Embracing Mediocrity as would a 19th century transcedentalist

Mediocre.

One of the words that no one wants to hear linked in a sentence when refering to one's performance in anything.  In work, in 'making out skills' (my girlfriend's phrase not mine), in anything for that matter. 

But for some reason, it tends to be a common trait in my favorite sports teams; I know that I have nothing to do with what they do on the field, even if I wear that one lucky jersey-that-I-wore-in-that-big-playoff-game-that-helped-them-win-that-one-playoff-game-they-won-in-the-past-twenty-years.  If the team loses a game, several games, finishes twenty five games out of first place and with a 100 run score difference, life goes on, though it sucks in the ephemeral moment after defeat.  This was one of the things I learned in college and later this summer again; if you cant get over a professional team playing a game, then you have some serious issues you need to look into; unless you are one of those guys on the team getting paid to win games.

Growing up as a Chicago fan was not the most fun as a fan.  While born in the 1980s, I don't remember the 1985-86 Chicago Bears; I dont remember the game at all, unlike 100% of Chicago Bears fans my age.  I dont remember the Super Bowl ShuffleI...actually, that's a positive; I dont remember Walter Payton getting unintentionally snubbed by Mike Ditka by allowing 'Da Fridge' to score a touchdown on the goalline.  I dont remember any of that.  What I do remember was the "Wanny Era."

With the exception of the 1994, 2001, 2005 and 2006 seasons, there was not much to look forward to during the football season for the Bears other than possibly how high in the draft our pick would reside.  There was really nothing to watch either, no exciting young player or anything to give hope to the masses at all.  The only reason to watch was that either WFLD only carried the Chicago games and the other games were blacked out so you could watch the aftergame shows that no one really cared about to rehash another onfield disaster.  Yet, the post Ditka era until Lovie Smith of 1993-2004 were not as bad as the 1966-1977 era in Chicago history where the Bears were unbearably terrible although they had some of the best players of thier generation on the team: Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkis (and a pretty good player in Doug Buffone as well).  Almost the same can be said now with Urlacher and now Devon Hester, although with the exception of the 2007 disaster have had relevant seasons during their time in Chicago. 

The White Sox were on the verge of being a dynamic team after the 1993 ALCS, but the 1994 Strike cut them down before they could go anywhere.  Afterwards, we had the 1997 White Flag season (which produced players that brought a divisional title in 2001 and a WS in 2005) and worst, Frank Thomas losing his ability to hit the ball.  Yet, this is nothing in comparison to the Cubs, but I'm a Sox fan, so what happens to the Northsiders really does not affect me at all.  Only such as sad franchise can blame a kid in the stands trying to catch a foul ball on why they didnt make it to the 2003 WS; instead of focusing on the bad pitching and defense that allowed the Marlins to even get to a 7th and deciding game that Kerry Wood let slip away.  There are the two things that I will always remember about Kerry Wood, other than the bad luck with injuries: his 20K game and dropping Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS.

The Blackhawks after some sucess early in the 1990s fell off after being dominated by the Colorado Avs in 1997.  I dont know if anyone realized there was a hockey team in Chicago until recently.  Yeah, they made the playoffs in 2002, but no one I knew expected anything but an early bow out in the playoffs.  More often than not, the Blackhawks have been less than spectacular than anything else.  I haven't watched a Blackhawks game, that is, those that were not blacked out on television since 2000 when they got rocked by the Red Wings.  It was a shame to compare the two franchises as both started to become relevant in the early 1990s, except that Bill Wirtz refused to pay any of the major components of the 1992 Western Conference champions, the last component leaving in 1997 in the form of Jeremy Roenick.  Apathy made dealing with this mediocre team a bit more bearable.

Everyone who became a Bulls fan in the 1990s...or realized what professional basketball as in the 1990s in the Chicagoland area can whine and moan about the collapse of the Phil-MJ-Pippen dynasty after 1998, but in reality, they really should not have, since it could have ended worse than it did.  Case in point, the Bulls were unbeaten as the defending champions with Jordan in the lineup.  The key phrase is: with Jordan in the lineup in lieu of the 1994 loss to the Knicks in the playoffs.  If the Bulls had managed to get past the Knicks, there is a good chance that it would have been Pippen in the huge spotlight that Jordan had filled the season prior.  This might be discounting the Pacers who upset the Magic and the Atlanta Hawks, but it was not likely that the Bulls would have lost to the Pacers, especially having home court advantage in that series.  But they did not and at that point, everyone was probably considering what was going to happen to Chicago now that the dynasty was truly over. 

Now, I'm going in a completely different direction...

With the loss of Grant and probably the pending loss or trade of Pippen after the 1995 season, the Bulls were facing rebuilding in the face.  Phil would have left Chicago in the offesason of 1995 and where would he have gone?  LA?  The Knicks with Pat Riley leaving for Miami?  Where would have Pippen gone?  Would the Pacers have become a dominant force in the East?  Without a Jordan led Bulls dominating the Magic in 1996, furthering the disaster of the 1995 Finals, does Shaq stay in Orlando with Penny?  Or does he still opt for LA?  What happens with the Mourning-Hardaway Heat without the Bulls to crush them when they started to peak in 1997?  Do the SuperSonics dominate the West with GP hitting his prime and Shawn Kemp not opting out to Cleveland to gain 60 lbs?  Do they even sell out to Cash Clay with the prospect of the franchise leaving Seattle?  What about the Ewing Knicks?  What about the Jazz?  Do Karl Malone and John Stockton go out as champions?  Do they dominate the NBA before retiring gracefully? 

The whole dynamics of the leauge changed with just two words, "I'm back."  It took Jordan to get humiliated, getting his pocket picked by Nick Anderson who he would normally just crush (and later did) before his retirement to motivate him to come back and dominate the game.  It was probably the most devestating steal in the history of the NBA.  It precipitated the collapse of the Shaq-Penny Magic, continued to deny the Ewing Knicks, stopped the Mourning-Hardaway Heat, denied the Miller Pacers until they ran into the next dynasty of Shaq-Kobe, denied the Super Sonics, stopped the Jazz and countless other teams down the stretch.  If the Bulls are mediocre, do they get a chance to draft Farragut High's Kevin Garnett?  What about Kobe Bryant, do the Bulls take a chance on him with a high draft pick in 1997?  I know countless Boston fans wonder about the "what ifs" if Len Bias had not overdosed on cocaine about the Celtics dynasty as much as Bulls fans do not ponder a permanent Jordan retirement in 1993. 

While everyone enjoyed the return of Jordan and the second three-peat, it did adversely affect the rebuilding of the Bulls after 1998.  Jerry Krause, I'm sure felt some unjustified pressure to win again after "breaking" up the Bulls in 1998.  What seems to be forgotten was that it was probably a foregone conclusion after the 1998 season.  Pippen was ready to leave Chicago, Jordan was slowing down and having problems dealing with bigger guards (remarkedly so after his 2001 return as well), Jackson was ready to retire regardless and Rodman was not going to return at all.  The bench was virtually non-existent in 1998, with Jordan carrying the team until Pippen came back late in the season--case in point was Game 6 of the 1998 Finals were Pippen was nullified by a back injury and outside of Jordan only Toni Kukoc was the only other Bull to score in double figures.  There were some serious doubts about the Bulls, except that its very difficult to beat Jordan in a seven game series, regardless of the lack of support from his bench. 

But that pressure he felt dealing with the percieved role that he was the reason why the Bulls broke up--one cannot forget that he pulled the 1987 draft day coup of getting Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant--did not help much in the league view of the Chicago franchise amongst the players as well.  If Jordan did not return and say the Bulls were forced to rebuild without the stigma of the front office breaking up a dynasty (Pippen probably leaving Chicago for more money) after 1995, is it a different story when the Bulls try to woo a big name free agent?