drives past Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Knight (11) in the first quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Anyway, I took it upon myself to check what CSN-Chicago was airing on their network in place of the Chicago Bulls third preseason game. Of course, it was the Chicago Blackhawks. To most Chicago fans, this isn’t a problem; the Blackhawks are a beloved team that the city has embraced as their own.

However, it bothers me that the Blackhawks and Bulls have to share television time on the same network. Sure, if I was at home in the suburbs where I got WGN and CSN on my television, this wouldn’t be in a problem. But I’m at college and on certain nights I have to deal with the fact that I can’t watch basketball because hockey is on instead. It sucks, and I’ll explain why it sucks in the remainder of this article.

A bit of a caviat before I get to the meat of this article. I’m not a Blackhawks fan by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t like them; I root for them to lose. I used to be the type of person that accused 99.9% of the fan-base as being fair weather bandwagon fans but I’ve matured since then. I recognize that there are a lot of really good fans out there that have been loyal to the Blackhawks from the beginning. There are still a good number of bandwagoners, but that comes with any successful franchise. The case of the disloyal Blackhawk fan is a common occurrence throughout all of sport; something that is infuriating but must be accepted as a reality.

People have the right to passionately love the Blackhawks. I’m not here to suggest revocation of your first amendment freedom of expression. The thing that irks me off is the fact that hockey is becoming more important in the city of Chicago than basketball. It is disgusting; it is disrespectful to the rich basketball tradition that has permeated the streets of Chicago for decades.

Don’t believe my manifesto? Still think that the Bulls are more popular than the Blackhawks?  Here are the facts.

Chicago Business journal reporter Lewis Lazare reports that as of 2013 the Chicago Blackhawks have catapulted to significantly higher television ratings than the Chicago Bulls. Lazare cites a high profile playoff match-up for both teams with disproportional viewer ratings as his example for the Blackhawk newly found dominance over the Bulls in terms of television ratings. During the 2012-2013 playoffs, Game 7 of the exhilarating match-up against the Brooklyn Nets produced a viewer rating of 12.1 (35,000 viewing households=1 viewing point). This pales in comparison to the Blackhawks playoff viewing rating. During the 2013 playoff match-up against the Detroit Redwings, the Blackhawks had an impressive viewer rating of  21.0(at its peak), 17.2 on average.

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According to Crain’s Chicago Business News, the same general pattern holds true during the regular season as well. The Chicago Bulls viewer ratings on Comcast Sports Net has dropped by as much as 6% between 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. On Comcast Sports Net, the Chicago Bulls only have an average viewer rating of 3.03. In the recent era, the Bulls television rating peaked during the 2011-2012 season at a 5.81 average.

The Blackhawks’ viewer ratings are on the rise. The Blackhawks had a slightly higher rating in the regular season last year, but that doesn’t bother me as much. After all, Derrick Rose did get hurt 10 games into the season. It is troublesome, however, that the Blackhawks received such disproportionately higher ratings in the playoffs. Both the previously cited series (the Redwings, and the Nets), were very exciting. The Blackhawks were competing in a conference semi-final while the Bulls were in a quarter -final. Maybe that sways the ratings by a bit, but not by 5 rating points!

Chicago is a basketball city first and foremost. Hockey is a recent phenomenon due to the fact that it only recently began being aired on television and because of the overwhelming success of the Blackhawks over the last 5 years. It is an insult to the Chicago Bulls basketball tradition that the Blackhawks have disposed them as the most popular team to play in the United Center.

Lets do a quick exercise to explore the roots of both basketball and hockey in Chicago.

Off the top of my head without using Google(I promise) I can name several basketball stars that grew up in Chicago. Here we go: Derrick Rose, Anthony Davis, Dwyane Wade, Jabari Parker, Doc Rivers and Isiah Thomas. In my haste, I’m probably forgetting some obvious ones.

Ok, I don’t know a thing about the NHL, so I’ll use google because if Patrick Kane grew up in Chicago (he didn’t), I wouldn’t know it. Chris Chelios and Tom Fergus are pretty good. Eddie Olczyk and Mike O’Connell are on there. The Google search produced a comprehensive list of every player that has ever lived in Chicago and went onto the NHL and only 4 of these players had relevant careers.

I remember back in high school we used to go to an indoor track invitational at Proviso West High School. Outside their basketball arena (which is sick by the way), are plaques with the names of local high school kids that went onto have illustrious NBA careers that participated in their annual holiday tournament. Riddle you not, there are at least 75 pictures on that wall, and at least half of them I immediately recognized.

Basketball is such a big deal in Chicago that CSN-Chicago aired a commercial about the importance of the sport to the city.

And then a sequel was made just to reiterate the point.

Note that there isn’t a commercial airing anywhere stating how important the Blackhawks are to the city of Chicago. Kids in Chicago don’t use hockey as an outlet to escape the horrors of the street and gang life so prevalent in the otherwise amazing city.

Finally, the Bulls represent everything that is good about Chicago. The grittiness, the toughness, the never say never attitude of the populace, you name it and the Bulls are the shining example of this characteristic. The way that the Bulls conduct themselves on the court should be a major source of pride for Chicago.

Last season, Numbers Never Lie did a segment on the Chicago Bulls.

"“The Bulls are so Chicago”."

The most accurate phrase uttered by an ESPN broadcaster about the Bulls in the history of the program. The Bulls are Chicago, Chicago is the Bulls. These can be thrown around interchangeably.

Oh, and don’t forget. A certain somebody on the Chicago Bulls grew up in Chicago. He has publicized how much the city means to him and how much he wants to win one to please the home fans and bring honor to his beloved city. Don’t know who I’m talking about? Look it up.

So, my call to action is simple: this season lets reclaim Chicago as a basketball city. Hockey is a new development; but basketball has always been there. That is special.