February 17, 2013

• 50 4(5) #23

  Today is the 50th birthday of Michael Jordan, which if you are a Chicago Bulls fan like myself, is kind of a big deal. I'm not a fan of Michael Jordan the person in the least; he seems like a total asshole and often times behaves like a petulant baby. Shit the guy still refuses to talk to Sports Illustrated all because of a cover from nearly 20 years ago in which they told him to stop playing baseball. Which, oh, by the way, is not only what he eventually did but also was a great decision for him; he came back to basketball and won three more titles after that. And then there was his treatment of teammates and even executives on the Bulls. And for those of you that need more proof that he is a raging asshole just go back and watch his hall of fame speech from a few years ago. Holy shit, what a fuckin prick.

  But Michael Jordan the basketball player? Holy shit, what a fucking god! If you were a kid growing up in the 80s and 90s in the Chicagoland area you all but worshipped Michael. I can still recall pretending I was him playing basketball in the backyard, hopelessly flailing around trying to do some of his moves. Bulls games were appointment t.v.; you had to watch in awe so that you could talk about him the next day at school. And that was regular season games. Playoff games and NBA Finals games? Well shit you got together with friends to watch those games.

  Chicago had never quite seen anything like him. We were a city with two awful baseball teams that somehow had not won a World Series in a million years. The Cubs had gone the most years of any team in pro sports without winning the championship. And the White Sox? Well they were second to the Cubs. The Bears had a brief run of greatness in the mid 80s but that was it. And the Blackhawks had not won in a long time either. Jordan and  his Bulls won their first title in 1991 and proceeded to win another five after that, with the last one being in 1998. Six titles in eight years. Never been done in Chicago. Probably won't ever be done again. He added a whole new pride to Chicago. For decades if you left Chicago you would tell people you were from Chicago and they would mention Al Capone. But, after Michael came around that changed things. I remember going to Mexico in 1999 and when I mentioned to a tour guide that we were from Chicago he instantly mentioned Michael Jordan.

  There was a time when people said Michael Jordan was the Babe Ruth of basketball. When Jordan retired for the first time in 1993, the Bulls owner said it was the other way around; Babe Ruth was the Michael Jordan of baseball. I don't know which is true, but all I know is that athletes like Jordan, Ruth, and Mohammad Ali come along once a generation. There are people who compare Lebron James to Jordan, and while James might be better than Jordan someday, I still don't think he will. The way I would compare it would be Jordan is Ruth and James is Willie Mays; more well rounded and better all around but not the devastatingly dominant player that Jordan was.

  I look back now though and really appreciate getting a chance to watch Michael Jordan play all the damn time. How lucky we were to live in a time to watch the greatest perform at his peak.

  • 6:40 pm
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