May 15, 2016: We Are The Champions

First thing’s first… I had to get a t-shirt.  I remember going to the mall… I think it was a sports store outside of Carson Pirie Scott’s.  I got the white t-shirt with all the Bulls faces on the front in caricature.  I wore the heck out of that shirt.  I would have it on for the day of the rally.

It was hot outside, I remember that.  Got aboard the CTA, the B train, the Blue Line, before it changed to the Pink Line, and headed to Grant Park.  We didn’t get there so early to be right up front… We were about halfway back I want to say… by the camera stands.  A chain link fence separated us from what I guess were the reserved seats.  We all waited to see our 1991 NBA Champion Chicago Bulls.

It was the first championship rally for me.  Only 9 years old when the Bears won it all, I didn’t make it downtown to LaSalle Street that day.  But now, almost 15, I was definitely not going to miss this moment.  I believe it was me, my brother, sister, her friend, and one of my friends.  I’m pretty sure there was 5 of us that day… in the middle of about a million.  Grant Park was packed, the sun was beating down, and Queen was on the speakers.

I love We Are The Champions; who wouldn’t?  That has to have been played at every championship celebration since the song was released.  It was played on this day… multiple times.  They of course played the famous Bulls intro song, as each of the Bulls came on stage.

I can’t remember going to any more Bulls rallies that decade… maybe one other one?  We celebrated each of the titles a different way, but the first one, this first one was special.  It’s kind of like a movie sequel… no, not the ones that suck, but the ones that are great, just not quite as great as the original.  Godfather II comes to mind.  Rocky.  Transporter… just kidding.  Like the Bears in 1985, and the Hawks later in 2010, (and the Sox in 2005 for the Sox fans), this Bulls team… this Bulls season was unforgettable.

It was like a coming of age story.  That whole… Learning to Fly theme.  They started off with high hopes and expectations.  They were determined to do it this time.  They had nothing to prove that they could.  They were at a crossroads… in Jordan’s 7th year… no titles… something had to give.  The team, MJ… was so hungry.  Hungry for something that they never had.  Yeah, MJ had that burning hunger and desire year in year out, which is part of what made him the greatest.  But this year, I have to believe, was different.
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It was Rare Air, for MJ, the Bulls franchise, and Chicago.  We had the best player in the world playing for our team in our city.  We watched him grow up… we watched this team grow together.  We watched them make history.

As the rally went on, we pushed forward through the crowd until we made it to the chain link fence.  We didn’t stop there.  We kept pushing… 100s of us, until that fence came down.  And just as the Bulls were walking off stage to Sweet Home Chicago, we had made it to the reserved seats,,. we were streaming into the aisles.  No, we didn’t get arrested… nobody was getting out of control.  It was just mass happiness.  That’s the one thing I loved about those Bulls titles… everybody was a Bulls fan… young, old, black, white.  The whole city came together to enjoy this celebration.  We got pretty used to it.

But it was this team, this 1991 Bulls team that I chose to write a feature about.  I guess I could write a feature about every Chicago championship team… maybe even one day I’ll get myself up to do one about the Sox.  The 85 Bears feature is already complete, and now so is this one.  It was an awesome walk back down memory lane.  These memories remain vivid in my head and my heart.  No, not every single detail, but the feelings… of excitement, of happiness…and yes, a whole lot of specific moments.  Yes, it doesn’t get better than a championship season.  It is true heaven for the die hard.

And so we wait for the next one…  for me, there is only one next.  Yes, i want to see the Bears win the Super Bowl again.  I want to see this Hawks team add another cup.  One day, I wait for the Bulls to get it back together… I thought they were on the right path… to get back to the big game.  Yes, I want to see all of that… but I HAVE seen all of that.  There is only one thing that remains left for me in my sports life, and one day, I hope I can write a feature about that one.  I hope I already am.

Until then, we enjoy the ones we have; the ones that are already in the bank.  We cherish those teams that brought glory to our city and its fans.  The 1991 Bulls are one of those teams.  Living in the past?  Never for bad stuff… but never forgetting the good stuff.  They were the good stuff… they kept fighting until the end… they were the champions… of the world.  Thank you… thank you.